Jessabelle

Jessabelle is a 2014 American supernatural horror film directed by Kevin Greutert and written by Ben Garant.[3] The film stars Sarah Snook, Mark Webber, Joelle Carter, David Andrews, Amber Stevens and Ana de la Reguera. The film was released by Lionsgate on November 7, 2014.

Not to be confused with Annabelle (film).
Jessabelle
Theatrical release poster
Directed byKevin Greutert
Produced byJason Blum
Written byRobert Ben Garant
Starring
Music byAnton Sanko
CinematographyMichael Fimognari
Edited byKevin Greutert
Production
company
Distributed byLionsgate
Release date
  • November 7, 2014 (2014-11-07) (United States)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget
  • $4 million (gross)[1]
  • $2.9 million (net)[1]
Box office$7 million[2]

Plot

The pregnant Jessabelle "Jessie" Laurent (Sarah Snook) is about to move to her fiancé, Mark's (Brian Hallisay) house when their car is hit by a truck just when they were backing up their car from the driveway, killing Mark and causing Jessie's miscarriage. Two months afterward, Jessie, who now uses a wheelchair, moves in with her estranged father, Leon (David Andrews) in St. Francisville, Louisiana. She resides in her mother's former bedroom; her mother having died due to a brain tumor shortly after she was born, when her father, as a result, left her to be raised by her aunt.

One day, Jessie finds a box containing three videotapes shot by her mother, Kate (Joelle Carter), who addresses Jessie by her full name, congratulates her on her 18th birthday and gives a tarot reading about Death that tells of a transition, taught to her by a friend whom she met at a local church. Kate warns that an unwanted presence is haunting Jessie, a reading that turns out to be true, as Jessie feels that a gaunt black-haired woman (Amber Stevens) is haunting her ever since she moved back in to her father’s house. Jessie also has a vivid dream where she is strapped to a bed by her mother and witnesses a voodoo ritual being conducted, where blood flowing into a breathing regulator chokes her. Leon, who has repeatedly tried to dissuade Jessie from watching the tapes by breaking them and throwing Jessie's wheelchair.

One day, after a frightening encounter in the bathtub with the same woman during Jessie’s physical therapy. After lifting Jessie onto Kate’s wheelchair, Leon coerces her physical therapist to leave the house. After telling Jessie that Kate is not her mother, Leon attempts to burn all of the tapes, but a force burns him alive inside the yard shed. During his funeral, Jessie reunites with her high school friend, Preston Sanders (Mark Webber), but collapses after she sees a severely burned man (Vaughan Wilson).

After Preston leaves from tending to Jessie, Jessie discovers a tape with no label on it that she opts not to watch. The next day, Jessie and Preston head across a nearby bayou, which Jessie has suspected ever since she saw glittering light and flames appearing there. The two discover voodoo icons and effects, as well as a grave of "Jessabelle" with a baby's skeleton, dated on Jessie's birthday, whom they give to Sheriff Pruitt (Chris Ellis) for DNA testing. Jessie and Preston then visit the house of Mrs. Davis (Fran Bennett), the mother of one of their friends, who speaks about Moses Harper. Thinking that Moses is involved, the two head to Moses' voodoo shrine on a ruined church, but are attacked by a group of men who force them to leave.

The two return to Jessie's home where Preston confesses that, despite being married, he is still in love with Jessie. Preston offers Jessie to live with his mother, in turn she accepts. Just before Jessie could finish her packing; Preston thinking that Jessie got in the car so quickly, was attacked by the ghostly woman and knocked unconscious.

Before Preston’s encounter, Jessie watches the fourth tape, showing Kate shouting "You're dead!" before it cuts off. Now left alone, she conducts a ritual to summon the woman. After the ritual, Jessie is informed by Pruitt that the baby is Kate's daughter, but not Leon's. She plays the blank tape where it shows Kate casting a voodoo enchantment on an newborn White girl and committing suicide by gunshot, not before tearfully shouting “Jessabelle, you’re dead!” and that her father Moses is dead. Jessie is confronted by Kate's spirit and realizes the truth her “father” was hiding from her: those video tapes filmed were for Jessabelle, who was the daughter of Kate and Moses, as a result of an interracial affair at the same church mentioned in the first tape, who was killed on the night of her birth, alongside her father, by Leon, who snapped Jessabelle’s spine in half, pushed a baby carriage with her lifeless body and a china doll inside into the bayou after placing stones inside to ensure that the body is completely sunken and hidden from the authorities, then drives up to Kate and Moses’ church where he shoots Moses to fatally injure him, throws a Molotov bottle, sets the building ablaze, and driving off to leave Moses to burn in the church; Jessie is the unwanted presence, being a white girl adopted by Leon on the same night to cover up the murders.

Swearing revenge, Kate and Moses planned to transfer Jessabelle's spirit to Jessie. Jessie is pushed by Kate and Moses towards the bayou, where Jessabelle swims up and takes her “mother’s” bracelet, resurfacing back in the form of Jessie, who kisses Preston after he saves her. When Pruitt asks "Jessie" if she is all right, she replies "It's Jessabelle".

Cast

Production

Greutert was approached to direct Jessabelle a year after the release of Saw 3D and, after reading through the script, agreed to direct.[4][5] Filming was initially meant to take place in Louisiana, where the film is set, but was forced to move to Wilmington, North Carolina after no appropriate filming location could be located.[4] in April 2012, it was reported Amber Stevens, Ana de la Reguera, Sarah Snook and Mark Webber had all been cast in the film.[6]

Release

Greutert edited the film on his own and initially the film was slated to release on January 10, 2014,[7][8] The film was later pushed back to an August 29 release date before it was given a limited release and video on demand release on November 7.[9][10]

Reception

Critical reception for Jessabelle has been mixed to negative and the film holds a 28% "rotten" rating on Rotten Tomatoes (based on 36 reviews) with the consensus "Jessabelle hints at a bright future for star Sarah Snook, but clouds her performance with a clichéd—and tasteless—storyline.".[11] Justin Change wrote in Variety, "Making atmospheric use of the Louisiana locations, Michael Fimognari’s digital lensing alternates nicely between pleasingly sun-drenched exteriors and sewer-toned nighttime interiors," but concluded, "novel twists and effective scares prove few and far between in this ludicrous bayou gothic."[12] Sheila O'Mally wrote, "Steeped in Southern Gothic melodrama, Jessabelle is interesting in some of the small details, and in its strong sense of the Louisiana bayou atmosphere, and then it completely falls apart when it starts being a horror film.[13] In The New York Post, Sarah Stewart called the film, " occasionally shivery, (but) overly familiar.[14] Slant Magazine and IGN both panned the film,[15] with IGN stating that "Jessabelle's familiar trickery and repetitive screams sucks the life out of a promising Southern bayou atmosphere."[16] Jordan Hoffman wrote in The New York Daily News, "There are few scares here, but plenty of mild grossness. The absurd ending ties up the mystery in a way that’s sure to annoy both supernaturalists and realists."[17] Alan Scherstuhl wrote in Village Voice, "There's a couple fine (but gratingly shriek-y) ghost scares, and some grandly ripe (and dopily predictable) VHS messages from beyond the grave. But the mystery drags, its clues never really registering — they just accumulate, along with hints of backstory, a laundry-like pile you would prefer not to deal with but will have to sort through eventually."[18] Fangoria was somewhat more positive in their review, writing "If the buildup is more satisfying than the payoff, Jessabelle remains a creditable attempt to do something a little different and down-to-Earth on the paranormal scene."[19]

gollark: Also still ambiguous.
gollark: But that's long!
gollark: That's very ambiguous and can't do ;, (, ), :, [ and ] properly.
gollark: I mean, in a way people recognize and consider nonstupid.
gollark: I am annoyed by the fact that it's not really possible to pronounce punctuation audibly.

References
  1. "Feature Film Study" (PDF). Film L.A. Inc. 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 1, 2016. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
  2. "Jessabelle (2014) - Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved November 29, 2015.
  3. Wixson, Heather. "Exclusive Interview: Kevin Greutert Talks Jessabelle, New Projects & Reflects on the Saw Franchise". Daily Dead. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  4. Vaughn, Vivienne. "Q&A: "SAW" Veteran Kevin Greutert Heads South for "JESSABELLE"". Fangoria. Archived from the original on 23 August 2017. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  5. Turek, Ryan. "Shock Interview: Jessabelle Director Kevin Greutert". Shock Till You Drop. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  6. https://deadline.com/2012/04/amber-stevens-ana-de-la-reguera-join-jessabelle-261005/
  7. Kenber, Ben. "Exclusive Interview With Kevin Greutert On Jessabelle". We Got This Covered. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  8. "Locally filmed 'Ghosts' set for January 2014 release". starnewsonline.com. Retrieved April 10, 2013.
  9. "Lionsgate Dates Addicted, Delays Jessabelle". Coming Soon. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  10. "Jessabelle (2014)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  11. "Jessabelle". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  15. McCarthy, Nick. "Jessabelle (review)". Slant. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  16. Patches, Matt. "Jessabelle (review)". IGN. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  19. ""Jessabelle" (Movie Review)". Fangoria. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
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