University of Virginia Library

CINEMA

'Jessica': Shaky Shocker

By STEVE GRIMWOOD

Take a girl who has just been
released from a mental
institution, put her in an
isolated farmhouse in the
backwoods of New England,
add a lot of strange occurrences
and mysterious people, and
you might end up with a fairly
good movie.

"Let's Scare Jessica To
Death" has the above qualities,
but lack a few others, such as
acting, direction, and plot.

This film is another in the
long line of potboiler shockers
that began with "Whatever
Happened To Baby Jane." The
suspense is at best shaky, with
a "shock" coming about every
eight minutes. The acting is
terrible, the plot ludicrous.
Generally, unless you are
weak-kneed and weak-minded,
"Let's Scare Jessica To Death"
is barely worth a few laughs.

(Now at the Paramount)