#zohra lampert

[haveyouseenthismovie-poll]

[creepynostalgy]

Mariclare Costello and Zohra Lampert in Let's Scare Jessica To Death (1971)

[rwpohl]

bye bye braverman, sidney lumet 1968

[sloshed-cinema]

Let's Scare Jessica to Death (1971)

Sometimes, that small-town charm is an outright lie. Recently returned from a stay in a mental institution, Jessica and her husband Duncan move from the hustle and bustle of New York City to a small community in Connecticut. But everyone from the ferry boat captain to the old dudes hanging out on the main drag are frostily intimidating. Are these traditional, conservative folks reacting regressively to a bunch of alternative types rolling through in a hearse with ‘LOVE’ and a peace symbol painted on the side? Or is something more sinister at work? The farmhouse Jessica and Duncan bought has a sordid past, with death and a possible vampire on the premises. And the young woman discovered slumming it on the property bears a striking resemblance to that old family portrait… The film takes an interesting tack in rooting the experiences firmly with Jessica, which adds an air of uncertainty to everything that happens. Some experiences are shared with others—the discovery of a blonde, mute woman, for one—but as things start to get out of control, the questions only mount. Leering intruders, suspicious wounds on necks and forearms, and the increasingly sinister countenance of Emily all make for an overwhelming glimpse at a rehoming gone very wrong, or perhaps into the mind of a troubled woman.

If the film remains agnostic to Jessica’s sanity, the score certainly doesn’t. Setting aside the folky strains of an opening jam session between Emily and Duncan, this opts for a psychotronic synth breakdown any time Jessica is in peril. It’s harsh and abrasive, striking at the ear with its distorted energy.

Setting this in rural Connecticut during the autumn lends a striking atmosphere to this film, even before the horrific occurrences begin. This is a landscape of winding country roads and ruddy gold leaves, a time when a dip in the lake is still a pleasing prospect. But as Jessica’s collection of gravestone rubbings can attest, this is an area that has seen its fair share of history and therefore death. She reads from the parting sentiments of those who came and went before, be they poetic musings about the fleeting nature of existence or an attestation about the accomplishments of a former slave. But unlike Jessica’s current guest, those dead people stayed where they were, and ceased to bother the living.

THE RULES

SIP

Someone says 'believe'.

Voiceover inner monologue begins.

A noise sting accompanies a scare.

BIG DRINK

Someone vanishes.

Creepy townie antics.

[schlock-luster-video]

Wishing a happy birthday to cult film icon and Let's Scare Jessica to Death star, Zohra Lampert!

[seagull-astrology]

Goya, o boya!

Goya ran into some trouble this past week when its president endorsed President Trump. Looking at its chart, Goya is a conservative company supporting its traditional Hispanic market (see Pluto conjunct Venus in the tenth). Ceres in the fourth shows how strongly the company takes providing nutritional food to its consumers. Even its Part of Fortune at 17 Gemini 57 i.e. Gemini 18 Two Latin men…

[dannyreviews]

Golden Age of Hollywood Actors Born Before (And Including) 1937 Still Alive

This only includes actors that had at least one credited role in a Hollywood feature film or short up to 1959.

Elisabeth Waldo (b. 1918)

Caren Marsh Doll (b. 1919)

Patricia Wright (b. 1921)

Jacqueline White (b. 1922)

Annette Warren (b. 1922)

Ray Anthony (b. 1922)

Jimmy Thompson (b. 1923)

Eva Marie Saint (b. 1924)

Anne Vernon (b. 1924)

Maria Riva (b. 1924)

June Lockhart (b. 1925)

Lee Grant (b. 1925)

Peggy Webber (b. 1925)

Lise Bourdin (b. 1925)

Brigitte Auber (b. 1925)

Kerima (b. 1925)

Bob Graham (b. 1925)

Terry Kilburn (b. 1926) 

Marilyn Erskine (b. 1926)

Bambi Linn (b. 1926)

David Frankham (b. 1926)

Tommy Morton (b. 1926)

Jill Jarmyn (b. 1926)

Marilyn Knowlden (b. 1926)

Genevieve Page (b. 1927)

Donna Martell (b. 1927)

William Smithers (b. 1927)

Peter Walker (b. 1927)

H.M. Wynant (b. 1927)

Betty Harford (b. 1927)

Marilyn Granas (b. 1927)

Ann Blyth (b. 1928)

Nancy Olson (b. 1928)

Peggy Dow (b. 1928)

Kathleen Hughes (b. 1928)

Colleen Townsend (b. 1928)

Marion Ross (b. 1928)

Gaby Rodgers (b. 1928)

Walter Maslow (b. 1928)

Tom Troupe (b. 1928)

Sidney Kibrick (b. 1928)

Garry Watson (b. 1928)

Fay Chaldecott (b. 1928)

Ron Hartmann (b. 1928)

Mark Rydell (b. 1929)

Terry Moore (b. 1929)

Vera Miles (b. 1929)

Ann Robinson (b. 1929)

Liseotte Pulver (b. 1929)

James Hong (b. 1929)

Rachel Ames (b. 1929)

Michael Forest (b. 1929)

Vikki Dougan (b. 1929)

Steve Terrell (b. 1929)

Margaret Kerry (b. 1929)

James Congdon (b. 1929)

Betsy Gay (b. 1929)

Jack Betts (b. 1929)

Clint Eastwood (b. 1930)

Joanne Woodward (b. 1930)

Mara Corday (b. 1930)

Nita Talbot (b. 1930)

Taina Elg (b. 1930)

Robert Wagner (b. 1930)

John Astin (b. 1930)

Tommy Cook (b. 1930)

Mary Costa (b. 1930)

Lois Smith (b. 1930)

Peggy King (b. 1930)

Lynn Hamilton (b. 1930)

Don Burnett (b. 1930)

Clark Burroughs (b. 1930)

Robert Hinkle (b. 1930)

Sheila Connolly (b. 1930)

Barbara Bestar (b. 1930)

Rita Moreno (b. 1931)

Leslie Caron (b. 1931)

Carroll Baker (b. 1931)

William Shatner (b. 1931)

Mamie Van Doren (b. 1931)

Robert Colbert (b. 1931)

Barbara Eden (b. 1931)

Angie Dickinson (b. 1931)

Claire Bloom (b. 1931)

Marianne Koch (b. 1931)

Sylvia Lewis (b. 1931)

Carmen De Lavallade (b. 1931)

Zohra Lampert (b. 1931)

Michael Dante (b. 1931)

Ann McCrea (b. 1931)

Jack Grinnage (b. 1931)

Maralou Gray (b. 1931)

Billy Mindy (b. 1931)

Sugar Dawn (b. 1931)

Joanne Arnold (b. 1931)

Joel Grey (b. 1932)

George Chakiris (b. 1932)

Felicia Farr (b. 1932)

Abbe Lane (b. 1932)

Steve Rowland (b. 1932)

Ron Hagerthy (b. 1932)

Jacqueline Beer (b. 1932)

Colleen Miller (b. 1932)

Joanne Gilbert (b. 1932)

Neile Adams (b. 1932)

Jacqueline Duval (b. 1932)

Edna May Wonnacott (b. 1932)

Richard Tyler (b. 1932)

Mickey Roth (b. 1932)

Leon Tyler (b. 1932)

Peggy McIntyre (b. 1932)

Christiane Martel (b. 1932)

Elsa Cardenas (b. 1932)

Claude Bessy (b. 1932)

Carlos Fernández (b. 1932)

Kim Novak (b. 1933)

Julie Newmar (b. 1933)

Debra Paget (b. 1933)

Constance Towers (b. 1933)

Joan Collins (b. 1933)

Kathleen Nolan (b. 1933)

Brett Halsey (b. 1933)

Robert Fuller (b. 1933)

Pat Crowley (b. 1933)

Barrie Chase (b. 1933)

Jackie Joseph (b. 1933)

Geoffrey Horne (b. 1933)

Tsai Chin (b. 1933)

Lita Milan (b. 1933)

Vera Day (b. 1933)

Diana Darrin (b. 1933)

Ziva Rodann (b. 1933)

Jeanette Sterke (b. 1933)

Marti Stevens (b. 1933)

Annette Dionne (b. 1933)

Cecile Dionne (b. 1933)

Patti Hale (b. 1933)

Gary Clarke (b. 1933)

Charlotte Austin (b. 1933)

Shirley MacLaine (b. 1934) 

Sophia Loren (b. 1934)

Shirley Jones (b. 1934)

Brigitte Bardot (b. 1934)

Russ Tamblyn (b. 1934)

Pat Boone (b. 1934)

Audrey Dalton (b. 1934)

Tina Louise (b. 1934)

Karen Sharpe (b. 1934)

Joyce Van Patten (b. 1934)

May Britt (b. 1934)

Joby Baker (b. 1934)

Jamie Farr (b. 1934)

Myrna Hansen (b. 1934)

Priscilla Morgan (b. 1934)

Aki Aleong (b. 1934)

Robert Fields (b. 1934)

Dani Crayne (b. 1934)

Donnie Dunagan (b. 1934)

Richard Hall (b. 1934)

Charles Bates (b. 1934)

Marilyn Horne (b. 1934)

Marilee Earle (b. 1934)

Don Crichton (b. 1934)

Jolene Brand (b. 1934)

Johnny Western (b. 1934)

Rod Dana (b. 1935) 

Pippa Scott (b. 1935)

Ruta Lee (b. 1935)

Barbara Bostock (b. 1935)

Johnny Mathis (b. 1935)

Leslie Parrish (b. 1935)

Salome Jens (b. 1935)

Yvonne Lime (b. 1935)

Jean Moorehead (b. 1935)

Marco Lopez (b. 1935)

Joyce Meadows (b. 1935)

Richard Harrison (b. 1935)

Christopher Severn (b. 1935)

Richard Nichols (b. 1935)

Carol Coombs (b. 1935)

Patricia Prest (b. 1935)

Dawn Bender (b. 1935)

John Considine (b. 1935)

Jerry Farber (b. 1935)

Clyde Willson (b. 1935)

Bob Burns (b. 1935)

Joel Newfield (b. 1935)

Marlene Cameron (b. 1935)

Lisa Gastoni (b. 1935)

Susan Kohner (b. 1936)

Millie Perkins (b. 1936)

Burt Brickenhoff (b. 1936)

Mason Alan Dinehart (b. 1936)

Anna Maria Alberghetti (b. 1936)

Lisa Davis (b. 1936)

Tommy Ivo (b. 1936)

John Wilder (b. 1936)

Gary Conway (b. 1936)

Michael Chapin (b. 1936)

Carol Morris (b. 1936)

Fernando Alvarado (b. 1936)

Jack Nicholson (b. 1937)

Tommy Sands (b. 1937)

William Wellman Jr. (b. 1937)

Elinor Donahue (b. 1937)

Paul Hampton (b. 1937)

George Takei (b. 1937)

Margaret O’Brien (b. 1937)

Connie Francis (b. 1937)

Carol Nugent (b. 1937)

Patti Brady (b. 1937)

June Hedin (b. 1937)

Paul Collins (b. 1937)

Maureen Hingert (b. 1937)

Ingrid Goude (b. 1937)

Luciana Paluzzi (b. 1937)

Jocelyn Lane (b. 1937)

Barbara Luna (b. 1937)

[cadmium-free]

Day 9 of 26 with @neopetsdotcom

LET'S SCARE JESSICA TO DEATH (2010)

Lauren’s Review

Based on name alone I expected sometbing much more campy. I was fully unprepared for a film that really cuts to the bone in showcasing both the horror of being unable to trust your own mind, and the betrayal of having the people you love not trust your own mind either. How being mentally ill can strip you of your agency, your humanity, in their eyes.

I like that this movie casts you in the same role as both the people in Jessica’s life, and Jessica herself. Is what she experiences real? Can Jessica trust what she sees? Can you? or is she an unreliable narrator? There is not enough evidence to know for sure either way. The horror is not in Emily’s easy cruelty or the bloody bodies or the unfriendly creepy locals or the tragedy attached to her haunted old house. It’s in the uncertainty of it all, the plausible deniability that surrounds everything she experiences. Though there is not enough plausible deniability in the world to convince me the mouse she’s holding in that one scene is a mole like the movie wants you to believe

Awl's Review

Zohra Lampert as Jessica is spectacular. This could have been little more than a moody piece of folk horror, and I would have enjoyed that too, but performs the quiet dread of being made to doubt your own mind so well that this film becomes entirely tragedy. Her own voice mixes with whispers to convey her own doubt and fear in a terrific spiral.

The horror is in the ambiguity. Is what she sees real, or is everyone right to doubt her? And the doubt is pure cruelty. She repeats to herself that she must say nothing, no one will believe her, and she is correct. The men around her look at her with increasing paternalistic exhaustion. Even her joy, they enthusiasm she generously shares with the world around her becomes a mark against her. She is not serious. She is but a frightened thing. But you must believe her. Please.

Mariclare Costello as Emily is also such a charming spectre in this film. She doesn't have a place in the film to be a character like Jessica, but she holds her own. Every smile she shares is devious. Her nails are perfectly manicured to slight points. She is sweet and playful and sinister. Who can help but fall for her.

Purely technical, the sound design is amazing. It's incredibly foreboding and the music is very well deployed. I'm charmed by the visual touches: driving a beautiful hearse, serving a meal of canned tomatoes and lettuce, a roadside antique shop stuffed to the gills. It's almost unfortunate the title and poster convey a film utterly unlike what it is, but also, wow, I love the title and poster. Jessica is scared to death of being forever scared.

[byneddiedingo]

Michael Winslow in Alphabet City (Amos Poe, 1984)

Cast: Vincent Spano, Michael Winslow, Kate Vernon, Jami Gertz, Zohra Lampert, Raymond Serra, Kenny Marino, Danny Jordano, Tom Mardirosian. Screenplay: Gregory K. Heller, Amos Poe. Cinematography: Oliver Wood. Production design: M. Nord Haggerty. Film editing: Graham Weinbren. Music: Nile Rodgers. 

In 1984, a cop show called Miami Vice revolutionized its genre with hip music and lots of style, transforming the city where it was set into a place where even wickedness looked good. In the same year, director Amos Poe tried to do something similar for the gangster movie in New York's Lower East Side with a movie called Alphabet City. He cast a 20-something actor, Vincent Spano, as Johnny, a 19-year-old sharp-dressing factotum for the mob, and sent him cruising the city streets in a limited edition Pontiac Trans Am to the music of Nile Rodgers. The movie's streets are hosed-down and shiny and the city lights are haloed by a fog filter. Johnny has a wife/partner/companion named Angie (Kate Vernon), who does abstract expressionist paintings and tends to their infant daughter in the loft where they live. He cruises about, collecting from drug dealers like Lippy (Michael Winslow) and club owners who pay the mob protection. But then the mob boss wants Johnny to torch an apartment building, which is a problem because Johnny's sister, Sophia (Jami Gertz), and his mother (Zohra Lampert) live there. We learn that Sophia is a professional party girl and Mama spends her time ironing while her slob of a boyfriend snoozes on the sofa before the TV, and Johnny has some trouble persuading them to vacate. So he decides to quit the mob and tries to persuade Angie that they should take the baby and run. Naturally, the mob sends out hit men and Johnny has to deal with them. And that's pretty much it. Spano has real presence, and Winslow creates an amusingly quirky character for Lippy, but the clichés are as pervasive as the lens-created fog that blurs the streetlights. Alphabet City is worth watching only as an example of the high '80s style that MTV made ubiquitous, but if you want to see that the reruns of Miami Vice are more worth watching.

[haverwood]

Let's Scare Jessica to Death John Hancock USA, 1971 ★★★ A good (slow) time.

Plus, Zohra Lampert is really something.

[andrepitz]

Was ist, wenn der tosende Applaus plötzlich abebbt, gänzlich versiegt und die große Leere zum Vorschein kommt? https://andrepitz.de/2024/09/11/gesehen-opening-night-1977/

[trnsocial]

84 From '84: Alphabet City

A New York City drug dealer decides to get out of the business, but has to flee from mobsters. Cast: Vincent Spano as Johnny Michael Winslow as Lippy Kate Vernon as Angie Jami Gertz as Sophia Zohra Lampert as Mama Raymond Serra as Gino Kenny Marino as Tony 1984 memories I’m pretty sure this movie never played in my towns theater. I’ve never heard of it or seen it. The poster is pure…

[hiwasseeriver]

zohra lampert my love

[clemsfilmdiary]

The Best of October 2023

Best Discovery: Phantasm

Best Rewatch: Carrie

Runner Up: Let's Scare Jessica to Death

Most Enjoyable Fluff: Someone's Watching Me!

Runners Up: Baby Boom, Plan 9 from Outer Space

Oddity of the Month: Glen or Glenda

Runner Up: The Guardian

Best Leading Performance: Sissy Spacek in Carrie

Runners Up: Paul Walter Hauser in Richard Jewell, Zohra Lampert in Let's Scare Jessica to Death

Best Supporting Performance or Cameo: Piper Laurie in Carrie

Runners Up: Nancy Allen, Amy Irving, P.J. Soles and John Travolta in Carrie, Bela Lugosi in Glen or Glenda

Most Enjoyable Ham: Lauren Hutton in Someone's Watching Me!

Runners Up: Bunny Breckinridge, Criswell and Mona McKinnon in Plan 9 from Outer Space, Sylvia Miles in The Funhouse

Best Mise-en-scène: Carrie

Runners Up: Let's Scare Jessica to Death, Matango, Phantasm

Best Score: Carrie (Pino Donaggio)

Runners Up: Let's Scare Jessica to Death (Orville Stoeber), Phantasm (Fred Myrow, Malcolm Seagrave)

Coziest Film: Lifespan

Runner Up: Let's Scare Jessica to Death

[docrotten]

LET’S SCARE JESSICA TO DEATH (1971), Interview W/Dir. John Hancock – Episode 192 – Decades Of Horror 1970s

“I sit here and I can’t believe that it happened. And yet I have to believe it. Dreams or nightmares? Madness or sanity? I don’t know which is which.” Sounds like an unreliable narrator, yeah? Join your faithful Grue Crew – Doc Rotten, Bill Mulligan, and Jeff Mohr – as they talk with director John D. Hancock about his 1970s classic, Let’s Scare Jessica to Death (1971).

Decades of Horror 1970s Episode 192 – Let’s Scare Jessica to Death (1971), Interview w/Dir. John D. Hancock

Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today! And click the alert to get notified of new content! https://youtube.com/gruesomemagazine

A psychologically fragile woman has nightmarish experiences that lead her to believe that another strange, mysterious young woman she has let into her home may actually be a vampire.

  Director: John D. Hancock

Writers: John D. Hancock (credited as Ralph Rose), Lee Kalcheim (credited as Norman Jonas)

Produced by:

Bill Badalato (co-producer) (as William Badalato)

Charles B. Moss Jr. (producer)

Music by: Orville Stoeber

Cinematography by: Robert M. Baldwin (as Bob Baldwin) (photography

Selected Cast:

Zohra Lampert as Jessica

Barton Heyman as Duncan

Kevin O’Connor as Woody

Gretchen Corbett as Girl

Alan Manson as Sam Dorker

Mariclare Costello as Emily

The 70s Grue-Crew has a special episode for you with this one! Joining Doc, Jeff, and Bill is the talented director of Let’s Scare Jessica to Death (1971), John D. Hancock. Not only does he discuss what went into making that extraordinary and creepy classic, but he also shares insights into his involvement in Jaws 2 (1978) and Wolfen (1981) along with industry insights. Join them as they get a special peek behind the curtain with John D. Hancock.

The 70s Grue Crew only touch on Hancock’s experience with Jaws 2. For a comprehensive interview with Hancock on the subject, check out this video podcast episode of The Daily Jaws.

At the time of this writing, Let’s Scare Jessica to Death is available to stream from multiple PPV services. The film is also available as a Blu-ray disc from Scream Factory.

Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror 1970s is part of the Decades of Horror two-week rotation with The Classic Era and the 1980s. In two weeks, the next episode, chosen by Doc, will be The Killing Kind (1973), directed by Curtis Harrington (Queen of Blood, 1966; Whoever Slew Auntie Roo, 1972), featuring Ann Sothern, Jon Savage, and Cindy Williams.

We want to hear from you – the coolest, grooviest fans: comment on the site or email the Decades of Horror 1970s podcast hosts at feedback@gruesomemagazine.com.

Check out this episode!

[lemessiedumal]

Zohra Lampert in Let’s Scare Jessica to Death (1971) dir. John D. Hancock