I love Netflix. My friend introduced me to it about four years ago as an alternative to getting more anime for less money. The selection was vast and I was soon renting more than anime. What a convenience to be able to rent movies from my living room and have them mailed to me. Netflix is a stellar service and 99% of the time they’re really on point. Then there’s that 1% of defective deliveries. I was all set to watch The Producers (the original NOT the musical) when I discovered a big ol’ crack in the disc. Now I’ll have to report it, send it back and wait another day or so for the replacement. Damaged DVDs don’t happen that often but when they do it’s a real pain in the neck. It’s like getting all hoped up for a cold glass of CranTangerine only to find that some jerk left barely a swallow of the stuff in the fridge.

The main plot of Jennifer’s Body centers on an unlikely friendship between two girls. Jennifer Check (Megan Fox) is Teen People beautiful, popular and a cheerleader. Girls want to be her and boys want to be inside her. Anita “Needy” Lesnicki (Amanda Seyfried) is closer to the dork side of the spectrum. Her face is hidden behind enormous spectacles and a big mop of long tresses. But the two are practically bosom buddies.

That is until one fateful night when Jennifer goads her BFF into attending a Low Shoulder gig at the local bar. A fire breaks out that consumes the bar and some of the patrons. Among the survivors are Needy, Jennifer and the band. Needy isn’t too keen on the indie rockers but Jennifer is mesmerized by their manscara and accepts their van ride invitation leaving Needy alone to cope with the traumatic events. Needy makes it back to her home and bumps into Jennifer who has returned from her Low Shoulder road trip covered in tattered clothing and bloody wounds. After scaring the bejeezus out of her buddy Jennifer flees into the night. The next day Needy goes to school and there’s Jennifer looking like a million bail out bucks. When Needy confronts her about the awkward events of the previous evening Jennifer accuses Needy of being severely delusional. And Needy lets it go.

Then we see scenes of Jennifer luring boys into woodlands and construction sites to date them, make out with them and then devour their vital organs. As the town of Devil’s Kettle mourns the loss of those killed in the bar blaze Jennifer goes on a killing spree that will keep the local mortician very busy.

As the previews suggest, Jennifer is a typical high school hottie with an unusual appetite for flesh. Her dish of choice is the hormone addled teenage boy who can be easily manipulated by stimulating his head……and I don’t mean the one that sits on his neck. Jennifer is the siren calling these poor boys to dance with her until that magic moment when she opens her razor sharp maw and goes lunch buffet on the dude. Needy is the only one that knows her best friend has gone through a major personality shift that makes PMS look like a mild headache. But how can Needy stop Jennifer when no one will believe that the former Snowflake Queen is a cannibalistic monster? That’s elementary, my dear reader. Like survivor boys and girls before her Needy will have to use her noggin’ to find out why Jennifer is acting this way and then she’ll have to go all G.I. Jane on her BFF to save the clueless townies from becoming appetizers with legs.

One of the more fascinating plot points of the movie involves the mass mourning for the bar fire victims. It’s a small town so practically everybody knew everybody that was injured by or perished in the flames. Through Needy’s eyes the viewer will see how the people pull together and how even the most apathetic teen is driven to at least a stage of low level “misty-eyeness”. The town even adopts the Low Shoulder song “Through The Trees” as the uplifting support song that will commemorate the event and bring comfort to those who grieve. I’m tempted to take this as a shrewd satire on tragedies like the Columbine Shooting and 9/11 where the initial emotional outpouring is sincere until the media gets in there with their 24 hour cameras, surprise celebrity visits and artists come together to write a song about it.

Nah, I think this is just the story of a fictional tragedy in a fictional town full of fictional people that just happen to bear some minor resemblance to real life events.

Jennifer’s Body reminded me of Teeth. If you missed Teeth, shame on you! Ha ha ha, just kidding but I do recommend it if you’re into offbeat “horredies”. Anyway, Teeth was about a Promise Ring girl with teeth in her vagina. Many men try to claim the young virgin but her quivering Cuisinart makes those men regret their lusty transgressions. And it was funny. Jennifer is a little different because she actively searches for lusty young men. Oh sure, you feel bad for them and it is tragic what happens to them but it’s hard not to chuckle at how the traditional gender roles are switched. Jennifer is the wolf in lamb’s clothing.

I’m sure the “norms” probably see horror comedies (or as I like to call them, “horredies”) as vulgar and offensive. And in some cases they are but not in the case of Jennifer’s Body. The comedy isn’t in the killing but in the quirky characters, they’re surreal situations and they’re fantastic dialogue. There’s a lot more to the film than Jennifer’s insane appetite. I am a big fan of sarcastic barbs dripping with pop-culture references and Diablo Cody is freakin’ Picasso of that art. If the stuff that came outta the mouths of Juno’s character knocked your socks off then you might as well wear sandals to this latest Cody creation. The witty remarks help to keep things jolly while Jennifer gleefully mutilates her male classmates.

So how was Megan Fox? Is she more than just a pretty face? Can she do more than masterfully flee from giant CG robots? I say yes she is and she can. Ms. Fox is funny and is no sissy when it comes to filling her mouth with the red (and sometimes black) stuff. I’m sure playing the pretty girl comes kind of easy to Ms. Fox but the role of “Jennifer” took more than filling out tight cashmere sweaters. Fox is funny and delivers the dialogue with great timing and much wit. Fox can also do the intimidation thing very well. Oh yeah, when she goes ghoulish it might send a shiver up your spine. We all know the constant comparisons between Fox and Angelina Jolie but I think Jennifer’s Body shows that Fox can do something that Jolie has yet to master; the art of comedy. Both are extremely hot but while Jolie will make you horny Fox will make you horny and snort milk out of your nose.

Amanda Seyfried has the unenviable task of playing Jennifer’s BFF, “Needy”. That means that Needy will be the first to suspect that something is up with Jennifer. She’ll be the one trying to convince people that Jennifer is beyond high school evil which will make her look like a basketcase. And eventually she will have to be the one to put her life on the line to bring down the nigh-omnipotent cheerleader to ensure the safety and well being of her hick neighbors. Remember how sweet and adorable Ms. Seyfried was in Mamma Mia!: The Movie? How she pranced around that island singing ABBA’s greatest hits while prancing around in lilly white sundresses? In Jennifer’s Body you’ll see Seyfried drop the F-bomb, have full on intercourse with her on-screen boyfriend, and kick a kindly nurse right in the teeth. Like Ms. Fox, Ms. Seyfried will play a character you might never have expected her to play and she plays it very well.

So what is Jennifer? From the trailers I was sure she was a ghoul but as the tale unfolds her true monstrous identity is revealed. Needy will actually go the school library’s occult section to do research on Jennifer’s behavior. Not Google or Bing or Wikipedia but the library; the part of the library where those dusty things are kept, um, what are they called again? Oh right, books. I don’t know what shocked me more: a character under 18 using a non-electronic device to solve a problem or the school library having a section devoted to witches, poltergeists and Anne Rice novels. Have fun trying to guess what Jennifer is before Needy does. I can tell you she ain’t no ghoul.

Other than the movie not being long enough (Sorry, but 103 minutes was so brief. I wanted to have more fun!) my only other gripe was that the gore wasn’t as plentiful as I had hoped it would be. I figured a movie about a girl eating people raw and wriggling would present a great opportunity for gratuitous shots of innards being thrown about and rubber limbs being ripped off like the drumstick from a Thanksgiving turkey. There are some shots of carnage but they’re slightly muted so most of them time you have to let your sick imaginations draw in the rest. I don’t know if that was done by the will of Karyn Kusama (director) or Diable Cody (writer) but gorehounds expecting a bloodbath will have to settle for a blood-shower. I suppose if the film had ridiculous amounts of guts like in Peter Jackson’s Dead Alive then the film would’ve lost some of it’s edge. And who wants a maneater with dull teeth? I sure don’t.

I think I’ve gushed about this movie sufficiently enough to entice you into a buying a ticket. If Halloween 2 confused you and your looking for a story a little more original than a bunch of kids trying to outrun Death then I suggest exploring Jennifer’s Body. It might scare you a little or maybe not at all but it’s a horredy, silly, so it’s not supposed to be totally frightening. The plot has a lot of tasty layers to it with dynamic characters and Diablo’s crazy words. I was thoroughly entertained and I can’t wait for the hopefully Unrated dvd release so I can watch it again and again with commentary and deleted scenes and a signed pair of Megan Fox’s panties.

Okay, I was kidding about the panties. Made ya look., lol.