Leofwine_draca This is a film that works best by at first creeping up on you and then grabbing you on the spine. Nothing is what it seems here as the central character has recently been released from a mental institute and is unsure of whether the events she believes are happening are real, or in fact a figment of her imagination. By developing a tense atmosphere and building up a lot of suspense, this film is a rarity that really does manage to provoke chills.While watching, it's hard to ignore the '70s fashions and the whole dated, arty, hippy mentality. However, if you do manage to overcome these obstacles then you're in for a darned good film. The acting is amateurish and yet suited to the piece; who better to portray normal people than, well, people off the street? The female lead is absolutely wonderful, playing a mentally unstable woman who is the heroine of the film, and who everybody else believes is crazy in any case.Towards the end of the film, things really begin to gel together as the chills become more focused. In one spellbinding, transfixing scene a pale figure rises out of a lake, a haunting apparition. The townsfolk are clearly involved in some huge conspiracy, leading to lots of INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS-style paranoia. A clear reminder that violence and gore are not necessary for a horror film to scare, this underrated classic is highly unsettling.

Wuchak Released in 1971, "Let's Scare Jessica to Death" chronicles events after the title character (Zohra Lampert) gets out of a mental institution and moves into an old house on coastal Connecticut with her husband (Barton Heyman) and a friend (Kevin O'Connor). There they discover a hippie-like squatter named Emily (Mariclare Costello) whom they eventually invite to stay because they all get along. Jessica starts to hear voices as they catch wind of rumors of a drowning victim from 90 years earlier who's now a ghost or maybe even a vampire. Are the increasingly crazy happenings real or all in Jessica's mind? This is a realistic mystery/horror movie in the mold of 1967's "The Shuttered Room" and 1962's "Carnival of Souls." I mean 'realistic' in the sense that the tone is believable. It's a low-key, haunting slow-burner, so if you want over-the-top, cartoony horror, look elsewhere.Zohra Lampert is effective as the mentally unstable protagonist. The way the movie constantly looks into her thought-life and the uncertainties thereof is reminiscent of 1968's "Rachel, Rachel." The theme is the hypnotic power of a woman, in this case a potentially evil woman. Reflect on Jessica's situation at the end. If she dares to speak out, who would believe her story? The drowning victim from the 19th century was named Abigail. I bet this was where King Diamond got the name for his notable 1987 horror-metal concept album.The movie runs 98 minutes and was in Connecticut, USA (Essex, Chester, East Haddam & Old Saybrook).GRADE: B

Johan Louwet Slow burners can really be good but a formula for success they are not at least not for me. I think Zohra Lampert did a good job playing Jessica, a young woman recently released from a mental hospital trying to pick up her life again with her husband Duncan and friend of the family Woody. they move into a house on the countryside where they meet up with Emily, who had broken into the house. But Jessica feels sorry for this young girl who seemingly has no place else to go, so Emily can stay as long as she desires. So the townspeople are quite weird, Emily gets manipulative over the newbies and Jessica hears voices in her head. She also sees things that others don't but still she tries her best that nothing is wrong. If not for her good screenplay I would have rated this movie even lower. The other characters including Emily are just not interesting nor is the storyline any exciting and pretty predictable at that. The finale is really disappointing. Not a fan of vampires but this must be one of the lamest vampire movies I have seen.

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.