fun, “Jessabelle” emerges a curious, borderline-distasteful parable about the return of the repressed, its tale of a vengeful demon taking on unmistakable racial overtones. But none of it is developed substantially enough in a story that feels all too wobbly, secondhand and even arbitrary in the unfolding.
Snook, so brilliant in the forthcoming “Predestination,” makes an engaging scream queen, while Webber (who starred in the Blum-produced thriller “13 Sins”) adds a further humanizing touch to a movie where most of the characters are almost uniformly surly and violent. Making atmospheric use of the Louisiana locations, Michael Fimognari’s digital lensing alternates nicely between pleasingly sun-drenched exteriors and sewer-toned nighttime interiors.