Before Megan Fox soon introduces herself as part of the Expendables, you can watch her best film on TV tonight. It is a vastly underrated fantasy horror comedy.
Megan Fox has been in front of the camera since the early 2000s. She has been world famous since the action-packed sci-fi blockbuster Transformers, which hit cinemas in 2007. Two years later, she delivered her best role to date in the fantasy horror comedy Jennifer’s Body – Boys After Her Own Heart.
The film, directed by Karyn Kusama (Æon Flux, Destroyer), was not well received at the time: bad reviews, weak box office and a disappointed audience. In fact, it’s worth taking a second look at Jennifer’s Body, because it hides a clever reflection on image, body image and genre tropes.
Fantasy horror with Megan Fox: Jennifer’s Body is clever genre fun
The story tells of best friends Jennifer (Megan Fox) and Needy (Amanda Seyfried). Although they have known each other since childhood, they could hardly be more different. Jennifer is the coolest cheerleader at school, Needy the wallflower who prefers to disappear into the world of her books.
Here you can watch the trailer for Jennifer’s Body:
When Jennifer meets singer Nikolai (Adam Brody) at a concert, she begins a flirtation with fateful consequences. Nikolai wants to sacrifice the supposed virgin to the devil together with his band mates. However, he has not reckoned with the fact that Jennifer herself carries a dark secret.
Jennifer’s Body is a witty, clever and self-aware variation on familiar tropes of horror and high school film. The film is particularly exciting to read as a commentary on Fox’s career. After being stylised as a sex symbol by the media, she takes the narrative about her person and body into her own hands in Jennifer’s Body.
