Jennifer’s Body; or Hell is Being a Feminist Horror Fan
Jennifer’s Body suffers mightily by comparison to its thematic/genre contemporaries: it’s not as smart or sophisticatedly feminist as Ginger Snaps; it’s not as sure-footed in its satire as Heathers; it’s not as exhilarating of a revenge fantasy as Teeth; it’s not as campy-fun as The Faculty; it’s not nearly scary enough to overcome its pomo like the Scream series; and on and on… There are better horror films and genre-benders out there, for sure, but despite the panning it’s getting from critics, it’s not total crap. It’s a decent little B-movie with a few surprisingly chillingly moments, a couple of big laughs, a bunch of near misses, and a wildly uneven tone and pacing. In other words: it ends up being about as good as most of the above-average horror films being made today.
Warning: Very mild spoilers ahead.
The problem with Jennifer’s Body is that it declares a far more ambitious agenda than your average horror movie, and then falls short. The film opens with Anita “Needy” Lesnicki observing, “Hell is a teenage girl,” which becomes shorthand for the work the film is clearly trying to do: exploring the problems of female adolescence and friendship, and subverting horror film cliches about sexuality and, especially, relations between women and men. Unfortunately, it’s just not successful at creating coherent stories around these issues, and the film ends up being a series of disappointments – albeit, really interesting disappointments. ok
