Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Woman Under the Influence

Let's Scare Jessica to Death (1971) - Hancock
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Jessica (Zohra Lampert) who just spent 6 months in NY institution, moves in to the idyllic Bishop manor near a lake in a small town with her supportive husband and their friend. They will be a farmer and she will get better in time. First, the small town folks are not only unfriendly but down right creepy with bandages on their wrists and on their necks. The trio then finds a strangely attractive redhead, Emily (Mariclaire Costello) living in their house. She warms everyone up and they agree on the beautiful vagabond staying with them indefinitely. While they are settling down, Jessica is seeing things and voices in her head mess up her quietude, make her question her sanity again.

Let's Scare Jessica to Death is a moody thriller that plays out as if Cassavetes tried his hands on the horror genre. It's a slow burn. Thank goodness the characters are not teenagers and there are no cheap scares. But with Lampert's great acting and eerie setting/cinematography/sound design, Let's Scare Jessica to Death is an unsettling little gem.