Review of Jennifer's Body (2009) by Theangryone — 10 Jul 2012

Is it a hooror movie? Is it a horror comedy? I don't really know. What I do know is that it is pretty good. Admittedly, they could have found someone hotter than Megan Fox to play Jennifer considering the attention she drew both in and out of the movie, but I most certainly am not complaining about her looks at all.

As for the movie itself, the plot is basically a hodgepodge of horror cliches, teenage stereotypes, and genuine WTF moments all spliced together surprisingly well. What I like most about the plot, however, is just how well the actors pull off what might be the most genuine worst case horror scenario ever played out.

I won't spoil too much, but the heroine's reluctance (due to her relationship with the monster) to do what needs to be done plays out just long enough for you to empathize with her, but vanishes the very instant it starts to get annoying.

The monster is also much more intelligent than most other horror predators. She carefully picks her victims (the insecure, shaken, or the egomaniacal), only attacks when she's absolutely sure she can make a clean getaway, and spaces out her killings to avoid unnecessary attention.

This is what should be mainstream in horror movies; intelligence is the scariest thing you can face, and blind vengeance is the best weapon to fight it with. That being said, there are some issues I had with the movie.

The first is the dialogue; some of the lines range from cheest at best to outright horrible at worst. Also, though I told you earlier that both heroine and monster are more intelligent than other horror stereotypes, there are some crazy WTF moments.

The most obvious is when heroine and monster meet face to face for the first time. Again, I won't spoil much, but black vomit is involved, yet the heroine, either through denial or ignorance, pretends nothing is wrong for as long as she absolutely can, despite her best friend's life being at stake.

Their next private encounter is supposed to be sexy (and you'll see why if you watch the movie), but I was on the edge of my seat just waiting for one of them to strike at the other. Nothing. When the encounter ended, I had to pause it for a second to wonder why that scene was shown at all.

It just seemed like fluff since literally nothing said or done in it had any impact on the story. I know, it sounds like whining, but it's just an example; let's not even talk about the heroine and her boyfriend's relationship; I only have 2536 characters left.

Long story short, this movie is definitely a step in the right direction for horror and horror comedy movies in general, and despite the actor's shortcomings, they definitely come off as human. The small town setting makes the perfect glue to hold it all together, and the simple fact that both monster and heroine actually think, feel, and react make the whole premise that much more real, and that much better.