Dumb Distraction Halloween 2005: In case you haven't heard... I love Halloween. You don't have to be thankful for anything... don't have to buy flowers for your good-for-nothing girlfriend... there's no need to make resolutions you're not going to keep... at it's best it Halloween season can even hold it's own against Christmas. When you think about it, it's really the least commercial of all the major holidays... the biggest purchase you're responsible for is an extra-large bag of candy corns.

Plus, it's a really great excuse for me to wallow in a month long orgy of horror movies. This Halloween, Dumb Distraction is your source for daily reviews of great horror movies. I've got a lot of good stuff lined up fron all ends of the horror spectrum... obscure foreign horror, classics from my childhood, direct to video zombie movies, high-brow thrillers and gorefests... Don't miss it!

Let's Scare Jessica To Death (1971)

Directed by: John D. Hancock
Starring: Zohra Lampert, Barton Heyman, Kevin O'Connor

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Jessica: I sit here and can't believe that it happened... and yet I have to believe it. Dreams or Nightmares. Madness or Sanity. I don't know which is which.

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Let's Scare Jessica to Death is a more complex movie than it's Exploitation-esque title would lead you to believe. By placing the viewer squarely in the middle of a non-stop descent into madness, John Hancock creates a truly frightening film that relies heavily on a spectacular performance from lead actress Zohra Lampert.

She seems so normal...

Lampert is Jessica, a young woman who has just finished a six month stay in a mental hospital. We are never told why she was there, but it is clear that she had some sort of nervous breakdown. Jessica's doctors have cleared her to return to normal life, but signs remain that she is not completely cured. Jessica seems jittery and unsure of herself, reacting nervously to strange and unfamiliar sights. One of the few things that seems to calm Jessica is making tracings of gravestones. This obsession is our first indication of Jessica's facination with death.

Jessica's unhealthy hobby.

Assisting Jessica in her attempt to return to normalcy is her husband Duncan and his good friend Woody. The three of them have purchased a house located just outside an isolated village. They plan to rest there, far away from the pressures and hassles of civilization. When they arrive at the house, they find a squatter, Emily, has been living there. Since Emily seems nice enough, the trio invite her to stay for a few days. With no where else to go, Emily gladly accepts.

While combing the house for antiques to sell, Jessica discovers a framed picture of the house's former owners, the Bishops. The Bishops moved out of the house when their young daughter Abigail acidentally drowned in a nearby lake on her wedding day. Something about the picture upsets Jessica... perhaps its the fact that Abigail looks quite a bit like Emily.

Jessica doesn't point out this similarity to the others, out of fear that it will turn out to all be in her head. She also fails to mention that she's been reguarly seeing a wedding dress-clad Abigail wandering the estate! About halfway through this film you realize you no longer know whether what you're seeing is real. Camera angles twist and distort. Disembodied voices echo from off-screen. Characters and items appear and disappear with no explanation. As Jessica loses her sanity, you begin to question your own.

Real or Imagined?

Hancock never backs down from his decision to disorient the viewer. There are several possible 'true explanations' for what goes on in this film, and Hancock allows the viewer to decide which one to believe. Part of the reason this film works so well is Lampert's performance as Jessica. Lampert appears extremely vulnerable as she convincingly portrays a woman who is losing her grasp on reality. If you're looking for a movie where stuff jumps out at you, this isn't it. If, on the other hand, you're looking for an atmospheric thriller, this is a must see.

- Micah