McClatchy Tribune

Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried star in the 20th Century Fox serial killer comedy, Jennifer’s Body

Ominous music plays as the camera pans around a dark house in the beginning of “Jennifer’s Body.” A seemingly normal teenage girl lies on her bed, underneath a Fall Out Boy poster, chewing her hair. However, as the tagline of the movie suggests – “Jennifer’s evil…and not just high school evil.”

Bombshell Megan Fox stars as Jennifer Check, a beautiful yet abrasive cheerleader in the town of Devil’s Kettle. As unlikely as it would seem, she’s best friends forever with the ordinary-looking Anita “Needy” Lesnicky, played by Amanda Seyfried (“Mean Girls.”)

The film is written by Diablo Cody, best known as the screenwriter of “Juno.” In the style of Cody’s previous work, the film contains uniquely sarcastic lingo. In the world of Devil’s Kettle “salty” means beautiful, “Jell-O” means jealous and “Hello Titty” is a game teenage girls play with bartenders to get drinks.

Disaster strikes when the two travel to see an indie band, fronted by actor Adam Brody, channeling Johnny Depp in “Pirates of the Caribbean” with his eyeliner. Jennifer is transfixed by the band and despite “Needy’s” pleas, gets into their van.

McClatchy Tribune

When Jennifer turns up later that night, covered in blood and vomiting a massive amount of prickly, tar-like liquid – cue the death metal. Upon her return, she runs the gamut of seducing guys from different cliques around her high school, the star linebacker, the goth guy with black nail polish, all of whom end up dead. “Needy” starts to take notice.

While the name of the movie would suggest that it’s all about Jennifer, the story really centers on “Needy.” As she starts to put the pieces together about Jennifer, she struggles with the decision to save innocent lives or stop her best friend at whatever means necessary. The gem of the movie is Seyfried’s portrayal of a slightly self-conscious teenager, who is simultaneously terrified of her best friend and infatuated with her.

The biggest downfall of the movie is that it’s caught between two genres. One part horror, one part comedy is hard to sell and the film comes off slacking in both areas. The jokes aren’t funny enough and the frights aren’t horrific enough. Quips such as “lasagna with teeth,” as one victim who’s been dismembered and partially eaten is called, are frequent but elicit only chuckles.

The end result of “Jennifer’s Body” is unsatisfying. The plot is extremely far-fetched and when questions start to pile up, the film answers very few of them. Instead of approaching an over-the-top idea in an intelligent way, the movie assumes the audience will simply go along for the ride.