Movie Review: Jennifer’s Body

If Jennifer’s Body is the direction that horror movies are headed then we may all be damned. After last week’s dismal Sorority Row I had higher expectations for a film that was written by Juno scribe Diablo Cody. I think those expectations may have been too high since Cody’s departure to horror is met with Juno like dialogue; but instead of the lovable Ellen Page, we are stuck with Megan Fox. The Transformers star is fun to look at but that novelty wears thin after two hours of her basically teasing the boys on screen, as well as those in the audience. Jennifer’s Body had potential to be a campy horror film, with a dose of light comedy, but instead it was never able to focus on what it wanted to be.

The movie works on some levels. It takes a young, attractive actress like Megan Fox and exploits everything about her that the audience enjoys. There are no misconceptions here. The director, the writer, and probably Ms. Fox herself are aware that she is not a good actress. But she is hot so that is excusable. The sexed up and crazy nature of Fox’s Jennifer is what most of us conjure up when we think of the word “bitch.”

The casting may be the films strongest area. Mean Girls actress Amanda Seyfried plays opposite Fox as her best friend Needy. Seyfried is the polar opposite of Jennifer yet these differences make their characters dynamic to the story. This movie may have not been attempting to go here but it has a theme of high school girls who are friends with one another for no other reason than to make themselves feel better about who they are. Jennifer takes every chance to bring down Needy and then later reels her back in with her friendship and sincerity. I’m sure we all knew someone like that in high school right?

If you don’t already know Jennifer’s Body is about a high school cheerleader who is the victim of a tragic accident which turns her into a demon. Jennifer thrives on the blood of high school boys so she lures them in with the prospect of sex and then devours them in a violent fashion. I think the premise for this film was great. What an interesting spin on the high school horror genre. Instead of having the hot cheerleader being picked off by the crazy killer, we have the hot cheerleader doing the killing. The movie’s problem is its’ execution. It attempts to be hip, fresh, and youthful (similar to Cody’s last script Juno) but here it feels so contrived that it wants to be funny but it is just uncomfortable. The lines that Fox spits out are shocking; but after a while the shock value is gone and we are left with some interesting characters but nowhere for them to go.

Fanboyz Grade: C