Let’s Scare Jessica to Death is a psychological vampire film directed by John Hancock and released in 1971. The film begins with, Jessica (Zohra Lampert), recently release from a mental institution, and her husband Duncan (Barton Heyman) decide to leave New York City for a farmhouse in the country. They bring their friend Woody (Kevin O’Conner) to help them settle in.
When they arrive, they find a woman named Emily (Mariclare Costello) already residing in the house. After allowing Emily to stay the night, Jessica and Duncan decide to let her stay permanently. Jessica, still in a fragile state, begins to hear voices and see apparitions.
Duncan and Jessica decide to sell some antiques found in the house. Of those is a family picture of the Bishop family that lived in the house in the late 1800’s. Abigale Bishop, just before her wedding-day tragically drowned in the cove behind Jessica’s new home. The photo of Abigale looks strikingly like Emily. The legend says that Abigale still roams the island as a vampire.
Jessica descends into madness, not knowing what is real and what is fantasy. Duncan eventually suggests that they go back to the city as a thinly veiled attempt to have her recommitted.
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Unraveling the Islands Story
As the story winds toward its haunting conclusion, Jessica’s fragile perception of reality begins to splinter entirely. The boundaries between the living and the dead, friend and foe, blur in a haze of paranoia and whispered menace. The quiet lakeside town that once promised refuge now feels suffocating, its residents marked by an unsettling commonality. It’s as though they share in some secret history or a shared affliction.
Panic drives Jessica into the dark waters, desperate to escape a presence that seems to follow no matter where she turns. The tension builds to a fever pitch, leaving the audience stranded between hallucination and horror, uncertain of what, if anything, can still be trusted.
How Scary is It?
Let’s Scare Jessica to Death purports by some to be one of the scariest movies of all time. Needless to say that this offers an enticing bit of information. The reality of this film is that its credentials are slightly overstated.
The film’s pacing is slow and its structure is confused. There are unexplained mysteries like a mute girl running around the graveyard that just feel like a lazy loose ends.
Overall, the acting gets the job done. Lampert succeeds in believably coming apart at the seams. Her performance evokes a feeling of loneliness, even in the midst of company. Zohra Lampert, also appears in The Exorcist III, further cementing her horror bonafides.
Mariclare Costello’s portrayal of Emily excels at being enigmatic and quietly threatening.
While the film succeeds wildly at creating a foreboding psychological thriller rooted in folk horror and vampirism, it’s claim as the scariest film of all time is subjective at best. To be clear, it is very compelling film, but its legacy is likely overstated.
A Worthy Entry Point Into Psychological Horror
The only really interesting open question is whether Duncan was a vampire, a human or a mirage when he is ventilated with the knife. Intentionally, Director John Hancock leaves this answer blank.
While compelling, the film does squander great potential and never really reaches the height that should. It tries to be a psychological horror film with a supernatural twist. However, it pales in comparison to classic psychological horror movies like The Changeling and Burnt Offerings.
Let's Scare Jessica to Death (1971) - Haunting Psychological Horror - Malevolentdark
Director: John D, Hancock
Date Created: 1970-01-01 00:32
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