Let's Scare Jessica to Death (1971) - full transcript

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.

I'll just take a minute!

Don't worry,
the farm will be great for her.

Apartment was beginning
to scare me, too.

For the first time in months, I'm free.

Forget the doctors.

Forget that place.



I'm okay now.

We'll start over.

Hey, Jess!
Come on, we gotta get moving!

Don't tell them, act normal.

Find anything good?

It's great.

What's it say?

"Frail as the leaves
that shiver on a spray.

"Like them we flourish,

"like them, decay."

See?

You're less frightened already.

Cast off!

What have we got in the case?



My mother-in-law.

I wished it was mine.
Where you folks going?

Other side of Brookfield.

It's a farm on Cove Road
called the Old Bishop Place.

Do you know it?

Yes, I do.

Well, we'll be on the other side
very soon.

This is your new hometown, Jessica.

Was that it? Wait, wait!
Can we go around again?

Okay. Waltz us around again, Woody.
Don't blink or you're gonna miss it.

- Look what they're driving.
- Damn hippies.

Creeps.

Some welcoming committee.

I think maybe
it's our mode of transportation.

Look at those bandages. I think these
guys are left over from the Civil War.

It's cheaper than a station wagon.

Good riddance.

Oh, God, it's fantastic!

The...

I'm so excited.

The stuff for supper is on top

and the bedding and the sheets like that
are all in the very front.

Woman's work is never done.

Jessica, why have you come here?

Get it open?

You okay?

Don't tell them. They won't believe you.

Yes.

Well, let's go in.

Do you like it?

What's wrong?

It's okay, Jess. I saw it, too.

- What's the matter?
- Someone's upstairs.

No kidding? That's great, eh?

Stay here.

I really did see something.

I believe you.

We know you're in here, now come out.

That's the girl!

Hold it!

What are you doing here?

I mean, I'm sorry if we frightened you
but you just scared the hell out of us.

Oh, that's all right.

Who are you?

This place belongs to me now.

I just found this place and I thought
it was abandoned, so I just

sort of moved in.

Then I saw this hearse
coming up the drive.

We must've scared you
as much as you scared us.

Well, I'll get my things.

And let's get
the rest of the stuff, Woody.

- Woody?
- Yeah, yeah.

- Is this your room?
- Yes.

I mean no.

Where will you go?

Town?

Sounds good enough for me.

You don't care where you go?

Do you?

Well...

Yes. I think I do now.

Have you any transportation?

Well, how will you get to town?
It's a couple of miles, isn't it?

Look, why don't you stay and have
dinner with us and spend the night?

Oh, thanks. I guess I'll keep moving.

Please do. We have plenty and we can
drive you into town in the morning.

Please.

Please.

Stay.

Well, why not?

Good.

I'm Jessica.

Hi. I'm Emily.

- That's far enough.
- It better be.

That's great.

You go to school?

I went and then I dropped.

Then I went again.

And if I like it around here,
I plan to drop again.

I probably should go back to school
but I don't know why.

What do I need a degree for?

But don't you live somewhere?

Oh yeah, sure, but...

I haven't been there for a long time

and I'm not sure
I'm ready to go back yet.

Nice.

Do you play?

No. I can't even carry a tune.

Stay forever

My love

My love

We're together

My love

My love

Leave the world

You know about

And stay with me

My love

Stay forever

My love

My love

We're together

My love

He likes her.

Leave the world

You know about

It's blood, Jessica, it's blood.

It's blood.

Blood, blood.

Wow!

He's terrific!

I mean, really.

He's an important man.
He was with the Philharmonic.

Are you gonna play
somewhere around here?

No, he's gonna farm, raise apples,

have a garden, get back to nature.

He's a nut.

I'm the nut.

Coffee is being served
in our living room.

Great to have a fire.

Didn't you have a fireplace
in New York?

New York?
Have you ever been to New York?

No. I've always wanted to go there.

- Oh?
- Yeah.

- It's a mad city.
- Gosh, it's...

How long have you been here?

Ages.

Did you ever get Ionely?

Oh, sure. Sure.

But

sometimes it's not Ionely.

Sometimes

I hear things.

Like, you know, when I'm alone
and it's very quiet, like now.

You can let your imagination go

and listen to the stillness

and watch it get dark,

and the shadows come to life.

You know what I mean?

Have you ever had
anything like that happen to you?

Well...

Yes.

Like, like what?

Like...

Once, I was going to your concert
and I was afraid I was gonna be late,

and I was very exhausted
around that time

because my father had just
passed away.

And

I woke up,

and suddenly I saw my father.

And I heard his voice.
He was calling to me.

"Jessica."

It was probably me
begging for her to be on time.

For a change.

Let's have a s饌nce.

Why not? Don't you believe in spirits?

Nothing's ever completely dead.

Right. I even hear
the Twist is coming back.

I'm calling on the spirits of everyone
who ever died in this house.

If you're present, give us a sign.

Give us a sign.

All the dead, come to us.

Me? Oh, I can't.

Call them.

I'm calling on all the spirits of everyone
who's ever died in this house.

I'm calling on all the spirits of everyone
who's ever died in this house.

Give us a sign.

Give us a sign.

I'm here, Jessica.

Jessica, I'm here.

Come to us.

A toast to my bride, Abigail,

and to all the Bishops.

Abigail.

My Abigail.

Oh, God, it's sad.

We gave a s饌nce and nobody came.

- I guess we'll say good night.
- All right.

- Good night, Woody, old pal.
- Good night.

- Good night, kids.
- Good night.

Gee, that really, you know, got to me.

"Sacred to the memory
of Venture Smith, an African.

"Though the son of a king,

"he was kidnapped and sold as a slave.

"But by his industry,

"he acquired money
to purchase his freedom."

That's our motto, that's like us.

"Died, September 10th, 1805,

"in the 77th year of his life."

Venture.

Oh, aren't they beautiful?

In memory of...

Anyway, who's left to remember them?

Angel faces.

They look so merciless.

Hey, honey, come on.

Jess, come on.

You really believe in that kind of stuff?

I don't know.

You believe in that kind of stuff?

I don't know.

What's the matter?

I guess

it's just been a long time.

And I don't know you yet.

Things like that.

Take me for a walk.

Your friend Jessica seems

- unhappy.
- No.

No, no, she's okay.

She was away for six months.

Got back a couple of weeks ago, better.

What's the matter?

Nothing.

You're very beautiful.

Thank you.

I guess we've all moved around,

we're all running from something.

That's why they have this place.

Duncan blew his savings for it.
He's broke now.

We're going to have to sell some stuff
to get money to live on.

Are you going to live here, too?

I don't know yet. They asked me to.

I'll stick around and help Dunc
get started with the work in the orchard.

Then who knows? I'll probably move on.

We're all kind of

wandering spirits, you know?

I guess so.

Don't be in such a hurry.

Don't worry,

I won't go away.

I'm coming to get you!
I'm coming to get you!

Give me some soap.

- Okay?
- Yeah.

Do my back.

There you go, ma'am.

Great!

This is great!

- One scrub girl needed immediately.
- This is my ancient Finnish method.

Oh, good! Oh, that feels good.

Okay, let's switch.

Isn't this the life?

Don't you feel happy?

That's nice.

Oh, that feels great.

Okay, I'm finished.

- Where to?
- I'll go fix lunch.

Oh, no. Wait, I'll do it.

No, no, stay, swim.
I have to pack anyway.

Okay, thanks.

Well, I'm going in
for another little swim.

- Wanna come? Anybody wanna come?
- You swim, we'll watch.

Lazy.

Jessica.

Come to me.

Come to me.

Dunc!

Oh, God!

Jess, what's the matter?

Out there. In the water.

- I was swimming in the cove.
- It's okay, it's all right.

There was this thing.
And it touched me.

Thing? What thing?

I don't know, but it was white.

It was kind of awful, like a kind of shark.

- Jessica...
- Believe me, please.

That's nonsense.
Jessica, there is nothing in this cove.

Look!

- No, no, no.
- Well, look at it.

We'll get you dry. We'll get you dry.

Jess, look! Look! There's nothing here!

Now he thinks I'm getting sick again.
But I'm not.

Liar, liar. Liar, liar.

Well, if we hope to find anything
around this place

that we can sell in town,
we'd better start looking for it.

No money, no food.

So let's go.

It's you.

Are you ready?

Can't we keep this, Duncan?

Put it in.

You're going to sell this?

- Yeah.
- We hope so.

But they're people. They have history.

You can't just sell them like an old car.

People who sell old cars.
Let's go, Jessica.

Okay.

Hop in, Emily.

I thought you said

you wouldn't go away.

Did you believe me?

Yes.

Yes, I did.

- Let's ask her to stay.
- You want to?

All right.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,
we'd like to ask you to stay.

I'll unpack your stuff.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Glad to have you.

I won't go away, Jessica.

I'll never go away.

Do you find her attractive?

Who? Emily?

Right.

Yeah.

Hello?

Can you sell me some eggs?

Come on down here and get them.

I'm looking for some place to sell
antiques, like lamps and a table.

If there was a place,
I sure wouldn't tell you.

Do you mind?

Hey, watch it!

What happened?

They probably get back
in their cages after dark.

What a bunch of weirdoes.

Duncan, why are they all bandaged?

You know, the chicken farmer
had something, too.

On his neck.

- Hello.
- Hello.

Anything special you're looking for?
I'm Sam Dorker.

- Hi.
- Sam.

Hi, Sam. I'm Duncan.
This is my wife, Jessica.

- Glad to see you.
- Hello.

- Are you passing through?
- No, we just moved here.

We're new in town.

More refugees from urban blight, eh?

I had a shop up until two years ago
in New York on Second Avenue.

Where?

Oh, between 52nd and 53rd.

We lived on 49th and 3rd.

- Oh, really?
- They tore the building down and...

Well, I just couldn't take it.

They built a pizza parlor
next door to me.

I just couldn't stand the smell.

But I love it up here.
The air is fresh and clean.

- Oh, yeah.
- And the fishing is just great.

The man who owned the shop
before me lived to be 96

so I expect to be here for some time.

Well, what can I show you?

I've got a marvelous old

grandfather clock here,
if you've got room for it.

It's a real steal at $375.

I'll steal it!

And at the other end of the scale...

Oh, you like that. I was just about to
show you that. That's a male fiori lamp.

- Do you understand Italian?
- No.

Male fiori, that means flowers of evil.

Or evil flowers.

And they got it painted right on there.

Now, right up here
I've got some marvelous old things,

real early Americana.

Got a marvelous,
old deacon's bench up here.

It'll seat eight in a pinch.

That's a joke.

Mr. Dorker, we're really not
interested in buying, we're selling.

Oh, well, lead on, MacDuncan.

- What've you got?
- Well, sir, I've got a couple of nice jugs,

and a chair and a table.

And some bottles, a couple lamps,
real nice silver frame.

Bridle, some other stuff.

Flowers of evil.

How can anything this pretty be evil?

It's just old, that's all.

When we have money again,

this is the kind of stuff
we're gonna buy for the house.

That's some very nice stuff.

Some of it. Some of it.

What about this? It's silver.

Yes, I guess so.

Very nice. Very nice piece.

But I...

What?

The Bishops.
There's no mistaking the Bishops.

Well, we bought the old Bishop place.

- Who'd you deal with, old Harold?
- No, Harold's gone to Florida.

It was an agent
that showed me the place. Why?

He tell you the stories
about Abigail Bishop drowning?

1880, and all that? It's quite a story.

Sam, how much do you think
this stuff's worth to you?

Well, I... Let's see.

I can give you $150 for it.

And $50 more for this.

$200?

But even some of the little jewelry
costs more

and you said they were very nice pieces.

Well, frankly, I feel very funny
about buying them.

I think I'll have some trouble trying
to sell them around here.

But think what you could get for them
in New York, Mr. Dorker.

Duncan, couldn't we keep this?

$250 is the best I can do.

Well, all right. Come on, we'll take it.

You know the story about the Bishops
is really extraordinary.

Yeah.

Abigail never got to wear
that wedding dress...

Mr. Dorker.

She drowned in the cove
behind her house.

Your house, I mean.

Never found her body.
The legend is that she's still alive.

Some say she's a vampire

and roams the countryside.

Mr. Dorker, we're sort of in a hurry.
Could we have the money?

Of course.

That was very rude, cutting him off.
Don't do it again.

You're making me sick
by worrying about me so much.

We won't be long. I'll make dinner.

Hi, Woody!

Oh gosh, it's so beautiful.
Can we really stay?

We'll try.

Hey, don't touch that. It's poison.

- What is it?
- It's a mole.

It has no eyes?

Duncan, get a container
so we can keep it, please.

Okay. I'll get a box from the house

- and I'll come back for you.
- Okay.

I'll be all right.
Just hurry before it gets away.

Okay.

It was the antique dealer.
Dead, right here.

I swear it, I saw it.

Duncan, it's true.

He was lying right here.

And there was blood!

I know what you think of me
but I swear it's true.

And there was a girl.

I'm scared. Is it happening again?

Duncan, that's her!

Here, who are you?

- Why did you run?
- You see?

Tell him, tell him you led me
to the body.

Tell him. Who are you?

Why have you been following me?
What do you want?

Don't push her, Jess.
Give her a chance.

I'm not going to hurt you.

Did you see a body? Did you?

Tell me what you want.

Did you see a body?

What?

You can't speak?

What's that?

She led me to the body.

- What's the matter with her?
- She knows who killed that man.

What man?

I don't know.

Did you see anybody?

Did you see someone attack somebody?
Attack? Attack.

Did you see anybody? Did you?

For God's sake, Jessica,
leave her alone.

You still don't believe me.

You don't believe there's
anything strange going on.

I think it's...

- It's all strange.
- You think I'm crazy?

Admit it.

Admit it.

Who's that?

There was this enormous cake
that was terrorizing England.

Angel's food or devil's food?

Devil's food cake.

And it would ooze into the windows
and into the doors

and engulf the people.
It'd eat everything in its way.

It was traveling down the coast
from Scotland.

Whenever it would come to a town
or a village, it would call out.

"Here comes the cake.

"Here comes the cake."

BBC sent out...

He wants her.

He'll never believe me again.
No one will.

Did it happen?

...little old lady...

Did it happen?

...and she's got her ear to the...

Come, Jessica. Come with me, Jessica.

"Who's there? Who's there?"

And a voice comes back,

"It's not the cake!"

Duncan's mine now.

You think he loves you?

He's mine now.

I'm just... I'm kind of a little tired.

Think I'll say good night.

- Good night, everybody.
- Good night.

Good night, Jess.

The mole's sleepy.

Well, I'm very tired. I think I'll go up.

- Good night.
- Good night.

Take care of your wife, there.

Good night.

Good night.

You sleeping?

You know the name
of that big tree out in the yard?

Jessica.

That's a maple.
I know how to tell a sugar maple.

How?

Well, see,

a maple's sort of pointy in its corners.

But a sugar maple has a "u".

It's a "u" for sugar.

That's you, sugar.

Jess?

I think you should go back
to New York for a while.

You could see your doctor.

- Lf you want.
- Well, yeah,

but where'll we get the money?

I'd find it.

Where?

I'd find it.

Sure you would.

I just can't take it anymore, Jess.

Why don't you leave me then?

- Don't cry.
- I'm not crying.

Yes, you are. Don't cry.

- Don't cry.
- No!

- Don't get excited.
- You think I'm hopeless?

- You be quiet!
- No.

- Be quiet!
- No, leave me!

- Hush! Will you be quiet?
- Leave me!

- Will you be quiet, they'll hear you!
- Leave me!

Who cares?

What are you doing?

Oh, I just thought it would be better
to sleep apart tonight.

I'll go.

I'm not sleepy anyway.

Good night.

No!

No! No!

- I don't believe you.
- No!

I think that the same creature

or whatever it is that killed
the antique dealer killed the mole.

I know you all think I did it.

I didn't do it. I didn't do it.

I didn't do it.

Hey, Jess, wait!

- Where are you going?
- To find a telephone.

- Be back for lunch?
- Long before.

I'm alive. I'm still alive.

Abigail never got to wear
that wedding dress.

Drowned in the cove...

I'm here. I'm here.

I was just looking at the picture.

It looks so much like you.

My Lord, it does.

Gee, how weird.

What's the matter?

Nothing, it's just that

it does, it looks so very much like you.

It's an old print.
It could look like anybody.

No.

No, it's...

It's the eyes.

You're so warm.

I'm sorry you're so upset.

Jessica, come, Jessica.

My eyes, look in my eyes.

Come with me, come. Come with me.

It's so stuffy in here.

- Come on, let's go for a swim.
- Yeah.

It's stuffy.

I think you need to swim.
You need some air.

Yeah, I just don't want to get
too near the cove, you know.

- Water kind of frightens me.
- Oh, sure.

If you don't want to swim,

we could just lie by the water
and get some sun.

Come on.

Come.

Follow me, Jessica. Follow me.

I'll put some lotion on your back.

That's good.

Oh, that's good.

That's very good, thank you.

Leave me alone, please.
Please, leave me alone.

Get away from me.

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you.

- Are you all right? I was just playing.
- Please, that's all right. That's all right.

- I'm so sorry.
- Yes, thank you.

You okay?

No, that's all right.

Please, it's all right,
I didn't mean to scare you.

I'm sorry.

Jessica, Jessica.

Nobody's here.

Nobody's here.

Jessica.

Come to me. This way, Jessica.

This way. This way, come.

Here, Jessica, here.

Follow, follow me. Follow, follow me.

Here, Jessica, here.

No!

Jessica, Jessica.

Stay.

Stay.

Stay, Jessica. Stay.

You're home now.

You're home now.

Jessica.

Jessica, I'm here.

I'm here.

Where's Duncan?

Where is he now?

He said he'd be back before lunch.

I want you. What have you got...
I need you.

What have you got to live for?

You want to die. Why go on?
You want to die.

You want to die. Why go on?
You want to die.

I'm still here.

I won't go away, Jessica.

I'll never go away.

You'll never get better.

I'm still here. I'm in your blood.

I'm in your blood.

Jessica, I'm here.

I'm here.

No!

What's the matter?

- Can you help me?
- Where you going?

- Town.
- Come on, get in.

Close the door.

Hello?

Emily?

Jessica?

Hi.

I thought everybody had gone.

Not everybody.

Where's Jessica?

Oh, Jessica left.

What do you mean?

I said, what do you mean?

Don't worry.

She just walked to town to find Duncan.

So, we're alone.

Yeah.

Well?

Do you like my new dress?

My new, old dress?

Yes, very much.

- You've been working in the orchard?
- Yeah.

Where are you going?

I should really wash this stuff off.

- Should you really?
- Yeah.

Is something wrong?

You.

I see what you've been doing
with my friend.

I thought you liked me.

You know I do.

Do you like me now?

Yes.

Show me.

Here we are, little lady.

- Thanks.
- Take care of yourself.

Have you seen the man...
The driver of the hearse?

No.

But you must have.
It's parked right here.

No, I didn't.

The girl that led me to the body,

she was warning me.
She was warning me.

Jessie!

Jessie!

Jessie!

Honey, honey, no.

It's all right.

- You'll be okay now.
- I'm sorry.

It'll be okay now, Jess.

I'll take you home.

Come on.

Come on.

What happened?

Oh! Great.

Hurry up, it's cold.

It's not real, Jessica. It's not real.

It's not real. It's all in your mind.

It's in your mind. Duncan's mine.
Your mind. You're home now.

You're home. Duncan is mine now.
You're home now.

You're home now. He's mine now.

No!

Woody! Woody!

Woody!

Woody!

Woody!

The ferry isn't running for you.

I sit here and I can't believe
that it happened.

And yet I have to believe it.

Nightmares or dreams.

Madness or sanity,

I don't know which is which.