 Decemberdike
December 6th - Let's Scare Jessica to Death (1971)
I didn't see this one coming. By rights this should be terrible. It's slow and truth be told not an awful lot happens, but, and this is a big but, it has atmosphere in spades. It has that crumbling 70's grindhouse feel of dread to it akin to say Last House on the Left, yet that's as far as the comparison goes. Let's Scare Jessica to Death has an eeriness about it, a creeping terror that gets under the skin, and an eerie electronic score that complements the visuals so well, it's difficult to describe, it's almost Ghost Story for Christmas like in it's fear factor.
Zohra Lampert is excellent as Jessica, with a performance steeped in paranoia, attempting to recover from a breakdown but seemingly pursued by the forces that drove her to it in the first place.
Let's Scare Jessica to Death is a film that cries out for repeat viewings.
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