Jessabelle 2014

Sara Stewart, New York Post: Occasionally shivery, overly familiar ... Read more

Justin Chang, Variety: The depths prove awfully shallow in this murky and derivative bayou gothic. Read more

Katie Rife, AV Club: One of the nice things about Jessabelle is that it isn't trying too hard. Read more

Clark Collis, Entertainment Weekly: While this Blumhouse production may be a less ruthlessly efficient scream machine than, say, its corporate sibling Ouija, it is much more atmospheric and benefits from a winning central performance from Snook. Read more

Justin Lowe, Hollywood Reporter: The too-infrequent scare techniques ... are mostly by the book, rarely developing sufficient dread to heighten the film's rather unremarkable climax. Read more

Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times: Credit lead Sarah Snook's gentle, sympathetic performance for holding together this atmospheric film, especially during its silly-campy third act. Read more

Jordan Hoffman, New York Daily News: There are few scares here, but plenty of mild grossness. The absurd ending ties up the mystery in a way that's sure to annoy both supernaturalists and realists. Read more

Ben Kenigsberg, New York Times: How are VHS tapes, voodoo and the specter lurking in a house connected? Your impatience for answers is likely to eclipse your trepidation. Read more

Tirdad Derakhshani, Philadelphia Inquirer: An ineffective, derivative, and awkwardly executed mash-up of ghost flicks and voodoo movies. Read more

Inkoo Kang, TheWrap: Unfortunately, it's just when Jessabelle looks like it might transcend its haunted-house trappings that the Southern Gothic cliches rear their tortured, screaming heads Read more

Alan Scherstuhl, Village Voice: The mystery drags, its clues never really registering - they just accumulate, along with hints of backstory, a laundry-like pile you would prefer not to deal with but will have to sort through eventually. Read more

Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine/Vulture: As the film racks up incidents and characters and explanations, the mystery dissipates. It's a strange spectacle: a horror film that spends as much time dismantling suspense as it does building it. Read more