Jessabelle

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Kevin Greutert directs. Michael Fimognari behind the camera. Kevin Greutert cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 190 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
• 2Shot for just $1.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
• 3Grossed $23M — a 23.5× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
• 4Released 12 years ago.
• 5Directed by Kevin Greutert, shot by Michael Fimognari. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 6Editor Kevin Greutert shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 7Sarah Snook and Mark Webber and Joelle Carter carry the top of the cast.
• 8Marketing tagline: "The dead are back for life.".
• 9IMDB entry: tt2300975 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 10Released under 17 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography

Michael Fimognari

Editing

Kevin Greutert

Production design

Jade Healy

Costume design

Carol Cutshall

Makeup / hair

Joan Shay

Sound

Gary C. Bourgeois

Stunt coordinator

G. Peter King

Runtime

90 min · 1h 30m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$1,000,000

Box office

$23,456,897

Return

2346% of budget

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

PG-13

IMDB

Jessabelle (2014) ↗

Also by

Kevin Greutert

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• 
  Saw 3D

  2010 · ★ 6.0
• 
  Jackals

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• 
  Visions

  2015 · ★ 5.3

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

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Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Jessabelle Official Trailer #1 (2014) - Sarah Snook Horror Movie HD

  Trailer
• 

  ▶
  Jessabelle (2014) - Official Trailer

  Trailer · Official

Community reviews

What people are saying

• Kamurai2020-09-09
  ★ 3/10

  Empty watch, won't watch again, and can't recommend. I basically gave this a shot because Sarah Snook looked cute and it was a horror movie I hadn't heard about. I had really expected it to get a lot better from there. Sadly it doesn't. The opening sequence is an odd choice, but it's just a mechanic to get her in a wheelchair, which I really wanted to love, but it is used a cheap way to debilitate her and add to a fear of helplessness when it sort of does the opposite. As someone who has had to use a wheelchair before, it separates the character from most of the audience because they don't have that frame of reference: it's alienating usually. The movie has to be really good and draw the audience to relate to the character before they can overlook things that seem foreign to them. There are some really good sequences with the ghost, and it actually reminded me of "Evil Dead" quite a bit, but it did sort of devolve into what looks like two girls mud wrestling, so I'm hoping that wasn't a factor. The story is all jumbled and clunky in how it's told so it ruins all the parts that would make it interesting, but even with a good mystery / twist, I think the movie would have been average at best, and instead it's a waste of time. There are so many better movies out there to watch.

  Read full review ↓
• Wiccaburr2020-09-23
  ★ 4/10

  <I>Jessabelle gonna get what's coming to you.</I> Some southern spooky times in this film along with a mystery that'll try to throw you off the path of what seems to be predictable coming close to the final act. The reveal isn't a bad one and in fact it was pretty clever. Some might be disappointed in the reveal if they found it early. The effects were mild but pretty cool.

  Read full review ↓
• Dr Nostromo2025-11-18
  ★ 2/10

  25/100 Spoiler Warning A woman returns to her estranged father's home after an accident and strange things begin to happen. The trailer is terrifying but the film is terrifyingly slow ...they doled out tiny little bits of information, along with a few scary bits, so they could stretch it out for 90 minutes. Secondly, the sound would whisper so you had to crank the volume all the way up ...just in time for them to slam you with noise that'll blow out your windows. I guess they were afraid you'd fall asleep. In the end, you realize that everything they've had to endure was futile. Oh, boy! -- DrNostromo.com

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• PR

  Principato-Young Entertainment

  US

• 

  Lionsgate

  US

• 

  Blumhouse Productions

  US

Key crew

• ProducerJason Blum
• ProducerPeter Principato
• ProducerPaul Young
• MusicAnton Sanko
• EditorKevin Greutert
• CastingMichelle Morris-Gertz
• Production DesignJade Healy
• Costume DesignCarol Cutshall
• Costume SupervisorRobbie McKeithan
• HairstylistJoan Shay
• HairstylistBryan David Moss
• Makeup Department HeadErin Keith
• Makeup ArtistTonya Johnson
• FoleyKen Dufva
• Supervising Sound EditorGreg Hedgepath
• Sound Effects EditorChristopher Assells
• Sound Re-Recording MixerGary C. Bourgeois
• Special Effects CoordinatorWilliam Dawson
• Stunt CoordinatorG. Peter King
• Stunt CoordinatorBen Jensen
• Camera OperatorMike Repeta
• Steadicam OperatorRick Davidson
• GafferDarwin Brandis
• Digital IntermediateCarl S.G. Moore

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• voodoo
• supernatural
• woman in wheelchair
• video tape

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical2014-11-07PG-13
• Physical2015-01-13

Also known as

International titles

• GhostsUS
• Jessabelle: A Revolta do EspíritoPT
• JessabelleIT
• CesabelAZ
• KabuslarAZ
• ДжезабелBG
• Jessabelle: O Passado Nunca MorreBR
• ΦαντάσματαGR
• Oscure presenzeIT
• Dzesabele: dvasios prakeiksmasLT
• JezabelMX
• Jezabel: Las dos caras del terrorPE
• Klatwa JessabellePL
• DžezabelRS
• ДжезабельRU