Such is the premise of Jennifer's Body, the latest movie from the acid pen of Juno screenwriter Diablo Cody. Set in the fictional small town of Devil's Kettle, Cody's tale kicks off with a group of satanic rockers sacrificing poor Jennifer to further their careers.- "Do you know how hard it is to make it as an indie band these days?" says the band's lead singer, moments before he brings the knife down. "There are so many of us, and we're all so cute... Satan is our only hope."
Unfortunately, the satanists thought they were dealing with a virgin, and Jennifer is anything but. So back she comes from the dead, flashing her fangs, boaking black goo and munching her way through the class of 2009 like a combine harvester.
In an extremely canny bit of casting, the JB team has managed to secure Hollywood's hottie-du-jour Megan Fox to play the cheerleader from hell. Clearly their aim is to attract the audience for exactly the kind of film Jennifer's Body is trying to satirise. The teen demographic at least should have a good time - Fox does a great deal of slow motion sashaying around in scanty underwear and indulges in some lesbian kissage with Needy (Amanda Seyfried) between feeding frenzies.
Fans of Juno, meanwhile, will find that Cody has not lost her ear for bizarre teen slang. Sexy becomes salty, jealousy is lime green Jello and so on. The script has a feel for character too, sketching in a loving but abusive relationship between two childhood friends that will resonate with anyone who spent their school years hanging
However, there is no escaping the fact that for a comedy horror movie, Jennifer's Body is neither very scary nor particularly funny. By the half way point, all that funky language begins to feel like a thin veneer coating a thoroughly traditional slasher flick, and director Karyn Kusama relies too heavily on the mouldy clichés of shocker suspense.
Fox aquits herself surprisingly well. Obviously, she can play a bombshell cheerleader in her sleep, but she makes an effective demoniac possessor too, and she can turn a satirical line with panache: "I'm crazy sorry about your profound loss," she tells a football jock, before chowing down on his insides.
Jennifer's Body wears its influences with pride - primarily Buffy and the razor sharp high school parody Heathers - but you can't help comparing the movie unfavourably with its forbears. And for a movie written by, directed by and starring women, it has a disappointingly chauvinist undertone.
A competent teenie horror with some satirical touches - but don't expect another Juno.
