70s Flashback - Let's Scare Jessica To Death

[Messiahman]

Anyone else remember this creepy little classic? The phrase "they don't make `em like they used to" certainly applies in this case. Although the title suggests one of those "let's do something to get her inheritance" plots that were prevalent at the time, the movie is nothing of the like. It's low-key, slow burn horror at its finest, and there's such a poetic ambiguity to it all. Also, I think it handles the whole idea of hearing voices in your head just wonderfully. Is it a vampire film? A vengeful ghost film? Or is the lead character's viewpoint unreliable? That's for you to decide in this truly gothic story that offers no easy answers.

It's one of the most subtle yet scary films ever made, so haunting and lyrical that you can't help but get drawn in.

I'd kill for a restored copy of this gorgeous, eerie film on DVD.

[Messiahman]

Yeah, and it still scares me to this day. It's one of the very few horror movies (Lisa and the Devil comes to mind, as does Blue Velvet) where its scares go beyond simple shock tactics into the borders of the surreal, and it becomes disturbing because you've got nothing tangible to grab onto. It's arty yet never pretentious.

And I also think the original Friday the 13th stole the idea of having its surviving female character taking off in a rowboat at the end directly from this movie.

[Messiahman]

Exactly, Jess! Sadly, it's a style that seems to be more or less gone these days.

You want a great double feature? Watch this movie and then follow it up with Nicholas Roeg's wonderfully dreamy film, Don't Look Now.

Man, I really miss 70s horror.

[BillJohnson]

I saw it as part of a double feature with "Paint Your Wagon". Talk about a wierd combo. I loved the film and all the woman in the water stuff still is a great image in my head. They are doing a remake of the movie.

[biff]

Classic. I remember the first time I saw it -- it was on the CBS Late Night Movie (back in the 70s-80s before they had Dave). Scared the fuck outta me. I think the "soft shocks" of 70s horror was really what made them so potent; with the 80s everything became so over-the-top -- which ain't necessarily bad -- with prolly Halloween being the thematic bridge in a way.

[Messiahman]

They are doing a remake of the movie.

Do you know who's working on it, by any chance? I'm very dubious at the prospect of this -- I worry that they'll substitute the aging hippies with a bunch of WB teens and replace the subtle scares with MTV-style cutting and over the top gore...and that would really just suck.

Anyway, here's hoping they don't remake RACE WITH THE DEVIL any time soon -- I've got a helluva script outline for that.

[Messiahman]

By the way, Bill, every time someone mentions PAINT YOUR WAGON, I can't help but think of that classic Simpsons moment where Homer rents the film thinking it'll be a Clint Eastwood kill-fest.

Homer: "Ah, here's Lee Marvin. He's GOT to shoot somebody."

[BillJohnson]

It's still in the early stages, so there are not really much details from the info I have on the remake. I sent them some info and would like to work on it, but I have not heard anything back from them. Like I said, it is still early, though. I don't remember that Simpsons episode. That's pretty funny.

[thedudeabides]

That was the Simpson's singing compilation episode, where Homer, after getting duped by the musical, states that he hates musicals, and the rest of the family shows him clips of the cast singing through out the years.

Other than the "Wagon" moment, it's a pretty lame clip show.

I also love this gloomy, sad form of horror.

Ironically, I also saw Don't Look Now pretty much immediately after seeing this movie, so the two are forever intertwined in my mind.

[AndyL.]

Oh, man this is such a great movie. The gods smiled on me when I was a kid in the late '70s and got to watch this late at night - it gave me nightmares for weeks. The end is absolutely frightening (it helps if you saw it back in the '70s/early '80s, unless you have a wise-beyond-your-years appreciation for '70s horror). Great title, too. I love the part when one of the townspeople smacks the bald guy on the top of the head! Whack!! The lady in the lake is the stuff wicked dreams are made of.

The director actually made a recent indie horror film called "Suspended Animation". I have the movie poster to this horror favorite.