Taglines: The dead are back for life.
From the mastermind producer of Paranormal Activity and Insidious comes the ghostly tale of Jessabelle. Returning to her childhood home in Louisiana to recuperate from a horrific car accident, Jessabelle (Sarah Snook of Sleeping Beauty) comes face to face with a long-tormented spirit that has been seeking her return — and has no intention of letting her escape.
Jessabelle is an American supernatural horror film directed by Kevin Greutert and written by Ben Garant. The film stars Sarah Snook, Mark Webber, Joelle Carter, David Andrews, Amber Stevens and Ana de la Reguera. The film was released on November 7, 2014.
Greutert was approached to direct Jessabelle a year after the release of Saw 3D and after reading through the script, Greutert agreed to direct. 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. Greutert edited the film on his own and initially the film was slated to release on January 10, 2014, The film was later pushed back to an August 29 release date before it was given a limited theatrical and video-on-demand release on November 7.
About the Story
Jessie Laurent, short for Jessabelle, is moving into her fiancé’s house. They have a car accident, killing the fiancé, causing Jessie to have a miscarriage and leaving her unable to walk. The hospital arranges for Jesse’s Dad, whom she hasn’t seen for years, to pick her up. Back at her Dad’s house in St. Francis, Louisiana, Jessie is given her mother’s room on the main floor, allowing her to move around in her wheelchair. Jessie’s mother died when she was a baby. That night she briefly sees a ghost woman in her bedroom.
Exploring the house, Jessie finds some video tapes in a box. She plays one marked “For Jessabelle Happy birthday I Love You”, and is happily surprised to see her mother, seven months pregnant in March 1988, has recorded a message to her to be seen on her 18th birthday (now 6 years past). On the video, her mother gives her a reading using tarot cards. The reading says that Jessie has never left St. Francis and that she has a close connection to water, causing Jessie to laugh that her mother is terrible at tarot readings. Her mother reads that Jessie is not alone, that there is a presence in the house with her, a female who wants her out of the house. Jessie’s dad shows up and destroys the tape and tells her to stop snooping around the house. Jessie does not tell him about the other two tapes.
That night Jessie has a dream that her mother kisses her then sends her on a journey through the house, where she sees men performing voodoo on her, then sees a badly burnt black man making voodoo symbols on the floor. Jessie awakens in a panic to see the ghost woman, around her age, rolling towards her in a wheelchair. The ghost woman reaches out to Jessie, who screams as the figure disappears.
When her Dad goes out, Jessie watches the next tape, from April 1988. On it her mother says she spoke to her friend Moses, from a church that her Dad disapproves of, about the reading. Her mother tells Jessie that Moses believes the presence in the house is her inner demon. Her mother then gives her another reading, revealing a very horrible death.
When Jessie she falls asleep in a bath, the bath turns to blood. The ghost woman, now clearly visible with slightly dark skin, is sitting in the bath with her, reaching for the bracelet (originally her mother’s) on Jessie’s wrist. The ghost attacks her and her Dad bursts in, hearing Jessie’s screams – everything is normal, it appears to have been a hallucination. Her Dad finds the two tapes and tries to burn them, but gets locked in his shed and is burned to death.
At his funeral, Jessie meets her old friend Preston (Marc Webber). She then sees a hallucination of the burnt black man from her nightmare and she faints. She comes to at home, where Preston has brought her. She shows him the tapes and tells him about her nightmares. After he leaves, she watches a happy tape that her loving parents filmed months prior to the pregancy with Jessie. Jessie then watches the third tape that her Mom recorded to her, and is stunned when her mother’s tarot reading says that Jessabelle is already dead. The ghost woman then begins attacking Jessie, leading to her discovery of a fourth tape, which she does not watch.
Jessabelle
Directed By: Kevin Greutert
Starring: Sarah Snook, Mark Webber, David Andrews, Joelle Carter, Ana de la Reguera, Larisa Oleynik, Chris Ellis, Fran Bennett, Amber Stevens
Screenplay by: Robert Ben Garant
Production Design by: Jade Healy
Cinematography by: Michael Fimognari
Film Editing by: Kevin Greutert
Costume Design by: Carol Cutshall
Music by: Anton Sanko
MPAA Rating:: PG-13 for sequences of horror violence and terror.
Studio: Lionsgate Films
Release Date: November 7, 2014
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