★★★★☆

I first saw Jennifer’s Body years ago. The hook they had for the twelve year old boy in every man was having these two girls call each other Vagisil and Monostat. Honestly, that was the only thing I really remembered about the movie given the passage of time. It was just funny. It was crude humor in a polite, “I own it” kind of way. Hate me for it, I don’t care.

I remembered that running joke and the fact I enjoyed the movie. Yes, I kind of remembered there was some occult spell gone wrong flesh eating vampire-like deamon kind of story line running through, but the running joke had me rent this movie again, 13 years after it came out.

General Story

On the surface Jennifer’s Body is a high school “yes, some of us are having sex” coming of age movie and an upcoming formal dance. It has the typical super hot chick (Megan Fox) for which nothing around where she grew up is good enough, only a fast paced life in “the city” will do. Then, of course, a really cool band from “the city” drives out to play an armpit of a bar in a dirt water town.

Trendy band is into the occult. Trendy band kidnaps Jennifer and tries a ritual for which they need a virgin. Oops! Should have checked!

Some Pointers

This movie has quite a bit of misdirection that’s not misdirection. It’s first and foremost a comedy. Just happens to have a bit of a horror movie inside it. J. K. Simmons (gone too soon) has a role he disappears into. Amanda Seyfried really delivers in this movie. Seriously, they should have spun off a movie franchise with her character picking up where this film leaves off.

Watch Second Act first! I swear to God Charlyne Yi has an non-credited role in this movie. Charlyne Yi has a much bigger role in Second Act. In both movies her character is a blast. You might even want to watch Juno first if you haven’t already. It will give you an appreciation for how J.K. Simmons could deliver even in a minor role.

Will Frustrate 12 Year Old You

Despite the title and all of the movie covers, this movie got an R rating for F-bombs and a bit of gore. Despite numerous leading scenes which obviously required nudity, there is none in the version Netflix has nor was there any in the one I originally watch. I’ve never seen the “unedited” cut, but I bet there is none there either. Jennifer’s Body hearkens back to the era where movie makers put naked hard bodied women in lots of scenes and then use camera angles to deny 12 year old you even the tiniest glimpse. The producer loves throwing it in your face that only they get to enjoy seeing that.

For those who are a “certain age” allow me to explain it this way. It’s like watching the made-for-TV cut of Fast Times at Ridgemont High with the F-bombs left in. If you’ve never seen Fast Times at Ridgemont High you really should. Girls, if you want to torture your man, rent the television version to watch with him.

Summary

Now that you can find used versions of this movie on eBay for $6, I might add it to my collection. I’ve been on a bit of a journey lately watching movies I thought were “great” or “hilarious” from high school to late twenties. The vast majority now suck. Airplane, Top Secret, etc. Could not wait to see them and laughed so hard when I was young. Today they have one or two zingers that remain part of the culture, but as movies, suck. They don’t have The Rewatchable Factor. This movie does. It never went overboard anywhere. Today I’m disappointed they didn’t make a franchise out of it.

For more movie rental ideas please see list one and list two.