Scanialara You won't be disappointed!

NekoHomey Purely Joyful Movie!

SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie

Marva It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

gavin6942 A recently institutionalized woman (Zohra Lampert) has bizarre experiences after moving into a supposedly haunted country farmhouse and fears she may be losing her sanity once again.In 2006, the Chicago Film Critics Association pronounced "Let's Scare Jessica to Death" the 87th scariest film ever made. In the 2010s, Time Out conducted a poll with several authors, directors, actors and critics who have worked within the horror genre to vote for their top horror films. "Jessica" placed at number 86 on their top 100 list. And in 2016, Rue Morgue magazine gave the film a cover story with in-depth coverage from Kim Newman and an extensive interview with director John Hancock.This being said, I figure it was high time I saw it for myself. And it really is a great film. Some aspects really suggest a late 60s or early 70s aesthetic (the impromptu jam session in particular) but this does not hurt the aging of the film in any way. In fact, it sort of helps put it in an older time, as there is something about the setting that suggests an era even earlier then the time of filming.The scares are achieved by a slower building of tension and an atmosphere of dread. We don't have a lot of blood and guts (though there is some), and the scares aren't generally cheap "jump" or "bus" scares.Does a good version exist? The one I saw was good, but a bit rough. Warner Archive does not seem to put in much effort to clean up their films.

Kellen Couzens My GF and I just finished watching LSJTD and we absolutely loved it. I was so surprised when I came on here and saw all the negativity toward the film and it's low rating. I've read through a lot of the comments about why some people don't like it and write such inane statements as "it's the worst movie I've ever seen". I'm not here to argue with anyone but here's what I think about it.First off Zorah Lampert. Wow. What a mesmerizing performance. Such fragility and grace is something you would not expect to see in a movie with this title. Even in between the scenes where she's battling her demons and suppressing her fears she exudes some almost childlike characteristics of happiness and inquisitiveness. So innocent yet such a victim of her mind and circumstance. I really felt for Jessica in this movie. I wanted to protect her. I wanted her to be okay and watching her unravel for me was the scariest part of this movie. Zorah Lampert was made for this role. Stunning. This movie should be seen just for her performance alone. I can't praise it enough.It moves along at a slower pace, yes that true, but it's completely necessary. This movie is not about jump scares. It isn't about throwing scare after scare at you. It's about building tension and creating a creepy atmosphere. So everyone saying they were waiting for something to "happen" were looking at it from the wrong angle. I think plenty happened. I wouldn't even really call it a horror. More so a supernatural/psychological thriller and as someone who loved the movie the pace was just right.I also liked that fact that it's open to interpretation. Was it all in her head? Was she hallucinating? Because it does get far fetched toward the end but I think it still fits perfectly with her spiraling out of control and where her mind must have been at. One reviewer thinks she may have hallucinated the whole thing and may have been sitting on the boat the whole time. So many ways to look at it and I love films like that.That's all I really got to say about. An excellent creepy old classic with a flawless lead performance. A forgotten gem if there ever was one.

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'.

JasparLamarCrabb Creepy perhaps but no real scares are to be had in director John D. Hancock's film. Neurotic Zohra Lampert is released from a mental hospital and takes up residence in an old manor house (where, of course, some untoward shenanigans took place). She starts hearing voices, seeing ghosts and a rather insistent dead woman in a lake. Lampert is fine and Mariclare Costello is terrific as Emily, who's not really as nice as she seems. Hancock's direction is OK, but he doesn't seem to realize that he's making a horror movie; the film is so inert it's boring. There are odd touches here and there (Lampert's mode of transportation is a hearse) and some fine production values, but they're all for naught. Without scares, it's hard to recommend a supposed horror film.