LET'S SCARE JESSICA
TO DEATH (1971)
Directed by John D. Hancock
Paramount Home Video DVD
THE FILM
Let's Scare Jessica To Death:
A sort-of-review.
When you write a bunch of reviews,
you start to think "What is
a critic supposed to do?" I
went for a wander around to other
review sites and tried to gauge
what other folks were up to. There
are some excellent reviewers out
there. Perceptive people whose reviews
you want to read regardless of what
the film is. The reading is enough.
Then, there are the others...
I saw a newspaper from somewhere
in Florida that had a column called
"Everybody's A Critic".
Folks from the community sent in
their two cents. "The Guardian
doesn't have the originality of
Top Gun but it's still
worth seeing." "This is
a stupid movie and I can't imagine
why an intelligent person would
go see this." "Adam Sandler
is still a comedy god!" Things
like that. You can probably imagine
the sort of stuff in it. Technically,
everybody is a critic in his or
her own world. They are called opinions
and everyone should have them. Everyone
also has a story to tell. But, not
everyone is going to know how to
tell it. I love my Aunt Beverly
dearly and she's had a very interesting
life but I wouldn't want to spend
more than five minutes hearing her
talk about it. The articulation
of an opinion into something that
is meaningful and universal is a
real critique. A critique that means
something, that desires to express
something about the experience the
critic has just had. Bashing something
or someone is not. Picking on a
movie is not. Praising something
because everyone else does or because
of a big marketing scheme is not
either.
So, how do I try and critique? I
try to bring my personal viewing
habits into it, throwing in a story
when I can. What I know, what I've
seen and what it meant to me. Some
films require some explanation;
some films need little. I can demand
that you watch something. I can
tell you to walk a long mile before
you see something. What does any
of it mean? Zero. I can jump start
you towards something but that's
about it. And, some films should
be watched with the minimal amount
of push.
What is all of this in aid of? Consider
this review to be a small gift from
Bleeding Skull. Let's Scare
Jessica to Death is a low-key,
strange movie that is very good.
I watched it and couldn't take my
eyes off the screen. It won't reach
out and beat you with a stick. It
won't become your all-time favorite.
It just works. I think a viewer
should know as little about it as
possible before watching. Surprises
are great and it is the time of
year for them.
If I could, I'd buy you all the
DVD. I'm not that goofy, though.
AUDIO AND VIDEO
I'd seen it on VHS before. Some
films benefit from bad presentation.
Not this one. Watch the letterboxed
DVD. Some shots look a little strange
but I'm pretty sure they're supposed
to look like that. The DVD is the
way to go. Audio is perfectly fine.
Every note from the synthesizers
is like a little aural punch.
EXTRAS
Not a one.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Ignore the title, which is a bit
too loud for the movie. Watch Let's
Scare Jessica To Death and
enjoy.
— Dan Budnik, 12.07.06 |
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