Jessabelle

After watching the trailer for this film, I must say I had really high hopes. As a devout Horror fan with a declared preference towards ghost stories and hauntings, I had looked forward to seeing another usual film of the genre, mediocre yet frightening and fun to watch.

While Jessabelle is light-years away from competing with the sub- genres best like The Grudge or Dead Silence, it completes the task it unofficially took upon itself, as it obviously had no intentions of being profound or in any way great. Sarah Snook, while definitely not painful to look at to say the least, is far more than your usual Horror Eye-Candy made famous in classic Slashers. Trust me, this professional knows a hell of a lot more than screaming convincingly and looking fine in a bathing suite. This was my first encounter with her, and I must say she just might be the best thing about Jessabelle. Apparently she's been making quite a name for herself since 2012, and I can definitely see why. Even though her character is stuck in a wheel-chair, the empathy towards its desperation and helplessness is greatly created by Snook's acting skills.

As for the story, it suffers from one of the known banes of Horror - a mediocre plot twist leading to an anticlimactic ending, after a finely made build-up. At least there is a plot twist, true, as Horror films are highly upgraded by these in my opinion, but the one in Jessabelle simply feels unfulfilled. I find it difficult putting my finger on what should have been better about it, I just know it didn't create the sensation we expect from such twists. I believe that was the main reason for the ending being slightly wanting.

All in all, I found Jessabelle to be quite average, meaning anyone who doesn't expect to have their mind blown and being swept off their feet by a masterpiece could enjoy it quite a bit, as I did. Snook's acting and the sufficiently smart plot make it even slightly above average. As always, I would recommend that you ignore my humble opinion, watch it and judge for yourselves. If you ask me - as far as this one is concerned, it's definitely worth it.

"It says you're not alone. There's a presence in the house with you. She wants you out of the house." Jessie (Snook) has everything going for her. She is the happiest she has ever been and moving in with her boyfriend whom she loves. In an instant her life is changed. Now alone and paralyzed from the waist down she has no choice but to move in with her father whom she hasn't seen in years. When she finds and plays tapes that her dead mother left for her strange and horrifying things start to happen. I have to open by saying that I am not a big horror movie fan. Mainly due to the fact that recently the horror genre has been Saw-like or found footage type. The ones that scare me are the more psychological movies that mess with your head rather than show you how many ways people can be chopped up. This falls into that category. The movie doesn't need to rely on jump scares to get you. The fact that this one in grounded in reality with the random scare thrown in really makes this work. Overall, if you like movies like The Conjuring or Insidious then you will like this as well. This is one of the few movies that creeped me out in the last year. I liked it. I give it a B+.

I first saw the trailer for this flick in April of last year, at a showing for The Quiet Ones (bad movie, by the way; do not recommend). Being quite the fan of the southern Gothic genre, I wasn't exactly impressed by the trailer but wanted to see it regardless. For some reason or other, Jessabelle never made it to my local theaters - thus, I had to wait for the inevitable RedBox release to follow in January.

And what do you know, I finally got to watch it.

Jessabelle is not a perfect movie. It does have its flaws. It does have its clichés. But it is an honest attempt at making a horror flick and it does work. The atmosphere lends a hand, with spooky southern mansions and dark bayous. And as it so often does in stories like these, voodoo eventually takes center stage.

After recent horror releases like the dismal Oujia (a movie I personally despise), Jessabelle is a welcome change of pace. It is a slow-burner that brings to mind films such as The Skeleton Key (albeit 'Key being a superior effort).

The cinematography is quite good and the acting is effective. Sarah Snook is certainly leading lady material, and you can see her potential here front-and-center. Providing a sympathetic lead can make or break a film like this and Snook does not disappoint. A side note is that she is totally gorgeous and looks just the part for a sweet southern belle.

Final verdict: Jessabelle is nothing groundbreaking but one of the better horror flicks in recent years. Sarah Snook is one to keep an eye on. Worth a rental, but if you want to buy I'd say wait for it to hit the bargain bins.

Returning to her childhood home to recuperate from a horrific car accident, Jessabelle after finding some VHS tapes made by her deceased mother comes face to face with a mysterious spirit seeking vengeance.

Director Kevin Greutert offers an interesting deep south Louisiana chiller, in the vein of Angel Heart and the Skeleton Key to name a few. The slow burning mystery's special effects are excellently executed and there are plenty of jump scares. Notable are Mark Webber and Sarah Snook as Jessabelle. Chris Ellis gives a strong cameo as Sheriff Pruitt and David Andrews (Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines) gives a solid performance as Jessabelle's Dad Leon.

Even with some surprise deaths those familiar with the genre will have guessed writer Ben Garant's twist by the third act. But the novel idea of a mother making video tapes for her unborn child Jessabelle, then Jessabelle now a grown up watching them with her mother (who has since passed away) giving her daughter information via the tapes is a creepy and emotional idea.

With an abrupt tagged on closing the meat of Jessabelle has been seen before and it loses its originality and scare factor by the ends reveal. That said, Greutert's film is great looking with an eerie atmosphere that is lacking in so many horrors of late.

It's tough to judge or rate this. Because the essence was much better than what I was expecting. Even if you can see things coming (no pun intended), especially if you read reviews who give away certain things or you just have seen enough horror movies to know some things, you'll still be entertained by this.

And I did like where it went at the end (literally and metaphorically speaking). You could call it a nice twist, though many things could have been prevented if someone would have spoken out. The alternate or rather extended ending does not do anything more than the original did. Ending on the note the movie does right now is the best way to go out.