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Cactus Jack

2021 1h 20m Mystery & Thriller Drama Horror List
Tomatometer 4 Reviews 76% Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
When an amateur documentarian sets out to make a film about a man who hasn't left his mother's basement in six months, he discovers the recluse is in fact a vile doomsday hatemonger. The tables are turned when the maniac snaps, imprisons him, and takes control of the cameras to start a vitriolic, venomous podcast--making enemies far and wide and promising violent retribution.
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Cactus Jack

Critics Reviews

View All (4) Critics Reviews
Nick Schager The Daily Beast A sensationalistic and one-note character study of a MAGA monster that's designed to elicit outraged attention, but has no idea what to actually do with that spotlight. Feb 3, 2021 Full Review Elias Savada Film International The combination of hallucinogenic talk radio sketches and Taxi Driver's Travis Bickle on steroids affords actor R. Michael Gull to follow the filmmakers' urgings: 'Let's just make some shit in our basement ... and show hate like it really is.' Rated: 1/5 Feb 11, 2021 Full Review Carla Hay Culture Mix What should have been a short film is stretched into a movie where about 70% of it is nothing but a white supremacist character spewing hate speech nonstop. [It's] a lazy, obvious, and ultimately ineffectual approach to the societal poison that is racism. Feb 5, 2021 Full Review Alex Saveliev Film Threat Say what you will about Cactus Jack, but the fact that it's extraordinarily unsettling cannot be denied. Rated: 7/10 Jan 23, 2021 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (9) audience reviews
Audience Member An unbelievable performance of an all too real facet of the human population. No doubt the underlying tenet of this film will be ignored due to the extremely inflammatory nature of its content. The disgusting, vile hatred being spewed from the stereotypical Nazi skinhead separatist could easily be found in any race, any culture, any gender. These individuals, organizations, entities exist in every corner of the world. Hatred permeates all colors, all societies, all religions. What resonated with me is the depiction of just how deeply and resolutely the main character believed and justified his mass hatred for any and all groups of individuals that weren't him. The complete consumption of his entire life by it. Being so blind to just anything beyond his own pigeoned holed reality. THAT is the true horror of the film. On a side bar, R. Michael Gull's performance.....Oscar worthy! That is a pretty 'biggest balls of all' kinda role right there. Not a pleasant movie, but most definitely a thought provoker. One that stays with you for a minute after it's over. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/06/21 Full Review Audience Member Painful yet necessary... Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/17/23 Full Review Audience Member Best horror flick of 2021 so far. Would've made my top 10 list of 2020 had it been released then. Very ballsy film that I'm sure will be polarizing. Ballsiest film I've seen since "Natural Born Killers". What made it believable, thus more horrifying, was R. Michael Gull's performance -- it's about as terrifying as it gets. Sure to go down as one of the most vile horror movie villains we've ever seen. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/22/23 Full Review Audience Member When a budding documentarian falls upon a paranoid neighbor who hasn't left his mom's basement in over six months, he thinks he's found the perfect subject for his next piece but quickly discovers Ronald is an an unhinged, vitriolic extremist who hates pretty much everyone who doesn't have a white penis, including his own mother. What follows is a deep dive down a very dark rabbit hole of xenophobia at the dawn of President 45's election, until Ronald turns on his documentarian, taking him hostage and using his equipment to become the media cult sensation CACTUS JACK, spewing hate and inciting violence in the name of a better AmeriKKa. As his base builds, so does the online opposition, building to a frenzied, shocking climax. From the opening frame, CACTUS JACK is a barrel of TNT with Wile E. Coyote lighting a match on top of it. R. Michael Gull plays Ronald/Cactus Jack with an unmatched, balls-out fervor rarely seen on stage or screen. Gull's take on the role is a career-defining performance most actors should be jealous of--he is both believable and frightening every step of the way. The most realistic & terrifying of his many great moments is the quiet one amongst the chaos, where Cactus Jack dresses in military garb while teasing 'It's a beautiful a day in the neighborhood....could you be my neighbor...?" it's a stark, cold reminder THERE ARE people like this among us. Whatever your views, whatever side of the aisle you sit on, the CACTUS JACK'S of this world are our worst nightmares, and all too real to be taken lightly. This film by Chris and Jay Thornton give us a unique, no holds barred window into the world of extremism. The brothers set out to make a challenging work of art in genre trappings, and they have succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. It is a success of both craft & content--they shot this film mostly on cell phones. The greatest fiction is born of truth, and CACTUS JACK spares no truth. This movie is not for the timid- it is bold, offensive, yet very insightful. Just when you think it is too much, you realize it's making you think--about your views, your neighbors, the world we live in and the world we've just come from. Good art almost always offends someone--but it also has a message. CACTUS JACK delivers it's message with all the subtlety of an H-Bomb. Hopefully, you understand it. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/25/23 Full Review Audience Member Scary in a real way. A visceral deep dive into an extreme and abhorrent point of view. A unique mix of American History X and the "Cult" season of American Horror Story. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/29/23 Full Review Audience Member I'm not gonna try to give some pretentious review, critiquing every nano second on a microscopic level, I'm just going to make this straight forward and to the point: CACTUS JACK was amazing. Two extremely talented writers/directors/brothers used their phones and a shoe string budget to make a better movie than some of the colossal big budget hack films. I don't even know What to say about Michael Gull's performance. Again, I'm not gonna be a pretentious twat and pretend I know shit about acting, but I do know when something moves me on an emotional level and Gull's performance was probably one of the best I've seen in years. His performance might be up there with Norton's in American History X. Standing ovation to all involved in creating this amazing, insightful work that reflects on what can and does go wrong in this world when the Id is left unchecked and allowed free reign. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/24/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Cactus Jack

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Cast & Crew

Movie Info

Synopsis When an amateur documentarian sets out to make a film about a man who hasn't left his mother's basement in six months, he discovers the recluse is in fact a vile doomsday hatemonger. The tables are turned when the maniac snaps, imprisons him, and takes control of the cameras to start a vitriolic, venomous podcast--making enemies far and wide and promising violent retribution.
Director
Chris Thornton, Jason Thornton
Producer
Nathan Graham Davis, Sidney Sherman
Screenwriter
Chris Thornton, Jason Thornton
Production Co
Rosa Entertainment
Genre
Mystery & Thriller, Drama, Horror
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 22, 2021
Runtime
1h 20m
Sound Mix
Stereo
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