Jennifer's Body

Written by Diablo Cody; directed by Karyn Kusama


I’m not ashamed to say it: I enjoyed the hell out of this movie. A great horror flick? No. Consistently funny? Eh, not really. But entertaining? Most definitely. And that’s what I go to a horror film for, entertainment and escape. I’m not looking to empathize, or sympathize, with any of the characters. If that babysitter is dumb enough to go up that creaky staircase with that failing flashlight when she knows full well an entire family was brutally murdered in the upstairs bedroom exactly one year ago to the day and the killer is back on the loose and the rumor is he left something hidden in the back of the closet underneath the floorboards, well, she’s probably gonna get exactly what she deserves. After a long, scream-filled chase, of course, during which (hopefully) my pulse will race and popcorn will stuff my face. I certainly won’t be thinking “Gee, what a sweet girl, I hope she finds her one true love” or “How sad, his life is so empty” or even, “When am I going to do my laundry?” No, if the horror film is any good, I will be so lost in the film, so filled with delicious suspense, that my disbelief will be entirely suspended and I will just be experiencing the suspense and the danger lurking behind every door and edit.

And so, given that it’s a given that Jennifer’s Body is no modern horror classic, the only real question I had to ask after seeing this wanna-be horror-comedy was, how entertaining was it? And the answer: quite, actually, quite entertaining. The script by Juno scribe Diablo Cody is not as clever as it thinks it is, and the direction by Aeon Flux director Karyn Kusama is not as suspenseful as it should be. But there are a few genuine laughs and a few small surprises and most importantly for a horror film, a few delectable intense visuals, such as Jennifer (Megan Fox) possessed by a demon on all fours on a kitchen floor gnawing her way like an animal through a cooked chicken that she clearly would prefer a little more on the raw side. Say, alive and bloody. And the real star of the film, Amanda Seyfried, gives a terrific performance as Jennifer’s BFF and who we watch turn from sweet (though not-completely innocent) to vicious, ultimately straddling Jennifer’s dead body, plunging a knife into her heart. Nice. Oh, and then Jennifer’s Mom walks in and freaks. Very nice. Anyone looking for a modern horror classic, or a daring satire on the order of Heathers will be disappointed. Anyone with an open mind, low expectations and looking to be entertained and to forget about the laundry for an hour and a half will be entertained. A 45% rating on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer seems about right. 2 1/2 stars out of 5.


Review by Michael Fishman.