Megan Fox is Demon-Spawn. Duh.

Megan Fox eats boys. Is this a documentary?

starring Megan Fox, Amanda Seyfried, Johnny Simmons, Adam Brody, J. K. Simmons, Amy Sedaris

directed by Karyn Kusama

Diablo Cody became an overnight sensation with her debut film about a pregnant and quirky high school girl, Juno. And it was well deserved. Writers strive for years to find what seems to come so easily to Cody; a distinct and unmistakable voice. When you see a film that she wrote, you know without question it is her work. Apparently written at the same time as Juno, Jennifer’s Body is her follow up. This time around she still dabbles in the realm of teenage girl angst, only now the girl really is possessed.

Jennifer (Fox) and Needy (Seyfried) are ’sandbox’ best friends; that is, since they were very young. They are however vastly different; Jennifer is the hot girl with the rocking bod and nose in the air attitude. Needy is the quiet, librarian type that isn’t really a part of the cool kid crowd. One night Jennifer decides that she is going to see the indie rock band Low Shoulder at a local bar and wants Needy to come. Not really having a choice in the matter, Needy concedes. A good night goes bad, though. For mysterious reasons, the bar burns down with everyone inside. Needy and Jennifer barely escape, only to have the guys from Low Shoulder convince Jennifer to get to safety in their van. Needy is uneasy about the entire night’s events, so she heads home. However, she is greeted by a shockly different Jennifer. She is bloody and beaten, and violently puking black bile. Eerily, though, she is still smiling. A few weeks and murdered boys later, it is apparent to Needy that Jennifer has changed, and something sinister happened that night with that band.

Diablo Cody’s strength as a writer is her originality. I can’t give away the major plot point of the story, but I will say this: it is one of the most original ideas I’ve seen in a long time for the basis of a horror flick. Sure, we’ve seen demon possesion before, but its the way Jennifer is possessed that is genius. Bravo to Ms. Cody for that. However, Diablo Cody’s weakness is her dialogue. I felt for most of the film that I was sitting in a bad teenage drama, only with blood and demons. There’s a good way to portray teen angst, and a bady way. The stuff that comes out of these kids mouths is supposed to be hip and cool, or whatever, but I kept trying to muffle my laughter. I mean, no one talks like that. Most of the dialogue was just too unnatural to be believable, and it was distracting.

I do believe the film was cast perfectly. Amanda Seyfried was perfect for Needy; she played the part of the shy and conservative wallflower well, and was the only person in the film that showed real acting talent. Most of the secondary people were fine; they fit the parts well but gave us nothing special. J. K. Simmons had an odd but memorable cameo as the curly headed, claw handed science teacher. Pointless part, but great and subtle comic relief. And then there is Megan Fox. She didn’t have to act (Lord knows she can’t anyway) because she played the self engrossed bitch. So, like I said, the roles fit the people.

The major complaint for me is the follow through of the plot. It was just poor. Its a shame to have such a great premise and then have a lack luster story to go along with it. There are way too many loose ends of the story; for example, they live in a place called Devil’s Kettle. Its named after a waterfall that runs into a small whirlpool where nothing that enters ever returns. Though several scenes are at the waterfall, there’s no real reason it should be there or have lore. Other than to just be ‘cool’, I guess. Also, it is suggested multiple times that Jennifer and Needy have some sort of psychic bond that centers on BFF necklaces they wear, but it is never explained why or how. That, combined with weird dialogue and a ho-hum ending just really let me down. Waste of a good horror premise, if you ask me. Gah, I wish I could tell you the premise without ruining the movie!

All in all, Jennifer’s Body wasn’t a waste of time. Not totally, anyway. It had genius moments, laugh out loud jokes, and good intentions. However, it wasn’t near gory enough to make the horror work, and the teen drama and quirky dialogue are just distracting, not to mention the horrible plot follow through. Just wait for netflicks. However, I will give it this; I will never hear the song “867-5309″ by Tommy Tutone the same way again. If you only watch it for that scene, it is more than worth it. To me, anyway.