Jessabelle (2014)

Returning to her childhood home in Louisiana to recuperate from a horrific car accident, Jessabelle comes face to face with a long-tormented spirit that has been seeking her return -- and has no intention of letting her escape.

Director:

Kevin Greutert

Writer:

Robert Ben Garant

Stars:

Sarah Snook, Mark Webber, Joelle Carter

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sarah Snook	...	Jessie
Joelle Carter	...	Kate
Mark Webber	...	Preston
David Andrews	...	Leon
Ana de la Reguera	...	Rosaura
Amber Stevens West	...	Dead Girl (as Amber Stevens)
Chris Ellis	...	Sheriff Pruitt
Brian Hallisay	...	Mark
Vaughn Wilson	...	Moses
Larisa Oleynik	...	Sam
Fran Bennett	...	Mrs. Davis
Paul Garrett	...	Christophe
Barbara Weetman	...	Nurse
Jason Davis	...	Surgeon
Lucius Baston	...	Mr. Woods

Storyline

Jessabelle "Jessie" Laurent is pregnant and accepts to move to the house of her boyfriend to raise a family of their own. However they have a car accident where her boyfriend and her baby die. Jessie is seriously wounded and trapped to a wheelchair, and the direction of the hospital asks her to contact her estranged father to help her. Leon Laurent brings his daughter to his house in Louisiana and lodges her in her mother's room. Jessie snoops around the room and finds a videotape where her mother Kate Laurent is pregnant and reads tarot cards to her. She tells that Jessie would never left Louisiana; she is attracted by water; and another woman wants her out of the house. However Leon arrives and destroys the tape. On the next morning, Jessie watches another videotape when her father is out of the house, and her mother talks about the man that had taught her to read cards, Moses. Jessie is haunted by the ghost of a woman and her father discovers the two other videotapes she has hidden...

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Plot Keywords:

southern gothic | wheelchair | baby coffin | voodoo cult | woman in a wheelchair | 

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Taglines:

Just own is like GHOSTS.

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sequences of horror violence and terror

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Japan]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 November 2014 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ghosts

Filming Locations:

Wilmington, North Carolina, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lionsgate, Blumhouse Productions, Artists First

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Although the film is set in Louisiana, filming took place in Wilmington, North Carolina because an appropriate place for filming couldn't be found.

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Goofs

In Louisiana, there are two Feliciana parishes: East Feliciana and West Feliciana. In the movie, you see a sign saying "Enter Feliciana Parish." It doesn't say which one.

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Quotes

[last lines]
Sheriff Pruitt: Miss Laurent, are you all right? Miss Laurent!
Jessie: It's Jessabelle.

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Crazy Credits

We will cast a shadow over you that can't be distinguished from Fate. - "Legends of Haiti"

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Connections

Referenced in On Cinema: 'The November Man' and 'Jessabelle' (2014)

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Soundtracks

Instead
Written by Thomas Cusimano and Emily Alfstad
Performed by The Walcotts
Courtesy of The Walcotts

User Reviews

Eerie Louisiana chiller with some interesting touches

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.