Leofwine_draca
This is a film that works best by at first creeping up on you and then grabbing you on the spine. Nothing is what it seems here as the central character has recently been released from a mental institute and is unsure of whether the events she believes are happening are real, or in fact a figment of her imagination. By developing a tense atmosphere and building up a lot of suspense, this film is a rarity that really does manage to provoke chills.While watching, it's hard to ignore the '70s fashions and the whole dated, arty, hippy mentality. However, if you do manage to overcome these obstacles then you're in for a darned good film. The acting is amateurish and yet suited to the piece; who better to portray normal people than, well, people off the street? The female lead is absolutely wonderful, playing a mentally unstable woman who is the heroine of the film, and who everybody else believes is crazy in any case.Towards the end of the film, things really begin to gel together as the chills become more focused. In one spellbinding, transfixing scene a pale figure rises out of a lake, a haunting apparition. The townsfolk are clearly involved in some huge conspiracy, leading to lots of INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS-style paranoia. A clear reminder that violence and gore are not necessary for a horror film to scare, this underrated classic is highly unsettling.
Wuchak
Released in 1971, "Let's Scare Jessica to Death" chronicles events after the title character (Zohra Lampert) gets out of a mental institution and moves into an old house on coastal Connecticut with her husband (Barton Heyman) and a friend (Kevin O'Connor). There they discover a hippie-like squatter named Emily (Mariclare Costello) whom they eventually invite to stay because they all get along. Jessica starts to hear voices as they catch wind of rumors of a drowning victim from 90 years earlier who's now a ghost or maybe even a vampire. Are the increasingly crazy happenings real or all in Jessica's mind? This is a realistic mystery/horror movie in the mold of 1967's "The Shuttered Room" and 1962's "Carnival of Souls." I mean 'realistic' in the sense that the tone is believable. It's a low-key, haunting slow-burner, so if you want over-the-top, cartoony horror, look elsewhere.Zohra Lampert is effective as the mentally unstable protagonist. The way the movie constantly looks into her thought-life and the uncertainties thereof is reminiscent of 1968's "Rachel, Rachel." The theme is the hypnotic power of a woman, in this case a potentially evil woman. Reflect on Jessica's situation at the end. If she dares to speak out, who would believe her story? The drowning victim from the 19th century was named Abigail. I bet this was where King Diamond got the name for his notable 1987 horror-metal concept album.The movie runs 98 minutes and was in Connecticut, USA (Essex, Chester, East Haddam & Old Saybrook).GRADE: B
Skye Tripp (teamcophine)
This movie... This is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in all of my life. The soundtrack is just ridiculous. The effects are terrible, the shots are awful, the acting is mediocre at best; but when you add all of it together; it's just so awful that it's good. It's a shame that this is now out of print (at least that's all I could gather at this point). However, Netflix does have a DVD copy of this film that is available to rent by mail, but they do not currently have the option of instantly streaming the film. There is a free (and full) edition of Let's Scare Jessica to Death posted on YouTube, which has been up for close to a couple of years now and has not had any issues. My suggestion: watch it on YouTube if you aren't willing to pay anywhere from $25 to $75+ on the DVD copy (most copies that are readily available are used anyway). I've been looking just about everywhere for the soundtrack to this. There was never any official soundtrack released. However, there are several download links available for the scores that have been directly cut out of the actual movie. Link to movie (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOWhNcK-4cs Link to score (unofficial): http://www.mediafire.com/?kqp07q4akpvl3x8
BA_Harrison
I'm very wary when a film is frequently described as either 'atmospheric', 'haunting', hypnotic', 'poetic', 'eerie' or 'dreamlike': nine times out of ten, 'dull', 'dreary', 'uneventful' and 'boring' seem to be more apt adjectives as far as I'm concerned. Let's Scare Jessica To Death is a prime example.The film stars Zohra Lampert as Jessica, a recently discharged psychiatric patient who is still struggling with her sanity (her troubled thoughts made audible for the viewer to analyse). Together with her husband and a hippie friend, Jessica travels to a remote island, where she hopes to start a new life. These idyllic plans soon go awry, the prejudiced townsfolk treating the newcomers with disdain and their new home occupied by squatter Emily; worse still, Jessica starts to see visions of a girl who might be a vampiric ghost. Then again, Jessica might simply be off her rocker.Is there really something supernatural afoot or is Jessica lapsing into insanity once again? I cannot say with any certainty because I frequently found myself lapsing into sleep, such is the soporific effect of the ambiguous but ultimately very tedious storytelling. Moving at a snail's pace, Let's Scare Jessica To Death didn't so much 'scare me to death' as 'bore me stiff'.
AD
