Let's Scare Jessica to Death

PG-13

1971

1h 29m

Horror

List

36%

Tomatometer

11 Reviews

50%

Audience Score

1,000+ Ratings

Newly released from a mental ward, Jessica (Zohra Lampert) hopes to return to life the way it was before her nervous breakdown. But when Jessica moves to a country house with her husband (Barton Heyman) and a close friend (Kevin O'Connor), she finds a mysterious girl living in there who may or may not be a vampire. Jessica's terror and paranoia resurface as evil forces surround her, making her wonder: Are the visions real or is she slipping back into madness?

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Stefan Kanfer

TIME Magazine

With the exception of Zohra Lampert's subtle and knowledgeable performance, no one in the cast has enough substance even to be considered humanoid.

Feb 8, 2018

Full Review

Eric Henderson

Slant Magazine

Let's Scare Jessica to Death spends 90 minutes tapping lightly but incessantly on its heroine's fragile sanity, as though it were some sort of Faberg S&M model egg.

Rated: 1.5/4

Aug 27, 2006

Full Review

Dann Gire

Chicago Daily Herald

A harrowing early cheapie effort from first-time director John D. Hancock...

Nov 2, 2021

Full Review

Chris Plante

Polygon

Director John Hancock and lead actress Zohra Lampert collaborate to produce something stranger and vaguer than the film's countless contemporaries, giving the heroine far greater agency.

Oct 20, 2020

Full Review

Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

A cult fave, but not once does it ever come close to matching the under-the-skin potency of such gems as Carnival of Souls, Night of the Living Dead and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

Rated: 2/4

Feb 5, 2020

Full Review

Paul Chambers

Movie Chambers

A promising exercise in weirdness that will have you hanging until the end.

Rated: B-

Sep 16, 2013

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Patrick S

More like "Let's Bore Jessica to Death."

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

06/11/23

Full Review

Leigh C

Super creepy, scary movie. Genuine chills, without resorting to gore. Eerie music and atmosphere too.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

10/30/22

Full Review

carrianne h

The last 20 minutes of the film were OK. Honestly the film as a whole was terribly disappointing. TCM aired it recently and mentioned that this movie voted as an underrated classic that must be watched. Meh. Jessica's narration was annoying and her deep voice was irritating. Duncan, Jessica's husband, was a gaslighting jerk and Jessica was completely out of his league. The hippy girl, Emily, who stayed with them was bizarre and no way I would have let her stay. Oh and what's up with violence against animals in all these 70's horror flicks. Just weird. Btw the "mole" that Emily decapitates was a mouse not a mole. It was boring and all the main characters were unlikable.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

dave s

Sure, the title Let's Scare Jessica to Death is sort of fun and intriguing, but it isn't long before you start wondering who exactly is trying to scare Jessica to death or is anyone actually trying to scare Jessica to death. And then you stop caring. And then you're left hanging by a murky ending. It's all more than a bit frustrating. There are a couple of moments of lingering suspense, but they peter out pretty quickly. It's a low-budget B-movie and it feels as though the filmmakers were improvising along the way, leaving them hanging when the money ran out and desperate to wrap things up. Sadly, none of it makes much sense. Imagine a movie titled The Butler Did It, but there's no butler in the film. That's how Let's Scare Jessica to Death feels.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Jessica, her husband Duncan and their friend Woody arrive at a new house in the country that Jessica and Duncan have bought. When they arrive they are surprised to find someone squatting there. They ask this person, Emily to join them for their evening meal and then to sleep there for the night. The next day Jessica asks Emily to stay at the house until she finds somewhere else to live. From here on in strange things start to happen to Jessica. She has already just been discharged from a psychiatric hospital into Duncan's care and so she doesn't share what is happening as she thinks Duncan and Woody will think these events aren't real and are merely down to her psychological state. In fact, the notion of gaslighting and the doubting of one's reality feature prominently within the film. Jessica starts to see a blonde girl who appears at chosen times but then runs away again. When she is out swimming, someone or something grabs her under the water. Jessica and her husband find items in the attic that belonged to the previous owners of the house and decide to sell them to the antiques dealer in the local town. He tells them the history of the family who used to live in there- they were called the Bishops and their daughter Abigail drowned just before her wedding. But he tells them that locals say that in fact she isn't dead and is in fact a vampire who is always on the hunt for fresh victims. To give away anymore plot points would be to ruin the film and so they will end there! Let's Scare Jessica To Death is a fantastic gem of a film. Made in 1971 by director John Hancock, it has an air and feel all of it's own. I love the fact that we are privy to Jessica's thoughts which add another layer to the film and a palpable paranoia to proceedings. There's also the subtext of the city folk vs the locals that feels fresh here rather than cliched. And the locals of the local town are very unwelcoming indeed. In fact, they're downright scary. And why are they all bandaged in some way? There are elements of Carnival of Souls within the film and Hancock's film feels like it had some kind of influence on Spielberg's Something Evil (which, by the way, STILL hasn't been issued on Blu Ray. Scream Factory are the perfect candidates for this. Just a thought). Let's Scare Jessica To Death is a forgotten gem that isn't forgotten anymore. In fact, it's reputation has deservedly snowballed since it's original release. Hancock went on to direct the early De Niro masterpiece Bang The Drum Slowly which is also highly recommended.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/19/23

Full Review

marco b

A woman is released from a mental institution and goes on holiday with her husband and friend. They meet a local woman who isn't all she appears to be. Some supernatural elements.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

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John D. Hancock

Director

Zohra Lampert

Jessica

Barton Heyman

Duncan

Kevin O'Connor

Woody

John D. Hancock

Screenwriter

Charles B. Moss Jr.

Producer

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Synopsis

Newly released from a mental ward, Jessica (Zohra Lampert) hopes to return to life the way it was before her nervous breakdown. But when Jessica moves to a country house with her husband (Barton Heyman) and a close friend (Kevin O'Connor), she finds a mysterious girl living in there who may or may not be a vampire. Jessica's terror and paranoia resurface as evil forces surround her, making her wonder: Are the visions real or is she slipping back into madness?

Director: John D. Hancock
Screenwriter: John D. Hancock
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Horror
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 12, 2014
Runtime: 1h 29m

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