Saturday, September 12, 2009

TIFF 2009: Jennifer's Body

Johnny Simmons and Megan Fox

Jennifer's Body
(U.S., 2009) directed by Karyn Kusama, 103 minutes at Ryerson Theatre

Needy Lesnicky: Jennifer's evil.
Chip Dove: I know.
Needy Lesnicky: No. I mean, she's actually evil. Not high school evil.

Okay, I am shallow enough to admit that I wanted to see this film merely based on the name of the film (stolen from a favourite Hole song that I love). Added bonus: Diablo Cody, who wrote Juno, also wrote this alt-horror/comedy script.

I still remember with a mixture of amusement and shock a Riverdale mom raging about Juno which she claimed made teenage pregnancy seem attractive. Really lady? I thought it was little more nuanced than that. Billed as an "anti-Juno" film, this is also more complex than a classic horror film, and brought to you by the director of Girlfight (2000).

Jennifer's Body tackles the horror genre, something I am not that particularly thrilled with, and turns it on its twisted little head. Jennifer (Megan Fox of Transformer fame), a hedonistic little hottie, is the victim of a botched ritualistic murder committed by loserish indie band on the make lead by a sleazily played Adam Brody. Because Jennifer was not a virgin (so not a virgin), her body has become possessed by a demon which compels her to literally consume teenage boys in a fittingly graphic manner.

Jennifer's BFF is Needy (Amanda Seyfried), a dorky but sweet girl, who slowly figures out that it is Jennifer who is picking off the boys in her highschool: from the big highschool jock, the resident cute punky boy, an Indian exchange student, et al, in this small town called Devil's Kettle.

Needy must soon make a decision if she is to take out Jennifer as she has her eye on Needy's boyfriend Chip (Johnny Simmons). She better be quick ... Jennifer has a big appetite.

Minor TIFF of the day: At a TIFF press conference Diablo Cody claimed,"I just think there's nothing scarier than a b*tch ... I think the b*tch should take her place in the catalogue of classic horror characters: like Dracula, Frankenstein, and like a bitchy attractive woman. It's about that bad."

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