Jennifer (Megan Fox – Transformers) seems to have it all. She’s gorgeous, popular and sassy. Being the head cheerleader at her school doesn’t hurt her public profile either. Her best friend is Needy (Amanda Seyfried – Mamma Mia), a bookish girl who has been friends with Jennifer all her life. The two girls always hang out together, much to the annoyance of Needy’s boyfriend Chip (Johnny Simmons – Hotel For Dogs) who claims Jennifer constantly kidnaps his girlfriend to go out partying. Needy and Jennifer share a special bond, one that transcends most normal friendships.
When a local indie band called Low Shoulder decides to play a gig in their hometown of Devils Kettle, Needy is reluctantly coaxed into going along with Jennifer. She has been following the band on MySpace and fancies the lead singer Nikolai (Adam Brody – The OC) so Needy comes along for the ride. The band soon takes a strange liking to Jennifer and she goes away with them after the gig despite Needy’s protests. That night Jennifer finds her way back to Needy covered in blood. She has obviously been through something traumatic but won’t say what it is. It has changed her though – evident by the fact that she throws up a mysterious black ooze all over the kitchen. Soon Jennifer develops an insatiable appetite for her classmates. Needy must find out what has happened to Jennifer before more people die and see if there is some way of rescuing her best friend before this demonic force takes her over completely.
No-one could really play Jennifer any better than Megan Fox. The young actress follows on from her starring roles in both Transformers movies with this quite brilliant turn as the promiscuous cheerleader that gets a nasty surprise one fateful night. Fox shows that she can handle a witty script with sharpness and vigour and proves that she is more than just on-screen eye candy. When she wants to be, Megan Fox can be very scary indeed - the scene where Needy dreams Jennifer is perched in the corner of her bedroom is very creepy and a blood-soaked Jennifer smirking in Needy’s kitchen leaves you feeling unsettled. Director Karyn Kusama deserves a lot of credit here too for being able to shoot Fox in such contrasting styles throughout the film. Fox handles the comedy very well, the dialogue seamlessly and the horror in an ironic, twisted way. Jennifer’s Body will hopefully go some way to convince non-believers that Megan Fox is a genuine and true talent.
This is very much Megan Fox’s film but the best performer happens to be Amanda Seyfried. She is more than just a supporting character here. As Jennifer’s best friend we see the movie from Needy’s point of view and she is pivotal to the story unfolding. The scene where Needy has to clean up the messy aftermath of Jennifer throwing up black gunk is surprisingly well handled and remarkably, even quite emotional. Her relationship with Chip is sweet and feels real and her deteriorating friendship with Jennifer clearly affects her state of mind and eventually her overall character. Seyfried’s career has been building steadily over the past few years with a stand-out performance in Mamma Mia being a particular highlight so far. Here, she gives the film a very real and genuine voice amongst all of the madness and gore. Both Seyfried and Fox share wonderful chemistry and it’s their combined strength that makes Jennifer’s Body such an enjoyable watch. Having them make out doesn’t hurt the film either - it looks like that infamous Cruel Intentions scene has finally been topped!
Adam Brody makes a welcome return to our screens and finally does something worthwhile since The OC finished. He is creepy and charming in equal measure as Nikolai the lead singer of Low Shoulder, a local Indie band who comes to Devil’s Kettle looking to find someone special to help them gain superstardom. The rest of his band share a striking resemblance to The Killers too, I’m not sure what Oscar-winning Juno writer Diablo Cody was trying to imply here! Brody has some brilliant dialogue (again, kudos to Cody for writing such a sharp script) and will have the audience laughing out loud every time he is onscreen. J.K Simmons takes a break from his busy schedule with a funny cameo as Mr. Wroblewski, the hook-handed teacher who is trying to protect his pupils from the mysterious killings sweeping across his town and Johnny Simmons does exceptionally well fleshing out the role of Chip.
The film doesn’t bow to typical high school clichés either. It’s nice to see that the bookish Seyfried and head cheerleader Fox are best friends and that no one really finds that social suicide. Having the story take place in a small town really does help sell the middle-American setting and the film is shot really beautifully in parts. The gore and horror are expertly dealt with and comes out as both funny and shocking. It definitely is the most effective paring of horror and comedy I’ve seen in a very long time. The soundtrack features some cracking songs that compliment the story too with Black Kids, Panic At The Disco and Cute Is What We Aim For being particular highlights.
Jennifer’s Body really is the closest thing this generation is ever going to get to a Lost Boys of their own. It’s full of memorable characters, snappy dialogue and breakthrough performances that really shine through. With Fox and Seyfried on top form and with Diablo Cody building well on her Juno stardom, it’s a film that impresses throughout. Jennifer’s Body already has a degree of cult status attached to it; hopefully it will do well on Blu-ray as it deserved to get a larger audience in the cinema. Don’t miss this, its one of last year's best movies and easily the best horror of 2009.
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