[Editorial] 50 Years Later: Let's Scare Jessica to Death (1971)

Let's Scare Jessica to Death is one of several American horror movies that focus on hippies gone haywire. In this case, the hippies are Jessica (Zohra Lampert), a sweet and gentle woman with a lingering sense of unease after her stint in a psychiatric hospital; Duncan (Barton Heyman), her increasingly disappointing husband; Woody (Kevin O'Connor), their loyal but clueless pal; and Emily (Mariclare Costello), a mysterious woman who just so happens to be squatting in the farmhouse Jessica, Duncan and Woody have moved into. 

The cult classic was released in 1971, following the crash-and-burn death of the 1960s in America. The sexual evolution was underway, and times were changing, especially for young adults. Although feminism was blossoming in the 1970s, the world Jessica finds herself trapped in is teeming with misogyny. Mere moments into the film, Jessica, Duncan and Woody are taking their car (a hearse with the word LOVE spray-painted on it) to their farmhouse via ferry. When they're asked what's in the hearse, Duncan quips that it's his mother-in-law. A small mean joke, sure, but it certainly sets the anti-woman tone for the film. 

For a movie that includes the heroine's name in its title, Let's Scare Jessica to Death is dominated by men. Not only is Jessica fairly deferential toward her husband, but with the exception of Jessica and Emily, the entire town is made up of men bearing suspicious scars, especially on their necks. There are no other women to be seen. And they're not just men – they're almost entirely leering men, who stare and ogle Jessica everytime she goes into town. 

The farmhouse, however, still bears the psychic footprint of a previous female inhabitant: Abigail Bishop. As Jessica and Duncan learn during a visit into town, Abigail Bishop drowned in 1880, just before her wedding day. Her body was never found, and many inhabitants of the town believe she's a vampire who roams around the area – and who haunts the farmhouse. An old photo of Abigail and her parents staring sullenly ahead fascinates Jessica, who finds it in their attic. 

As for the human (we think) women, Emily is introduced as Jessica's foil. Where Jessica is compassionate and demure, Emily is wild and unpredictable. Emily has what can only be described as Manson girl vibes, and this is not a compliment. The physical differences between the two women are also striking. Jessica has dark hair and dark eyes, and she frequently wears skirts; Emily has red hair and green eyes, and she wears pants. She's also clad in a bright red shirt for most of the film, stressing the dangerous vibes she holds. 

Emily treats Jessica contemptuously at best and terrorizes her at worst. There are multiple scenes of her making eyes at Duncan (Jessica's thoughts are softly narrated over the scenes: "He likes her"), even washing him lasciviously in the lake, all the while monitoring Jessica to see her reaction. In a scene of massive foreshadowing, Emily and Duncan even begin duetting with their guitar and upright bass, respectively. 

In one of the most horrifying scenes in Let's Scare Jessica to Death, Jessica and Emily sit by the lake together, even after Jessica tells Emily, "Water kind of frightens me." Emily had unsuccessfully tried in a previous scene to seduce Jessica, and she seems to try again here as she sensuously puts lotion on Jessica, easing down the straps of her bathing suit. Jessica is visibly uneasy, and it only gets worse. 

Emily pushes Jessica into the water over and over. Frantic and terrified, Jessica asks to be left alone, but Emily won't let her be. Just as Jessica starts to calm down, Emily disappears and reappears… wearing Abigail Bishop's wedding dress. Unable to cope (and for good reason), Jessica runs back to the house and locks herself in her room, even barricading the door. No one comes to find her. 

In a scene that brings to mind Charlotte Perkins Gilman's story The Yellow Wallpaper (an early example of feminist literature that surely influenced Let's Scare Jessica to Death), Jessica remains trapped in her room, scared and alone. Her thoughts grow darker and darker – "You want to die, why go on?" she asks herself. Jessica is a woman with very little of her own and no emotional support. And like the protagonist in The Yellow Wallpaper, Jessica is treated like she's losing her mind, even though she's actually seeing reality for what it is.

One might wonder: Where is Jessica's husband Duncan during this melee and its aftermath? As Jessica has predicted, Duncan likes Emily, and he wastes no time sleeping with her – despite the fact that his best friend Woody is interested in her and that he himself has a wife living under the very same roof. Emily and Duncan are even so brazen as to kiss in full view of Jessica's window, confirming her fears. 

After Emily tries to drown her, Jessica hitches a ride to town to try to find Duncan. She can't locate him, and she eventually passes out from exhaustion outside the farmhouse. She wakes up in the dark, all alone. Duncan finally finds her, and she apologizes for some reason that seems unclear. When they return to the farmhouse, Jessica gets into bed with Duncan, who is acting uncharacteristically kind. 

But nothing good ever lasts, at least for Jessica – just as she notices a huge gash on Duncan's neck, Emily appears (still in the wedding dress!) holding a knife. Then Jessica realizes that the townspeople (all men!) are huddled in the bedroom with them. Jessica runs out and finds Woody, riding his trusty old tractor. Unfortunately, Woody – who had gotten his neck chewed by Emily earlier in the film – is dead. 

Jessica tries to board the ferry as daylight breaks, but she's told, "The ferry isn't running for you." In survival mode, she gets on a rowboat and pushes it out onto the lake, still in her nightgown. A hand grabs onto the rowboat, and she beats the person attached to death – as luck would have it, it's Duncan. It's unclear if he was coming to rescue her or attack her. Considering he came from the murky depths of the lake (just as Emily emerged from the lake in Abigail Bishop's wedding dress), it's a safe bet he wasn't there to row her to safety. 

Jessica looks back to shore and sees the townsfolk and Emily waiting and watching her. She sits alone in her rowboat, drifting, and the just-risen sun is that dangerous orangey red worn by Emily throughout much of the movie. Our heroine is abandoned and terrified. She slumps down, then sinks down completely as melancholy piano music plays over the ending credits. "Madness or sanity," she asks herself. "I don't know which is which." 

But doesn't she? Jessica is actually the only character with a decent head on her shoulders, if we accept that the townsfolk (and Emily/Abigail Bishop) are vampires – and this is a horror film, so it's a perfectly acceptable explanation. Both Duncan and Woody lost their heads (and probably a decent amount of blood) over a sexy stranger; Emily herself was purely evil throughout the film, manipulating Jessica and Woody, and even murdering Jessica's pet mole. Of course Jessica would want to run away – of course she would pick up on the danger pulsing around her. 

When Jessica sees things that she can't explain, she thinks, "Don't tell them; they'll never believe you." But what she sees is real, and unfortunately, the disbelief of the other three characters makes Jessica doubt herself even more. Let's Scare Jessica to Death was ahead of its time. Emotional abuse and gaslighting is a more common theme in modern day horror movies, but it wasn't as prevalent in the 1960s and 1970s. Jessica is living by her husband's whims, and she's constantly treated like an overly delicate and mentally unstable woman. 

But Jessica is also the only (human) character to survive at the end. Watching her sink into her rowboat is painful. Has she given up? Has she accepted the misogynistic judgment placed on her throughout the film? There's no solid answer. But it's nice to imagine Jessica sitting up in that rowboat, paddling her way to safety and living a new life on her own terms after escaping from the haunted farmhouse – and her haunted relationship. 

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