Let’s Scare Jessica to Death - 1971 quick review

Let’s Scare Jessica to Death- 1971 Dir. John Hancock written by John Hancock and Lee Kalcheim. Starring Zohra Lampert (Jessica), Barton Heyman (Duncan), Kevin O’Conner (Woody), Mariclare Costello (Emily)

After spending sometime at a mental asylum following a breakdown, Jessica, her husband Duncan, and their friend Woody move from New York City to Connecticut. They hope the change of scenery will help Jessica relax and Duncan is really excited to own and work an apple orchard. Upon reaching their new, gigantic and historic house, that has its own barn and orchard, they find out that a strange woman, Emily, has been squatting there. The four become fast friends. Until Emily gets covetous and Jessica starts seeing things that actually might really be there.

You really feel for Jessica throughout the film. She is always seconds away from a nervous breakdown and yet tries so hard to stay calm. There are moments when she locks up thinking she is hallucinating only to have Duncan or Woody reassure her that they also see what she saw. When those moments happen a wave of relief washes over Jessica. Almost absurd levels of relief. Now that she knows the person she saw run up the stairs was real she doesn’t seem too concern that someone they don’t know is running around in their new house. We get several inner monologues from Jessica and it helps to show how much she is working to fight against auditory and visual hallucinations. It also allows Lampert to play Jessica with more physical subtlety than her voice overs portray her.

The film is set in Connecticut, center, rural Connecticut. Land of trees, farms, ferries over rivers and small villages filled with old rednecks. Something most don’t imagine when they think Connecticut but made up a lot of my time when I lived there. A lot of Connecticut is worn down once you leave the large and midsized cities. This films captures that sort of dust and near abandonment.

The film has an unsettling, uneasy ambiance to it. In the locations, the acting, and the fact that not much is really explained as far as the ghouls that show up. Ghouls might not be the best name for them. Cult? Relaxed vampires? The film does not answer questions. It just makes you feel slightly sad and uneasy.

This was my first time watching this strange indie film. It is classy. Really bites into the hippie feeling of the time. I love that the threesome arrive into the village driving an old hearse. I love that there’s a musical sequence where Emily plays a lute and Duncan pulls out an upright bass to accompany her with. This is a film I’m going to want to revisit and just submerge myself into.