Many period movies are reevaluated and found better than originally critiqued. (It feels strange to write that about a 2009 movie, but that was a decade and a half ago.) I’d read about Jennifer’s Body before, but the title put me off from watching it. Then, of all places, the New York Times recommended it last year during one of their autumnal forays into the horror genre. Interestingly, it’s a possession movie with a few twists. Demons are quite malleable monsters, of course. So Jennifer and Anita (Needy) are best friends. Jennifer is the girl all the guys want, and Needy, well, isn’t. One night they go to hear a band at a local bar, and Jennifer leaves with them. We later find out—spoilers about to appear—that their intention is to sacrifice a virgin to Satan to help them succeed as an indie rock band. Jennifer’s no virgin, though, and demonic transference took place—i.e., Jennifer is possessed although the band gets their boost.
Then Jennifer has to eat people (high schoolers, of course) to survive. She eventually tells Needy all of this, and her friend researches the occult and realizes her former friend is seriously dangerous. And she decides to stop her. I won’t give away the ending (it was only 15 years ago), but I will say that the overall result is somewhat unusual for a demon movie. There’s plenty of religious imagery, but nothing really explicitly showcased. For example, Needy’s mom has religious paraphernalia around the house. There are no clergy in the story and Needy teaches herself what she needs to know about dispatching demons. In other words, it’s a strangely secular possession movie. And in the end demonic ability leads to justice.
The critical reappraisal is largely based on the feminist message and complexity of female relationships in the movie. Both written and directed by women, those aspects aren’t unexpected. And the movie is a horror comedy. The funny parts tend to come from aspects of the dialog since the acting is played straight. This isn’t so much a scary movie as it is a smart one, which is probably why the Times critic recommended it. Demons aren’t always scary monsters in horror, and what you end up being afraid of here is that the relationship between Jennifer and Needy might end since it seems to be the foundation on which two young women’s lives are built. Is it a good movie? Well, it’s not bad. I tend to lean on the side of the reappraisers—it still has something to say.
