![]() The presence of magic and unearthly events in Jack Be Nimble is also indicative of traditional fairy tales. Watching Jack be mistreated, both physically and emotionally, is evocative of Cinderella and other Grimm classics. In his strange new home, the boy is subjected to chronic abuse from wicked foster parents, Clarrie and Bernice ( Tony Barry, Elizabeth Hawthorne ), and their four daughters ( Wendy Adams, Tracey Brown, Nina López, Amber Woolston ). The earliest one is the clear distinction made between good and evil, with Jack ( Alexis Arquette ) being the ostensible hero caught in a bad situation. The conventions of dark fairy tales can be seen all across Jack Be Nimble. And unfortunately, the trauma racing through Jack is far too much for either he or Dora to control in the long run. Over time the brother became a lightning rod for alienation and pain. Dora grows up fairly well-adjusted with caring parents, whereas Jack is left to fend for himself among a clan of sadists. When their birth mother abandoned them at a tender age, and their father gave them up for adoption, young Jack and Dora were placed with different families. Their reunion is then fraught with new hurdles, all stemming from their disparate upbringings. The title character and his sister, who were separated at a young age, finally come together again after spending years apart. In place of a candle in Garth Maxwell ’s film is now childhood. Anyone who can clear the flaming candle was said to have good luck. The old English children’s song encapsulates the spirit of candle jumping, which was a fortune-telling activity as much as it was a sport. Much like its nursery rhyme basis, Jack Be Nimble is about beating the odds. This magnificently strange and obscure offering of New Zealand gothic horror holds a mirror up to family dysfunction, and the reflection is an absolute nightmare. No two Kiwi horrors are quite alike, and 1993’s Jack Be Nimble is no exception. The island country’s sparse contributions to the genre, from Braindead to What We Do in the Shadows, have largely proven to be as great as they are unique. ![]() New Zealand does not make a lot of horror movies when compared to other parts of the world, however this shortage stems from sheer infrequency rather than inability. ![]()
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