4/10

The most amazing thing about Director Kevin Greutart’s newest film isn’t the fact that he made just a terribly uninspiring film. It’s the fact that this guy has made so many bad movies that they still allow him to hold a camera. “George of the Jungle 2”, “Saw 6”, “Saw 7”, and now the generically flat “Jessabelle”. The latest in the horror possession genre is about a girl named Jessabelle (Sarah Snook) Returning to her childhood home in Louisiana to recuper…ate from a horrific car accident. She comes face to face with a long-tormented spirit that has been seeking her return and has no intention of letting her escape. The film does have some good things going for it. The idea of a possession theme story that has touches of voodoo in it is perfect. I always thought that Louisiana bayou setting is a creepy one to perfectly set the mood. Some of the imagery is also shrieking in the same way that “The Grudge” did it. The compliments will stop there however, as the acting is thin, the mystery is bad, and the 3rd act is absolutely dreadful. We live in an age where 3rd acts in horror movies are used to being refund worthy. So what makes “Jessabelle” stand out with some of the worst? We feel like nothing has been solved and we just wasted 85 minutes on a film that had no particular directional decision when it comes to our protagonist. Snook has the ability to be a decent actress, but this role and it’s laughable dialogue puts her front and center of the blame. Characters seem to change long before they become possessed, and we are never given the full details why. I feel like the producers of this film were banking on a sequel to tell the rest of the story, but i can’t imagine anyone will take anything positive from this with the exception of goosebump imagery. On top of it, this is another film that calls itself “Horror”, but showcases no blood and little violence to counteract such labeling. The next instinct would be to not call this a horror film, but a suspence film. The problem with that is the movie doesn’t have many suspenceful moments, and the ones it does can be telegraphed from a mile away. It never feels like it’s trying to be anything than another decision on bad movie night. I feel like i have seen this movie seven or eight different times this year alone. These movies continue to keep borrowing off of others, and lack or originality will never earn you points in this film freak. I can’t recommend this movie at all. Even for a dollar at the Redbox, it feels too expensive. There are plenty of better and ACTUAL horror movies that you could be watching. No answers equals no thrills for this mountain of a bore.