Ahhhhhhhh.
That's my sigh of relief after finally watching a crapshoot selection that delivered the goods. Take that Silver Bullet! I felt back in my element with this slow burning 70's chiller.
Jessica and her husband move to a small Connecticut town along with another guy who sports a distractingly hilarious handlebar mustache. I still haven't a clue as to what his exact relationship to the couple was, but they all seemed pretty tight. We learn that Jessica is recovering from an undisclosed mental breakdown. When they arrive at their new home, they find a friendly hippie girl named Emily squatting there with nowhere else to go. They invite her to stay for dinner and when that goes well, the invitation extends to permanent residence. Jessica initially gets along with Emily swimmingly but soon enough, the voices in her head lead to distrust and resentment. Is Emily maliciously tormenting Jessica or is Jessica merely losing her mind again? The answer to this question might involve the suspicious townspeople, a peculiar girl that keeps appearing in the woods, vampires and/or ghosts.
Extremely slow paced yet never dull, Let's Scare Jessica to Death is aesthetically on par with Rosemary's Baby and the Omen, though not thematically. Zohra Lampert (never heard of her either) is amazing in the role of Jessica. Anorexic and pale, she has a smile that is both brimming with optimism and paralyzed by hidden despair. The whispered voices she hears are legitimately chilling, as is the sense of isolation that a 70's New England small town setting adds. It's good, is what I'm trying to say.
But extremely slow paced.
2 comments:
I've never seen this, but it carried a lot of clout when I was a kind since my sister had a good friend named Jessica. I don't even know if they watched the movie or just saw the listing in TV Guide, or what. Regardless, I was delighted to see it in your roster. I'm also glad to hear it's good.
Holy shit!! Jessica Neal and I totally saw this movie together one afternoon, in - not sure what year, we were in like fourth grade I think. Scared us silly! Excellent!
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