The movie opens with a lone figure in a boat in the end of a lake wondering aloud. In less than a minute, the scene completely changes to three happy people in a hearse. A hearse is an odd choice, I know, but it’s "cheaper than a station wagon" and it affords room in the back for Duncan’s giant cello and their luggage. Duncan (Barton Heyman) and his wife, Jessica (Zohra Lampert), are moving to a quiet home on a farm in the middle of nowhere. They used to live in New York City where Duncan played for the Philharmonic Orchestra, but Jessica had a mental breakdown and was hearing voices and seeing things. After six months in an institution, she is finally out, so Duncan decides to move her to a more peaceful life in the country where he can farm. Their best friend Woody (Kevin O’Connor) is also moving with them to help. Life should be a lot easier for Jessica now.
When they get to their new house, they find that there is already someone squatting there, a woman named Emily (Mariclare Costello). Emily says that she will go, but Jessica convinces her to stay and join them. The 70’s must have been a nice, peaceful place because I doubt you would see that in current days. Anyway, Jessica is really going to regret that decision in the coming weeks!
At first, it seems like this is a perfect match. Woody finds himself enchanted with Emily, which would give them two couples living out a happy life. Life isn’t that easy, even in that time and Emily is definitely not who she seems to be. Even from the beginning, Jessica thinks that she is seeing things and she sees a young blond woman (Gretchen Corbett) in the cemetery. She thinks that she is seeing a ghost. Later on, this woman leads her to find a body, trying to save her life. When Duncan starts to show attention to Emily, Jessica worries about what is going on! If Jessica hadn’t previously had mental problems with seeing things, all of these things would be a lot easier for her to deal with. As it is, she’s got to figure out who is real and what is really happening to everyone around her.
Overall Let’s Scare Jessica to Death is a solid horror movie. I’ve definitely seen many that were worse, but also many that were better. The twists were pretty straightforward and easy to see coming, but it still made logical sense. The DVD quality was a lot better than I expected. It looks like it has been completely remastered. There are no lines across the screen and there’s not a bit of grainy quality that you sometimes see in older films. The quality looks as if it could have been shot last week. Only the clothing styles and such let you know that it is an older film. If you’re a fan of older horror movies, you just might enjoy Let’s Scare Jessica to Death. To order this DVD, you will have to visit the Warner Archive Collection as they are printed on demand. Check out the link below.
