Jennifer’s Body – Blu-ray Disc Review
January 7, 2010 – 10:58 AM - Posted by: Danielle ByingtonTags: Adam Brody, Amanda Seyfried, Amy Sedaris, Bill Fagerbakke, Carrie Genzel, Cynthia Stevenson, Diablo Cody, Digital Copy, FOX, Gabrielle Rose, J.K. Simmons, Johnny Simmons, Josh Emerson, Juan Riedinger, Kyle Gallner, Marilyn Norry, Megan Fox, Ryan Levine, Sal Cortez
has an average rating of 5.4 on IMDb
1080p in AVC MPEG-4 on a 50gb disc
DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio
mostly in Hi-Def with Digital Copy
– 
& 
– 2009
– 102 minutes (for both versions)
– FOX
– 
This uses 44.0GB total.
Overall Verdict – Worth Possessing
Buy it for $22.99 @ Amazon.com
— Review written by: Danielle Byington —
The Movie Itself is Directed by Karyn Kusama (“Aeon Flux“), with the writing credit of Diablo Cody (“Juno“, and creator of television show “United States of Tara“).
The movie is narrated by Needy (Amanda Seyfried), as she shares from her confined cell for the mentally unstable just how she got there. Her story takes place in the fictional town of Devil’s Kettle, named after the real natural-wonder; a body of water that splits into a fork, one branch shedding into a 50-foot waterfall, the other falling a brief distance down into a whirlpool that flows into the ground with no exact explanation as to where it goes. In this small town is Devil’s Kettle High School where Needy and her best friend Jennifer (Megan Fox) attend. Despite their “sandbox-love” tight friendship, the two girls are rather polar opposites; Needy is very mousy and far from flashy, while Jennifer on the other hand is well-known for her looks.
One particular day at school, Jennifer makes an appearance at Needy‘s locker convincing her to ditch a date-night with her boyfriend, Chip (Johnny Simmons), and come with her to a bum-f*** bar in town to see an up-and-coming indie band called Low Shoulder. After being convinced to cut her night with Chip short, Needy dresses to Jennifer‘s request, and the two girls drive out to the “dive bar”, passing the age requirement at the doors by sneaking in through the bathroom window. Jennifer has made it clear she very much fancies the band’s lead singer, Nikolai (Adam Brody), and after briefly talking with him while the small band sets-up on stage, Jennifer heads to the bar to work her magic at getting drinks for herself and the object of her infatuation. While ordering at the bar, Needy is close by the stage and overhears the band members seriously discussing whether or not the girls are virgins. Needy of course informs her friend of this, and since the male discussion seems only sexual, Jennifer is not phased by it at all.
As the band begins to play, a strategic fire crawls about the bar creating catastrophe. The two friends crawl to safety out of the bathroom window they sneaked in through, recollecting themselves in the parking lot of the ablaze bar. Seemingly hypnotized by the band members already, when Nikolai casually strolls over to the girls to persuade Jennifer to come along with him to the van, the execution of the request is effortless. This is the last moment of which Needy ever sees her best friend as she was.
Later that night after returning alone to her home with out Jennifer, Needy is spooked and paranoid by a knock at the door, and is startled by her best friend’s presence. It is not simply that Jennifer is creepily gazing at her best friend in the kitchen, but is actually what appears to be alive despite the gruesome bloodstains all over her body. From this moment on, things are not the same between the two girls, as Needy states that sometimes “sandbox-love” dies, in her quest to save the town from her best friend’s demonic actions.
In closing, there are two different levels of which one can see this film for. Yes, on the surface “Jennifer’s Body” undoubtedly comes off as merely another teen-aimed horror flick, with its content of a tried but no so true plot of demonic possession, the casting of one of the hottest young women in Hollywood portraying the role of a ritual-conjured succubus that must seduce her meals, and everyone’s favorite — a girl-on-girl kiss. Certainly, many people must have thought loudly in their head, or even out-loud, “WTF?!” upon reading the plot somewhere on the world-wide-web when the production rumors began, primarily because the screenplay was brought-to-you by none other than the brilliant mind behind “Juno“, Diablo Cody. However, the creator of the story is alone a better reason to hold some faith in the possibility that just may be there is something about this film that actually makes it a decent watchable movie, and just may be American audiences have been so jaded by other crap-films of this nature that they automatically go into the viewing with an overall verdict of “sucks”.
I say this because I was very curious to see just how this movie played out for all of the said reasons above, and hit the “play” button with an open mind. It would certainly be a little strange if someone was just utterly blown away by this film, however it does possess some strong qualities that make it a very watchable film. The dialogue is far from dull being fast-paced, smart-ass, and really clever, whether it is conversation shared between characters on-screen or Needy‘s narration, it has definitely got your attention. The situation experienced by the characters that makes up the story is also another strong point; yeah, imagine that. The idea alone of Megan Fox being the girl who is sacrificed to Satan and later must feed on human-flesh sounds straight-up like a campy B-movie that had a significant financial backing, though I have to admit, it seems the Writer covered all grounds rather well within the story providing some decently researched (even if fictional) theories with details. With so many worthless horror films in existence that share some sort of theme involving human sacrifice, finally one tells us exactly what happens when the virgin at the altar is not quite pure (like you haven’t ever wondered).
The cast is also of course a huge factor in what made this movie work. Starting with smaller roles, we get appearances by “Strangers With Candy” star Amy Sedaris as the “Ford tough mama bear” mother of Needy, and “Coach“‘s Bill Fagerbakke as the father of the devoured football player, Jonas (Josh Emerson). These comedic cameo-type appearances add a very special flare to the film giving fans of these actors a bit of a giggle in anticipation to what brief lines they do convey. It is worth noting as well that “The O.C.“‘s goody two-shoes nerdy boy Adam Brody does portray a cocky Occult enthusiast believably. In the means of the larger character roles, our three main actors, Megan Fox, Amanda Seyfried, and Johnny Simmons, really hold their triad of performance together rather well. Seyfried breaks her mousy mold of Needy through out the film’s runtime showing a very strong and empowered female character to its audience, standing through the acceptance of a lost best friend that is not by choice, and earns any materialized cheering-on as she seeks to avenge those she has lost; her portrayal of this striving character is not over-done at all, and is quite an adequate female hero. Of course a particular member of the cast is to blame for the film’s hype in general, as well as some nay-saying while the film’s theatrical release was in anticipation; Megan Fox. Her performance here is really not bad; sure she is thought of as “T” & “A”, but really, not every walking set of “T” & “A” could have come off in this particular brand of a manipulative, and sincerely creepy cheerleader the way that she did.
All of these factors in mind, “Jennifer’s Body” is its own breed, not to actually be classified as the things it appears to be on the surface. Most likely for the larger number of audiences this movie will spark the interest of select individuals who really appreciate the original story, and find itself being thought of as a cult classic someday in the future. Overall, I felt the movie was entertaining to say the least, and definitely had a different way of going about the general teen-horror flick, earning itself a “4 Star Rating“.
Video Quality on this release is in full 1080p using the AVC MPEG-4 codec on a BD-50 (50 gigabyte, dual layered Blu-ray Disc) in the 1.85:1 aspect ratio. This film was shot on both 35MM (Panavision Cameras, using Primo Lenses), as well as the Phantom HD Camera. It is assumable which shots materialized from the use of which camera with a slight difference in some scenes and their visual content, aside from various lighting conditions and so forth. It is suggestible that the Phantom HD Camera was used for scenes such as the seduction and slaying of the football player, Jonas. This exterior shot simply offers a very vivid “pop” from the greens of the grass and surrounding foliage, to the bright colors of the characters’ wardrobe, as well as an absence of film grain with out a DNR-smoothed waxy picture. Several scenes of the film do consistently look this great throughout the release’s runtime, though there are a few moments in which the video quality is simply suffering. The warmer palette within the interiors of Melody Lane, as well as the home of Needy, and the blue/green filter-applied look of scenes such as the “dead pool” all lack a more strong amount of definition as compared to other parts of the release, and even make small signs of compression noticeable. Aside from a sometimes soft picture, saturation is selectively nice, though would be more set-off against a black level that was a bit more solid.
As the film opens and Needy‘s narration introduces the audience to Devil’s Kettle and its well-known landmark, the waterfall that apparently flows into oblivion, we are shown one of the first bits of sparingly used CG. The real-life landmark does flow into the ground with an unknown destination, however is does not consist of a whirlpool as seen in this film. Actual filming in this location was apparently rather difficult as far as yielding nice shots of just where the water flows into the ground, and so a CG whirlpool was created for Devil’s Kettle. Detail within these post production layered shots in High Definition looks rather impressive with the applied water sims. Other computer generated graphics seen in application through out the film, including the churning of prickly black bile on the floor, and especially Jennifer‘s “feeding-jaw” (which the production members put an abundant amount of effort into) do hold strong in High Definition. The majority of special effects used in the film were, as desired by the filmmaker, “old-school”, avoiding the use of excessive CG. Because there were perhaps several elements in a number of scenes in which these camera tricks were occurring, this may be to blame for a somewhat softer picture at times which was intended to ever so slightly disguise things like a brown tinge of the chocolate syrup running out of Fox‘s mouth in place of the black bile. Overall, the video quality for this release has both good marks, and a few iffy ones, and had some of the mild flaws been corrected the release could have definitely earned a half-star more in its final grade of a “4 Star Rating“.
Audio Quality on this release is presented in DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio. For starters, I have favorably listened to this film’s soundtrack over, and over again. When one commits this action coinciding with the anticipation of a film you have yet to view, and then actually viewing the film, you have all of these expectations of just what sequences you will hear the particular songs accompanying based on the vague editing of trailers. The really nice presentation of the soundtrack from the 5.1 soundscape holds its own as songs such as “Celestial Crown” performed by The Sword following the newly demonic Jennifer as she swims nude through the school’s nearby pond matches up with this scene’s primal vibe of the succubus’ first feeding on human flesh; each riff timing with each slow-mo stroke of the actress, and its hard brutal resonance from the guitar riffs within the audio setup further implying the visuals that are left out of the film.Aside from a kickin’ soundtrack presentation, this audio track does not slumber too much, though also manages to not go too over-the-top. Often, subtle foley from a variety of on-screen sources makes its way in the soundscape working from an assigned channel/area of the 5.1 setup; such as the ball Needy throws against the walls aggressively within the recess yard which seems so violently thrown with a short reverb with each strike. Another subject worth noting, though also relating to the soundtrack, is the song “Through the Trees” performed by the band who sacrifices Jennifer for fame and fortune. You will hear this song presented a few different ways through out the film; to name examples, a live performance, a standard car stereo, and an elevator-music style instrumental, each audible in a fashion that is respective to its medium.
No matter the source, the performance of all channels is used in an above average fashion, providing rear channel presence, as well as use of the subwoofer numerous times. Dialogue in this film is amazingly well written and entertaining, and certainly deserves to be heard; which it is from primarily the center front channel, with no flaws to note. Overall, the audio track on this release is strongly a job well done, and receives a “4.5 Star Rating“.
Bonus Materials on this release are presented in High Definition, 1080i, and Standard Definition, using Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo.
- “Digital Copy” is included on this release which is compatible with both PC and Mac as well as Windows Media and iTunes portable devices.
- “Theatrical & Extended Version” of the film are both included on the disc.
- “Commentary by Director Karyn Kusama and Writer Diablo Cody” (Theatrical Version Only)
- “Commentary by Director Karyn Kusama” (Extended Version Only)
- “Deleted Scenes” (HD, 13:55) includes 6 scenes; these are definitely worth watching, adding a little more detail and idea to the story itself.
- “Gag Reel” (SD, 4:55) begins as an actual gag reel, but roughly a quarter through its runtime turns into more of a montage of clips of the film accompanied by “Through the Trees”.
- “‘Jennifer’s Body‘: The Dead Pool” (HD, 14:00) gives viewers an informative behind the scenes look at the production’s efforts regarding topics such as the set design of the “dead pool”, the special effects and makeup that created demon-Jennifer‘s feeding-jaw, the splurging black bile, and more.
- “Video Diaries” (1080i, 12:51) includes 4 chapters from different cast and crew members, all taking place during the filming of the “dead pool” scene.
- “Megan Fox is Hot” (HD, 0:56) title speaks for itself; this is basically a promo for the film showcasing Jennifer.
- “Megan Fox “Peer Pressure” PSA” (SD, 0:40) is a quirky promo for the film; “f*** ‘em, just eat ‘em“. Well said Megan, well said.
- “Fox Movie Channel Presents ‘Life After Film School‘ With Writer Diablo Cody” (SD, 26:26) is a great watch for fans of the writer as she sits and discusses her past, a bit of personal life, and her general off-beat opinions.
- “Trailers” (HD, 4:15) includes three trailers.
Blu-ray Disc packaging:
Screenshots:
NOTE: The full-sized 1920×1080 files are in a .PNG file format and uncompressed. Bare with the slow loading times, keep in mind these files are at least 1MB (1 megabyte) in size each.
