LET'S SCARE JESSICA TO DEATH

Zohra Lampert

LET'S SCARE JESSICA TO DEATH (1971). Co-written and directed by John D. Hancock. 

Jessica (Zohra Lampert) has been released from an institution after having some kind of nervous breakdown wherein she apparently had delusions. She and her husband, Duncan (Barton Heyman), decide to get away from the pressures of city life and take up farming, and they bring along pal Woody (Kevin O'Connor) to help out. In the house to which they've moved they discover Emily (Mariclare Costello), a squatter, but they encourage her to stay with them anyway, despite the fact that Jessica senses Duncan is attracted to her. The town seems to consist of strange and unfriendly old men, and Emily resembles a woman who once lived in the house and drowned before her wedding day. When Jessica starts having visions, we are uncertain if she is once again going mad or if someone is actually out to get her ... 

Barton Heyman

Jessica has many admirers, although most of them are viewers who are in love with ambiguity, which could be the film's middle name. I don't necessarily mind a little ambiguity now and then, but the screenwriters seem to be making up things as they go along, trying every possible avenue without offering any real solution. Jessica's mental state is paramount, but Jessica also hints at being a ghost story, a psychological marital drama, an ineffective vampire tale, and so on, with the result that it mostly comes off as a mess -- a mess that is oddly compelling at times, but a mess nevertheless. There's a lot of intriguing stuff buried in there but it is never mined in any dramatically viable fashion. 

Mariclare Costello

So we're left with performances from a cast that does not consist of young beauties or hunks but average-looking people who do the best they can with underwritten characterizations. The ever-weird Lampert is good, but the suggestion that her work is Oscar-worthy is ridiculous. There are some eerie moments (although I find it hard to believe some people were that scared by this flick) and the movie is moody and atmospheric enough. The film briefly takes a homoerotic detour when Emily seems to be coming on to Jessica, but this is never satisfactorily explored. Considering Jessica's mental state, it's bizarre that the family auto she and Duncan drive around in is a hearse, a strange touch that ultimately means little. The score is quirky but often inappropriate and overly noisy. If some viewers want to find deep meaning in this movie, be my guest, but I don't buy it. Director Hancock's most famous film is Bang the Drum Slowly. 

Verdict: Like both the heroine and the lead actress, this is odd -- too odd. **1/4.