‘Jennifer’s Body’ Comes to DVD and Blu-Ray + Review

The Diablo Cody (Juno) penned high school horror flick Jennifer’s Body will be released on DVD and Blu-ray December 29 and features an all-new unrated extended cut. I didn’t see the movie in theaters so this was my first viewing of the film and I went straight for the sexy, unrated gore. I’m sad to say I don’t have a Blu-ray player but the features that come with it look decent–including video diaries, deleted scenes, a gag reel and a few documentary featurettes. My DVD featured an audio commentary which I had no desire to listen to after watching Megan Fox portraying a blood thirsty demon alongside Amanda Seyfried as her best bud. Yeah, as much as I wanted to be into this film I just couldn’t dig it. Filled with self conscious, hispter snark and irritating dialogue–Jennifer’s Body is a mishmash of an afterthought, never quite coming together and with very few shining moments.

Megan Fox stars as Jennifer Check, the alluring cheerleader type who everyone wants and wants to be. Her nerdy BFF Anita Lesnicky is the complete opposite and was bestowed with the nickname ‘Needy.’ It’s made clear through flashbacks and ‘psychic’ impressions that the girls share a strong bond but their relationship is pretty unbelievable and (of course) gets a little sexy to boot.

The girls go to see a band one night at the local bar where a fire breaks out, but they manage to escape. Jennifer takes off with the band who have nefarious plans for her under the assumption that she’s a virgin. The band offers Jennifer up as a Satanic sacrifice in exchange for fame and fortune, but Jennifer’s virtue isn’t so and she ends up a demon instead of dying like she was supposed to. Now she has the need to feed and in order to keep her demonic figure, she chows down on all the high school boys one by one. Needy, along with her sweet but doubting boyfriend, are the only ones who know what’s really going on and face Jennifer in an ultimate show down of good vs. evil.

The killer/victim role reversal here is obvious but falls flat and is once again unbelievable. Jennifer was always the one in control even before she grew sharp, pointy teeth. Needy and Jennifer’s relationship provides some interesting fodder for the film, but it goes unexplored and results in a disjointed plot. The most we get out of this relationship are a few gratuitous lesbian overtones resulting in a sloppy kiss. Big deal. Bring a book. Couple all this with an overload of cutesy, irritating zings and a soundtrack which totally monopolizes every scene and you have a big mess. Every high school film has a few great songs but give me a break. I felt like I was listening to the hippest mixed tape ever, which is ironic (surprise!) considering the indie culture jabs made throughout the film. There are a few nifty cameo roles which I won’t give away but even those can’t save Jennifer’s Body from itself. My favorite part of the entire film was the credits sequence shown mostly through still photographs. It evoked all the humor and wit the film was desperately seeking for 100 minutes and could never pull off.

You can purchase Jennifer’s Body on Blu-ray with tons of special features here or buy the DVD here.

Image: Fox