Director: Jody Barton
Writer: Jody Barton (Screenplay) James Cullen Bressack (Characters)
Starring: Dominique Swain, Felissa Rose, Madeleine Wade, Meghan Deanna Smith, Lanett Tachel, Frankie Cullen, Tiffani Fest
Plot: Jennifer, Stefanie, and Joey are making a movie. But soon the lines between what is a movie and what is real begin to disappear. And when making a horror movie, that can be a difference between life and death.
Runtime: 1 Hour 25 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Bad Horror
Story: For Jennifer starts as horror blogger Jennifer (Fest) is sent a new horror movie which seems too real for her own taste, her boyfriend Joey (Finley) comes up with he idea of making a horror movie between himself, Jennifer and Stefanie (Tachel) along with other friends.
The more serious the friends take making the movie, the stranger the events around Jennifer are, with the friends looking to do the right thing to get the film made, they find themselves in a battle to survive.
Thoughts on For Jennifer
Characters – Jennifer is reluctantly agrees to help her boyfriend make a horror movie, being a horror blogger, this is a chance for her to make something that she always talks about. She does look to create the film the proper way, auditions and all, she is working on creating a great movie. Stefanie is the best friend that has agreed to help with the movie, she wants to remain behind the camera supporting the way Jennifer wants to make the movie. Joey is the man that is behind the camera, it is his idea to make the movie, which sees him needing to set up the cameras for the life to have everything recorded.
Performances – The performances in the film are not the strongest, it does help in places that we are in the found footage sub-genre, but it is never convincing from anybody involved.
Story – The story follows a group of friends that want to make a horror movie and they start to make one, only to learn of another one being made along side, with a much deadlier side. This story struggles with the idea of you needing to know what has happened in the previous movies in the series, needing an understanding which we just don’t get from the opening descriptions. The way everything unfolds in the story does also feel messy for the most part and shows why found footage can have a reputation for being poorly made movies.
Comedy/Horror – The comedy in the film seems to come from trying to be self-aware of the world of horror, though the horror is found footage and never manages use the style for scares.
Settings – The film uses the home settings which shows how you could try to make a horror at home, only again it fails to be used for the horror side of the film.
Special Effects – The effects are used off camera, with us only seeing the aftermath of any injuries.
Scene of the Movie – The social media stars reveal.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The found footage style doesn’t work for what the film is trying to say.
Final Thoughts – This is a horror that shows us the struggles of indie movies being made, only it ends up holding it all back with the lack of playing into the strengths of the genre we are being thrown into.
Overall: Disappointing Horror.
