Codeliusthe2nd

Let's Scare Jessica to Death

Night 23 of 31 Nights of Halloween Yet another film that has been on my watchlist for ages, and I’m really glad that I finally was able to cross this one off the list. It’s a deeply indie flick, which offers up some wild acting and risky decisions, but ultimately lead to an entertaining watch. Some of the visuals throughout were stunning, especially in the opening minutes of the film. However, the film itself leaves you wanting more, especially from the story itself. It’s a fairly simple story which could have had a little more substance to it, since there was plenty of room to add more. I still enjoyed myself watching this little wacky film.

nathansnook

Let's Scare Jessica to Death

“𝘕𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴. 𝘔𝘢𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩.” At a crossroads of pure 70s oddity and mood piece of slight folk horror mixed with the psychological. Who else moves into a new town with a hearse? Who else invites a manic pixie dream hippie to come live with them for all hell to break loose? The whole film is digging yourself into your own head with constant monologues that question the sanity of our heroine, played incredibly vulnerable and raw by Zohra Lampert, who does not get enough credit for playing such an earnest character, capturing the very faults of our own fragility surrounding loss, trauma, and anxiety. The film leverages its low budget with amateur performances to its own advantage in easy makeup and slight terrors that create an unease throughout the buttfuck nowhere town. Practical effects with sound design that hisses and screeches with every turn of the periphery, through the dark and in the mind creates a claustrophobic trap in whispers and monologues. It’s incredible what can be achieved with so little, with a little horror that slips under the skin and into the subconscious with substantial heft.

julia ♡

Let's Scare Jessica to Death

The terror isn’t in the foggy morning, it’s in the people that you love turning on you. It’s a visceral, consuming fear, and nobody really ever gets it.  The terror isn’t in the vampires, it’s in your head. It’s the voices telling you you’re not good enough, telling you you’re not worthy of love.  The terror isn’t in the shadows, it’s everywhere. It’s everywhere and you can’t do anything about it except be scared to death. But that’s not an option either. So you keep surviving, day by day. You keep going, less of a forward motion than an unsteady crawl against a raging tide. You play the parts you’re supposed to until you don’t—dutiful daughter, loving partner. Then, slowly, you realize you’re alone. Eventually, you always are. The voices come back. You begin to reach out, scrabbling desperately for any type of handhold, anything you can think of to keep you safe from the raging tide of your own despair, even temporarily. It becomes harder to play your assigned parts. Cracks appear in the facade. That’s when you find out who’s really there for you, when you’re not the golden girl anymore and you begin to struggle.  Hi, I’m Julia and this is the story of my life. My public “persona” has always been brutally honest. Even now that my twitter sits around 5700 followers and I hover around 700 on here, I’m still extremely open about my struggles. I don’t pretend that I am what I used to be—star student, dutiful daughter, perfect partner, and that’s because I’m not. I am in living hell, whether it’s financially, emotionally, or now physically. I don’t know what new wave each day will bring, and each morning I wake up scared to death, just like Jessica. I wake up, and the voices are there.  You know what else is there? My friends. I’m not going through this alone. I have sisters around the world, and maybe they’re not blood relatives but they’re more. They’re my rocks, my handholds that keep me safe from the vampiric lust that pursues me. I relate to Jessica, enough to write this review, but I am not Jessica, alone in this world. I have love, and I know they love me too.