Jennifer’s Body (2009) is directed by Karyn Kusama and stars Megan Fox, Amanda Seyfried, Johnny Simmons, Adam Brody, Kyle Gallner, and J.K. Simmons. With this weekend’s release of writer Diablo Cody’s Lisa Frankenstein (2024), I’ve decided to travel back to 2009 and review her first foray into the horror-comedy genre. The film follows two high school best friends: a shy girl named Needy (Seyfried) and Jennifer (Fox), one of the most popular girls in school. After the two friends attend a concert together, Jennifer leaves with a shady group of musicians. Later that night, Jennifer shows up at Needy’s house, but something is very wrong. As high school-aged boys begin to show up dead, ripped limb from limb, Needy begins to suspect that Jennifer may have something to do with it. Needy is forced to figure out a way to stop Jennifer as well as protect her boyfriend Chip (Johnny Simmons) before it’s too late. 

Besides Fox, few of the performances here stand out. That being said, I think this is an example of great casting being able to make up for some admittedly basic characters. I’ve never been a fan of Megan Fox’s acting. I’ve always felt that she often comes across as cold/emotionless. But as mentioned before, she’s cast perfectly. The fact that she often comes across as cold actually helps this specific character. The character is supposed to be emotionless and seductive, two of Fox’s biggest strengths as a performer. It also seems as if she is given some of the film’s more successful comedic dialogue, showing that she truly is the star of the show. 

Seyfried plays less of a larger-than-life character, but does some good work. Her emotions are clearly conveyed, and she remains believable and likable throughout. Also, shout out to the costume/makeup team for succeeding in making Seyfried look like a believable nerd, not just an obvious model who’s wearing glasses. 

Johnny Simmons is serviceable as Chip but doesn’t do anything special. He’s just your typical, skeptical boyfriend character. This is forgiven simply because his relationship with Seyfried’s character actually works. By the end of the film, we want the couple to have a happy ending, therefore proving that the two performances succeed in the ways that truly matter. 

The rest of the cast such as Adam Brody, J.K. Simmons, and Kyle Gallner are fun to see but don’t get a lot of focus. However, they are given enough subtle nuance to make the characters somewhat memorable despite the lack of focus they’re given. One insignificant cameo was Chris Pratt. It’s completely meaningless in terms of plot, but it provides a fun “look at the roles he used to play” moment. 

The film follows a somewhat typical horror movie outline, but it’s spiced up by both Diablo Cody’s script and Karyn Kusama’s direction. In fact, it’s spiced up so much that I only noticed the typical horror structure while reflecting on the film. The film has a nice amount of small, yet intelligent subversions of the genre. For example, there’s a nice twist on the typical slasher formula by having the killer target teenage boys as opposed to teenage girls. The film is also smart in the way in which it takes its time to introduce the characters and relationships before all of the shit hits the fan. However, the simple subversion that I appreciated the most was the choice to have the shy nerd and the popular hottie begin the film as best friends. In most teenage angst films, we often see this happen by the end of the film, but never as the starting point. 

I remember that when this film came out in 2009, teenage girls my age ate it up. Watching the film now, that memory tracks. It really does apply to that age group, but not in ways that feel cheap or immature. It for the most part feels authentic in its portrayal of this particular age group. The teen dialogue and dialogue in general sometimes comes off as cheesy, but that’s simply when the jokes don’t land. When the teen dialogue is serious, it mostly works. One of the film’s biggest successes is blending the teen angst drama with a horror/monster/slasher film. The climax seamlessly blends the visual language of a teen running to save her relationship as well as a teen running to save someone’s life. This is smart thematic writing that is done beneath the surface. This blending of these genres is also achieved through Needy’s attempts to convince others of Jennifer’s demonic possession. They don’t believe her throughout the film because they think she is just jealous of Jennifer’s social status and physical appearance. Needy’s descriptions of why Jennifer is possessed are identical to what a teenage girl would say about someone they are jealous of. 

Although the script has a good amount of smart subversions, it’s not perfect. Voiceover is overused to an unnecessary extent and there are occasional early stumbles in terms of balancing conflicting tones. The comedy is spotty and when it fails, it results in certain moments feeling uncomfortably awkward. There’s also a makeout scene between Fox and Seyfried that just feels unnecessary. It doesn’t do anything in terms of plot, theme, or story and therefore just feels like someone creepily threw it into the script as an excuse to watch the two make out. What annoyed me the most was the inexplicable choice to begin the film with a flashforward to the film’s ending. This was a novelty screenwriting choice during this era, but I always feel that all this does is sacrifice tension throughout the film. It is an unconventional introduction that does get reframed once we receive more context, but my previous point still stands. What it archives doesn’t feel worth it. 

Overall, this is a fun blend of genres that impresses with a subversion-heavy script. It’s paced well and the elements of body horror are perfectly used. Unfortunately, the script’s major highs result in the script’s lows feeling that much lower. It’s a juxtaposition that makes the film feel a bit messier than it should. That, along with occasional rough dialogue and cliche genre elements results in something with that is of typical quality, but has clear potential. I had a lot of fun, but I’m certain this will appeal mostly to teen/college-aged girls. As a lover of the genre, I appreciated its subversions, but it just has such specific appeal that I can’t give it anything better than a B-