Though completed without a distributor, the film was purchased by Paramount Pictures, who gave it a wide release in the United States in late August 1971. The film received middling reviews from critics at the time, with some remarking the atmosphere and performances, while others criticized the sparse and ambiguous narrative. Though criticism of the film has been divided, it went on to attain a cult following, and some film scholars have drawn comparisons to Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu's novel "Carmilla" (1871). In 2006, the Chicago Film Critics Association pronounced "Let's Scare Jessica to Death" one of the scariest films ever made. The film was difficult to obtain on home media formats for several decades, available only on VHS until 2006, when Paramount issued a DVD version. A Blu-ray was released by Scream Factory in January 2020.