Let's Scare Jessica To Death (1971)

Released from an institution following a nervous breakdown, a young woman (Zohra Lampert) seeks the tranquility of a secluded home in the Connecticut countryside. But instead of a restful recuperation, she soon finds herself falling into a whirlpool of madness and the supernatural. Directed by John Hancock (BANG THE DRUM SLOWLY). At first, this seems yet another movie about an unstable woman being driven insane by those around her but it isn't. The heroine IS unstable but she isn't being driven batty by those around her. While the film (for what it is) is well done, I don't understand the love for it that has made it a cult movie. Hancock's direction is good so I suspect the movie's problems lie with its screenplay although I appreciated the deviation from the normal "gaslight" motif. Fortunately for the film, the female lead is played by the wonderful Zohra Lampert who creates a believable fragile character that makes us root for her as we slowly realize the genuine evil that surrounds her. With Kevin O'Connor, Gretchen Corbett, Mariclare Costello and Barton Heyman.