Jennifer's Body is the sophomore film from 2007's Juno acclaimed writer Diablo Cody. The film follows two best friends popular cheerleader Jennifer and nerdy Anita A.K.A. "Needy" who live in a strangely titled but otherwise uneventful small town called Devil's Kettle. After a strange fire occurs in a small bar weird things start happening in Devil's Kettle and Needy is the only one who notices Jennifer has been acting strangely since that night also.
Jennifer's Body has all the witty, sharp dialogue that you would expect from the writer of Juno (2007.) The dialogue also drives a lot of the humor in the film. Yes this is a comedy, I actually had no idea until the film started, (thanks to the misleading advertising campaign) but the film actually blends the horror and comedy aspects really well. Something that probably would turn some people off to the film but I rather enjoyed. The characters do say the most ridiculous things in this film, and it's not always funny but I would say 90% of the time it's at least amusing.
I also really enjoyed the soundtrack. It's got a contemporary rock soundtrack packed with probably twice the amount of songs as most movies it's length but it really fits the style and mood of this film.
And I need to do a shout out for the title. Horror films have the worst titles these days! Sinister, Possession, Psychosis, etc. It's refreshing to see a horror film that actually has a title relevant to the film and it actually has a nice double meaning.
I wish some things were more fleshed out in Jennifer's Body. They never really establish how often Jennifer needs to kill someone... the first two happen very quickly then there's a long gap before the next one. Is there a reason for this? It doesn't seem like Jennifer really cares at any point that she's killing people, so why would she take a break for any real amount of time, especially when she gets significantly weaker when she's not killing. Also the film has a really strange sense of time. This is probably because the narration spends a lot of time telling you how the mood of the town is. Which is pretty awkward after that happens a couple times.
I also didn't care for the ending epilogue. I think it was just put in for this sense of woman empowerment but I didn't think it really added much to the story.
Storywise I was actually impressed with this film, it's got a really original take on the "somethings up in our town" plot that we've seen a bunch of times before and I'm actually surprised at how few horror films deal with demons, comedy or otherwise. Seems like it's a pretty untapped market that everyone just kinda glances over. Sure we have possession films galore but this isn't even in the same category really.
I thought the two leads were perfect for their roles in this film. Yeah Megan Fox worked for Jennifer: attractive, popular, yet creepy when need be and good line delivery but I was super impressed with everything Amanda Seyfried brought to the Needy character she was the shining star of this film in my opinion.
And I've saved the best for last: for those who are paying attention, the cinematography in this film was AMAZING! The entire film is very playful with it's camera moves and for a silly horror comedy film like this which honestly could have been shot standing still, it really added a lot. There was multiple times when I found myself going: "wow this is really interesting!" I like it when cinematographers bring more than just what the basic need of the film and can actually add something to it. Bravo.
All in all Jennifer's Body isn't a film you have to rush out to see but if you do get the chance, there are plenty worse ways to spend a Friday night. 3.5/5 stars.
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