JESSABELLE Review

Release Date: November 7, 2014
Director: Kevin Greutert
MPAA Rating: PG-13

These days it seems like Jason Blum and his production company, Blumhouse Productions, are continuously churning out quality, low-budget horror, with hits like Insidious, Sinister, The Purge, and Paranormal Activity under its belt. With such a large slate of successes, it’s easy to become interested in anything that may have the Blumhouse moniker, so I was naturally hopeful for its newest release, Jessabelle. What’s more, this supernatural horror film stars Sarah Snook and Mark Webber, both of whom I like quite a bit, and it’s written by Reno 911! co-creator Robert Ben Garant. Sadly, despite the talent involved, Jessabelle doesn’t manage to be anything more than the next forgettable haunted house story.

Sarah Snook plays Jessie, a young woman who survives a terrible car accident and must spend some time with her father in her childhood home while tending to her injuries. The accident leaves her temporarily in a wheelchair, which limits her activities to wondering around the house looking at past memories of her deceased mother. After finding a stack of old VHS tapes from her mom warning her of a painful death, she starts witnessing some strange visions that progressively become more vivid and violent.

Jessabelle attempts to start off with a bang by having us witness the car crash that ignites this series of events, but in generic horror fashion, the camera is fixed to the side of the car so we see the car coming before the impact. This is a shot used far too much in movies these days and needs to be retired.

From here, the plot lurches forward, giving us small bits and pieces about Jessie’s past, which eventually leads to Voodoo rituals, vengeful spirits, possessions and murder. On paper, this sounds like a fun little supernatural fright flick set in the Louisiana bayou, but in execution, most of the film is a slog that keeps the scares to a bare minimum.

Robert Ben Garant’s script may contain all the right beats to create a serviceable horror film, but there’s nothing interesting about it whatsoever. Much of the dialogue feels extraneous and unnatural, like when Jessie’s father says “this was your mother’s room,” when she first arrives. If she grew up in this house, wouldn’t it be safe to assume she knows the layout?

After meeting up with Preston, a high-school sweetheart played by Mark Webber, Jessie and he begin to investigate the strange goings-on and the film begins to pick up some steam. Unfortunately, this buildup just leads to another VHS tape that includes one giant expository eruption explaining the entire movie. This reveals the inevitable twist, which wasn’t completely unsatisfying, even after I put the pieces together early on. There are some rather gaping holes in the conclusion, but they can’t be discussed without giving away the end. 

Sarah Snook’s performance is the best part of this film. Her character gets a raw deal from minute one, and Snook handily conveys the dread, sadness, and fear one might imagine this situation would cause.

Jessabelle is just another in a long line of PG-13-rated ghost stories that have been coming out on a nearly weekly basis, and while it may be more inventive than something like Ouija, it still doesn’t amount to be anything more than a forgettable thriller that will hopefully result in more work for its lead actress.

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