Daily Halloween: Night 4

I jumped back to 1971 for last night’s movie. By then the world had seen Romero’s gory Night of the Living Dead and the almost naturalistic evil in Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby (both 1968). Mario Bava expanded on Psycho’s (1960) edginess by introducing the violent, trashy but stylish giallo in the mid-1960’s, but the genre doesn’t seem to have fully bled over (hah) into America’s popular consciousness until later in the 70’s.  And 1971 was still a few years before the American-bred horror renaissance of Wes Craven and Tobe Hooper.

Let’s Scare Jessica To Death (1971) has a look from the New Hollywood and the feel of a gothic tale. When the film begins, Jessica (Zohra Lampert) is recently out of a mental hospital and she, her husband, and a friend are escaping the city and driving to their new home in rural Connecticut, a journey that includes a portentous river-crossing by ferry. From the first scenes Jessica maintains a troubled internal dialogue, has visions of ominous figures, and hears near-constant creepy breathy whispering. The film’s first third feels as much a psychological thriller as a supernatural horror film, and it suggests that all of the weird happenings may be borne from her madness, and it even seems possible that she is being intentionallydriven insane. It toys with this pretense until the end but it shows its hand pretty early.

Director John D. Hancock and cinematographer Robert M. Baldwin make great use of the old house and, especially, the pastoral setting, which seems summery and vibrant one moment and stark and foreboding the next. The film’s other strengths lie in its two female leads. Lampert is jaggedly vulnerable but always comes across as a real person facing her demons (which of, course, are probably not just her demons). Mariclare Costello plays Emily, a mysterious drifter they find squatting in the house who quickly falls into their lives. Costello is an interesting presence, ethereal and magnetic in her way but with a natural roundedness that belies her true role in the story. The film relies heavily on their performances and much of the tension comes from the interplay of their expressions and subtle spoken hints.

Costello as Emily

I admired this film and was glad to see it after reading about it for a while. Subtle by today's standards, but spooky and interesting.