**_The nursery rhyme Jack and Jill by way of “The Hills Have Eyes”_**
Several Brits in their 20s decide to meet and hike the remote Gilmore Pass to commemorate the suicide of their mutual friend. The problem is, many hikers have gone missing there in recent years. Havoc ensues.
“The Legend of Jack and Jill” (2021), known as just “Jack and Jill” in America, is a low-budget Backwoods Brutality flick with a cast of unknowns. It combines elements of “Bread Crumbs” (2011) with the basic plot of films like the future "Mercy Falls" (2023).
It worked for me for the most part due to the relatively proficient filmmaking and awesome location cinematography featuring dry stone walls that snake the hilly landscape, as well as the reverent tone with a moody score reminiscent of the song “A Deeper Kind of Slumber” from 1997. Also, the female cast is quite good with voluptuous blonde Abi Casson Thompson (Lulu), raven-haired Sarah T. Cohen (Bernice) and brunette Heaven-Leigh Spence (Tamsin). Meanwhile Antonia Whillans plays the titular Jill behind grotesque (cheesy) make-up.
Unfortunately, the flick drops the ball by including an unnecessary side of eye-rolling fruity twaddle. Get real.
The movie runs 1 hour, 30 minutes, and was shot in the hills of northern UK somewhere between Yorkshire and Orkney, well north of London by over 200 miles (I couldn’t get more specific info).
GRADE: C-/C
