Search - Let's Scare Jessica to Death on DVD

Largely Forgotten Gem

General Zombie | the West | 05/17/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It's not often, anymore, that I get to see a truly excellent horror movie for the first time, so "Let's Scare Jessica to Death" was quite a pleasant surprise. It's got a dumb title, but everything else about the film is quite good. It won't be to everyone's taste, since it's not a commercial, mainstream horror film nor is it a gruesome underground gore film. "Let's Scare Jessica to Death" is just a dreamy, slow-moving horror film where the supernatural creeps into a seemingly ordinary situation and gradually makes itself known. Lotsa of people will think it's boring, no doubt, but these people just have no taste for what I think is the truest, best distillation of horror in film. I like the sense of otherworldliness that you get in some of your more low-key horror, and "Let's Scare Jessica to Death" has about as much of this as any film I've seen. If that's what you're looking for, it doesn't get much better than this.

The film opens with Jessica on a boat, alone in the midst of foggy lake. She wonders what has happened, and what is real just as the narrative moves back to the beginning, with Jessica, her husband Duncan and their friend Woody moving to a small, unassuming rural town in New England. Jessica has, apparently, just finished a stay in a mental institution, and this move represents a new beginning for her and Duncan, as they plan to begin a new low-key life on an apple ranch. Not all is well with Jessica, however, and she sees strange things, things that, perhaps, the others can't see. Furthermore, they arrive at their new rural home to find a mysterious, pretty redheaded girl by the name of Emily who has been squatting in their home. She seems pleasant enough, though, so they let Emily stick around for a while, and they even grow somewhat attached to her. (Perhaps too attached, in Duncan's case.) Everything seems more or less fine, but strange occurrences and odd behavior by the local townspeople begin to add up, and Jessica gradually comes to believe that more is going on here than meets the eye or, perhaps even worse, that she's lost her mind.

"Jessica"s critics generally accuse it of being dull, and though I don't agree, I can see where they're coming from. Virtually nothing happens for the films first half, and it doesn't really kick into top-gear until the climax late in the film. Still, it has a certain air to it from the very first frame that I just love. The film isn't about major action or great scenes, it's about the slow buildup of seemingly minor scenes and details which combine to generate a palpable sense of the unnatural. This all begins with the pitch perfect score, mostly slow, mournful piano and guitar with some occasional ominous synth that build a proper feeling of sorrow and foreboding. And then we get the seemingly trivial details: They drive a hearse (cheaper than a station wagon, apparently); The town is populated entirely by old men, hostile old men with strange marks and wounds; Jessica makes grave rubbings, and keeps them in her bedroom where they shudder and seem to whisper at night; Emily herself is just a bit odd, with her long red hair and impish smile. Who is she where did she come from? While exploring their new home, Jessica finds a painting in the attic which looks strangely like Emily. Coincidence? (A great scene by the way, with Jessica being unknowingly trailed by a vague, half-seen black force. What is it, if anything? We never know.)

Eventually, the film becomes more forthright. Turns out Jessica and Duncan bought the the old Bishop place, a long empty home with a tragic history with superstitious connotations in the community. Even worse, Jessica's visions become more common and intense, as she again sees a mysterious white gowned woman roaming the area and believes that she is attacked by a pale figure beneath the surface of the nearby lake. Tension rises: Duncan wants to send Jessica back to New York and his attraction to Emily becomes more and more overt, and now Jessica has to fight to save her mind, her marriage and her life.

"Jessica" really benefits from being a cheap film from 1971: They don't ruin the eeriness with phony CGI or unnecessary cheap scares, nor is the pacing forced in anyway. It builds as is necessary. Equally significant, we get to have mature, adult characters rather than a pack of tiresome teenagers, well-played by a generally unknown cast. (Some have complained about the acting. Anyone who does so clearly hasn't watched much low-budget horror, cause this is way above average in that respect.) Zohra Lampert is particularly good in the lead, as is Mariclare Costello, though her effectiveness is more her basic look than the real acting. For a film of limited means, the technical aspects are solid, with some generally nice photography, though the occasional zooms are a bit dated.

Normally I'm not too hesitant to give away late film details in horror movies since they're generally so formulaic, but I'm going to avoid doing this here, because "Jessica" follows no specific horror movie formula. Sure, it is, at heart, a mystery-horror movie, where the supernatural occurrences function as clue towards the central secret, but even within this form it doesn't follow the traditional routes and clichés. I doubt anyone will be too shocked by the end, but it's not nearly as inevitable as the ending of your typical horror movie. The film does become a bit more conventional at the end, dispensing with the subtle, atmospheric horror and working the standard run-and-chase angle, but I think they do this fairly well, and it is ultimately necessary. Even though the climax rarely lives up to the buildup in this kind of movie, to exclude it is a cheat, because half of the interest in the mysterious occurrences lies in finding out what they ultimately mean. You gotta lay your cards down sooner or later. This isn't to say you need to explain absolutely everything, and the film doesn't, but I've never bought the ludicrous "incoherence is a virtue" principle that so many lazy critics invoke and almost as many obliging filmmakers cater to.

Anyway, I hate to invoke the old cliché, but they really don't make `em like this anymore. Too bad, but at least we've got plenty of classics to fall back on, like this one.

Grade: A-"

Very scarey, classic thriller that will HAUNT you-even today

Constant Reader | Souderton, PA USA | 01/27/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Yes, I saw this movie as a child and it scared me. Pretty bad. I never looked at a lake at dusk in the same innocent way again. I've seen many horror movies as a child that frightened me, and then seen them again now as a "grown up" and some of them-(certainly not all!) seem...superficial and well, stupid. "Let's Scare Jessica to Death" is STILL scarey, even by today's standards. Yes, it does have the "hippy" kind of feel to it, but that just adds to it, really, dating it. I love to put this movie on late at night with all the lights out and I'm lying on my couch and...wow. It simply just still has it! Creeps me out. I recommend this movie to you. I don't usually write a review, but I'm pretty passionate about this one...--Dawn"