Jessabelle (2014)
Staci Layne Wilson
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Starring Sarah Snook, Mark Webber, David Andrews, Joelle Carter, Ana de la Reguera, Larisa Oleynik, Chris Ellis, Fran Bennett, Amber Stevens
Directed by Kevin Greutert
Not since The Ring — or at least V/H/S/2 — have videotapes wrought so much misery and horror. Although Jessabelle (Sarah Snook) is a modern young lady living in our present day world, she communicates with her long-dead mother (Joelle Carter) through a series of clunky videotapes. You see, Jess doesn’t have many friends… not live ones, anyway.
After losing her fiancé and unborn baby in a killer car wreck, Jess is wheelchair-bound and forced to recuperate at the derelict, remote Louisiana homestead with her taciturn father, who is less than happy to have her back in the fold. This is where Jess unearths not only her superstitious mother’s visual letters to her, but also a secret that leads to the manifestation of a malevolent presence that is determined to destroy her.
There are quite a few elements crammed in here: a car crash, mysterious deaths, a deadly fire, lethal insanity, hallucinations, handicapped heroine, secrets in a swamp, voodoo spells, tarot card divinations of doom… and that’s just for starters! There’s also a ghost that’s all too corporeal – not only can the ghost physically lay hands on and harm people, it gasps with breath when startled and has a penchant for projectile vomiting in victims’ faces. (And at one point Jess says the ghost “doesn’t want to hurt us. She needs our help.” Hm. With friends like that…) It’s all just too much. Less is more!
Having said all that, I rather liked the film. It’s a great acquittal for director Kevin Greutert, whose other features were the penultimate and final installments in the diminishing-returns canon of Saw films. It’s always hard, if not impossible, to stand out as a director and filmmaker when square-pegged into the round hole of a franchise that’s so rigidly shaped and closely overseen by its producers. Jessabelle is completely original material (penned by the same screenwriter who did Hell Baby and wrote for “Reno! 9-1-1”), and for fans of mysterious stories steeped in old-fashioned gumbo and swamplands, there’s phantom fun-o-plenty.
While there is a touch of found footage (via videotape), mostly the cinematography is classic and quite lovely. DP Michael Fimognari (Oculus, “The Walking Dead”) does a great job of switch-backing between now and 1988 and blurring dream and reality (even underwater!).
The acting is aces across the board, but lead Snook is an especially good ingénue – she’s a lovely pale-skinned, red-haired, blue- and wide-eyed heroine slightly reminiscent of girls of horror yore a la Mia Farrow or Sissy Spacek.
In spite of the kitchen sink of clichés and a ghost that’s far too kick-ass, Jessabelle is a compelling, and fun, little horror-thriller with an absolutely perfect conclusion.
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Film
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