Oscure presenze

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.

When I first saw the trailer for this film, I thought to myself; "Wow, now that seems like it could be a tense film, she's stuck in a wheel chair the whole time". I stand by that comment; any horror film with the main character being terrorized or haunted and they are stuck, immobile, will lead to greater stakes. That individual can't run away, they can't really hide, they're stuck. I was game to see this flick.

Jessabelle tells the tale of a young beautiful woman who has her dreams cut short by an accident, which leaves her unable to walk. Confined to a wheel chair, she calls her absentee father to come and pick her up. She moves in with him and finds these old VHS tapes around the house with messages from her mother, whose dead, about Jessabelle's fate. You guessed it, her fate isn't looking to good. Her mother see's death, torture and ghosts in poor Jessabelle's future and her future lurks behind every corner.

Okay, so now we have a main character, physically confined to her chair. The threat isn't really tangible, it's a ghost, so that can come out of nowhere. You're not safe in any room, any corner, or under any sheets. Great, this is good news, the tension will come....the tension will come....I'm sure the tension will eventually come....the tension never came.

Jessabelle disappoints me so much in that area. Not once did I ever really fear for her character. Sure things get a little creepy, but those scare tactics are clichéd and tired out. Even the added bonus of our disabled character, couldn't save the film from that. This film only works, barely, due to the performance from Sarah Snook. Snook was nominated in last years Mofo Film Awards for her role in Predestination. She failed to win, but did indeed turn some heads. She does so again, for me at least, with her honest performance here. She's beautiful, but that doesn't define her character, as so many horror movie characters go that route. Here, Snook gives Jessabelle some depth and some empathy, something a lot of horror flicks lack. So Jessabelle earns some points there.

The final reveals fail to live up to the moderate build up. So the end result is a poor result all around. The film lacks a lot of much needed scares and more importantly, tension and fear for the well being of our main character here. If Jessabelle looks like an interesting film to you, don't be fooled, it's not.

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.

I found out about this movie through IMDb and decided to give it a spin. It had a lot more than I was initially expecting. It has got a couple of clichés that we have seen before, but besides that the movie definitely creeped me out. The house and it's setting give of a chilly vibe and works as a set. The movie creates a creepy atmosphere and doesn't rely on jump scares. The lead gives of a decent to good performance and is convincing in her role. Jessabelle is not really predictable, but when the ending explains how everything fits together there is a part of you that did know deep inside this was how it was gonna turn out. It doesn't disappoint in the end and it's surely is a movie that's worth the watch. Be sure to watch it alone in the dark so the atmosphere can creep you out at it's fullest.

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.