I remember when Jennifer's Body, acclaimed screenwriter Diablo Cody's follow-up to the indie darling Juno, first came out and was met with reactions that varied from indifference to outright hostility. The problem was that Juno fatigue had set in by that point and the populace had grown tired of Cody's too clever for it's own good dialogue, so this film was met with a collective shrug and a real division critically, with one side loving it and the other side hating it. I was certainly intrigued to see a horror movie written by someone like Diablo Cody and definitely fell into the former category, but even I kind of forgot about it as the years passed. Then a funny thing happened. The film began to develop a cult following over the past nine years, enough so that it was recently screened at the Alamo Drafthouse earlier this fall. Intrigued, I decided to give it another look this Halloween season.
Anita "Needy" Lesnicki (played by Amanda Seyfried) and Jennifer Check (played by Megan Fox) have been best friends since their "sandbox days", living in the small town of Devil's Kettle, MN. Over the years, Jennifer grew more and more popular, but also selfish and conceited. Still, Needy has remained friends with Jennifer through it all and Jennifer surely must find it a boost to her own self esteem keeping the nerdier Needy by her side. One night, Jennifer takes Needy with her to a local dive bar to see an indie rock band Low Shoulder play. A suspicious fire breaks out in the bar, causing several deaths as Needy and Jennifer narrowly escape. Meeting up with the band outside, including lead singer Nikolai (played by Adam Brody), who invite Jennifer to come with them. Despite Needy's protests as she feels something is very wrong with this scenario (Nikolai being rather indifferent to the burning people fleeing Club Inferno is a big red flag), Jennifer elects to leave with the band, abandoning Needy at the club. When Jennifer re-appears, she is a very different person. All of her worst tendencies have been dialed up and even worse, boys at the school start turning up dead. As Needy realizes that Jennifer is behind it and she has changed into something else, she knows she needs to do something about it, while trying to keep her beloved boyfriend Chip (played by Johnny Simmons) out of Jennifer's crosshairs.
The thing that makes this film a little more unique in the pantheon of horror films is that it is a film told from a distinctly female perspective, with screenwriter Cody and director Karyn Kusama, and sadly that was then and still is today a rare thing in the horror genre. It uses the horror elements to examine the dynamics of a toxic friendship and ultimately female empowerment, especially with the character of Needy. She has a great arc in the film, starting out as a very passive character, but when she realizes something is really wrong with Jennifer she rises to the challenge to do something about it. She doesn't really have any scream queen-esque moments typical to horror films, but does understandably have some moments of utter shock at what is happening around her. But the film also delves into the relationship between Jennifer and Needy, where Jennifer keeps her around even when she becomes popular and even still wants to be pals and have slumber parties after she's been turned into a boy killing succubus from hell. It's only then that Needy begins to realize the true nature of their friendship. As with any great horror film, the subtext to the story is what makes it better. That said, it is still a pretty gnarly film with plenty of good scary scenes mixed in with Diablo Cody's usual biting wit (although even I will admit the dialogue is at times eye-rollingly corny).
The cast in the film is quite good, led by Amanda Seyfried who lends a sort of nerdish girl next door vibe to Needy but makes her relatable as well. Seyfried also does a good job handling her characters progression from passive hanger-on to heroine well. Megan Fox, who much of the advertisement was based around and especially on how "hot" she looks (which just shows that they had no idea how to properly sell this movie). But to be fair, she handles the role of Jennifer quite well and her progression from popular girl to full blown murderous demon. She's probably not that great of an actress, but she manages to handle the material quite well. Johnny Simmons manages to make Chip, Needy's boyfriend, one of the more understanding, sweet and innocent horror boyfriends I've seen in awhile. It's refreshing change of pace for the genre. It's also interesting to see the role swapped with the boy character, Chip in the case, being more or less the damsel in distress with Needy having to rescue him from the demonic Jennifer. Adam Brody is amusingly evil as the lead singer of the indie band Low Shoulder, who sacrifices Jennifer, somehow thinking she's a virgin, to Satan for fame and fortune (because apparently that's what it takes to make it in today's music scene). J.K Simmons has an amusing supporting role as an eccentric teacher at the school and has a fair share of funny moments in the film.
I think Jennifer's Body deserves a second look. Yes, it's not perfect and sometimes it's just a little too "hip" for it's own good. But it also has a bit more to it than your average teenage horror flick. It also has the fact that it is told from a decidedly female perspective in a genre that is overwhelmingly male oriented, which makes this film all the more refreshing. Maybe, now that most of the Diablo Cody hoopla has died down, this film can get a fair shake. It certainly did find it's audience...eventually.
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