John Chard
16 May 2024
PMS isn't real Needy, it was invented by the boy-run media to make us seem like we're crazy. Jennifer's Body is directed by Karyn Kusama and written by Diablo Cody. It stars Megan Fox, Amanda Seyfried, Johnny Simmons, J.K. Simmons, Andy Sedaris and Adam Brody. Music is by Stephen Barton and Thodore Shapiro and cinematography by M. David Mullen. Plot finds Fox as a High School cheerleader who gets possessed by a demon and starts eating the boys from school. Seyfried is the homely best friend who tries to stop her. Women impacting on the horror genre from the directing or writing chairs is in short supply, sadly the team-up of Diablo Cody and Karyn Kusama has barely made a stain on this issue. The intentions, you feel, were honourable from the outset, an attempt to blend hip pop culture comedy with demonic horror, wrapped around the perils of High School sexual learnings, unfortunately the final product is decidedly tepid. Neither funny, bloody or scary, and with weak CGI into the bargain, film feels confused in trying to cover so many bases. The High School setting is lazy, Kusama isn't able to build suspense and Cody's writing misses the required emotional beats. Cast are fine, the odd gag scores some giggles and the film is often sexy, while the score literally does rock, but all told it's just too messy, too studio safe for its own good. 5/10