Review: Let’s Scare Jessica to Death (1971)

Directed by: John Hancock
Starring: Zohra Lampert, Barton Heyman, Mariclare Costello
Written by: John Hancock, Lee Kalcheim
Music by: Orville Stoeber
Country: United States
Available on: Blu-ray (Scream Factory)
IMDb

“John Hancock” doesn’t sound like a real person, but he is indeed and he directed a really great movie. Let’s Scare Jessica to Death is an incredibly eerie and dreamlike piece of work that immediately brings to mind another new favorite of mine, Messiah of Evil (1973). Both focus on a vaguely vampiric plague in a body-of-water-dependent small town. While Messiah more or less comprises surface-level terrors, this film introduces an unstable narrator in Jessica, recently released from a mental health facility, who might simply be cracking again as she begins to suspect her and her husband’s houseguest of being a 100-year-old vampire feeding on the unfriendly townsfolk. Zohra Lampert plays Jessica to absolute perfection, nailing her precarious balance on an emotional precipice, trying her best to push towards happiness but always afraid of a relapse into madness. Her pursed smile; startled, unsure body language; and moments of mania are small-scale masterpieces. Near-whispered-yet-frantic voiceovers are expertly leveraged to convey the chaos in Jessica’s head without slipping into melodrama. Mariclare Costello’s Emily is equally mesmerizing — there’s a surface innocence that belies her more sinister intentions. Orville Stoeber’s creepy synth score, one of the first in a horror movie, is brilliant and carries a heavy load in setting the tenor. In addition to the slow-burning fright and psychological horror, there’s commentary about the disappointing death of the counterculture movement. The film is very deliberately but well-paced, with a measured climax that never reaches a true crescendo. The film poses a lot of questions, but doesn’t provide substantive answers, and that will likely turn some viewers off. Is Emily really a vampire? Is she just a manifestation of Jessica’s disdain for her husband? The movie isn’t interested in deciding these sorts of things for you. But Let’s Scare Jessica to Death is something very rewarding if you’re willing to experience it.

Overall rating: 9 out of 10