Review of Jennifer's Body (2009) by James C — 05 Jan 2013

After surviving a horrific fire in a local bar, Jennifer is spirited away by the band that was playing, but when she returns back she is not the same girl, and only her best friend Needy can remedy the situation.

Here we have a modern teen movie that tries to be on one hand horrific, and on the other a black comedy, but it never really excels in either. The plot is very thin and has been done before in many different guises in the past, and as it revolves around the two main characters, it is a shame that neither of them are strong enough actresses for the viewer to feel any empathy for either of them. The rest of the cast are all pretty disposable, but there was a nice little surprise at the end with the (uncredited) cameo of a genre great. The special effects are handled well, and even though the kills are mainly off-screen there is still a fair amount of blood to keep you happy. With it's look and feel, I feel that this movie is more aimed at the twenty-something audience, and as a seasoned horror fan, I was left with a feeling that though it was enjoyable, much better examples of this type of horror / black comedy have been made before - for example Ginger Snaps, and some of the stronger episodes of Buffy The Vampire Slayer. But this of course is just my take on things, and there will be many people out there that disagree with me.