Seen as both a box office and critical disappointment in the States (and looking to receive a fairly similar reception the UK as well), Diablo Cody’s follow up to the fairly divisive Juno could perhaps be faulted for being too ambitious. Although the idea of Cody applying her witty and unique view of high school life to the slasher genre generated a lot of excitement pre-release, the problem is that these elements don’t mesh well together. One of the complaints levelled against Juno was that Cody’s use of slang, though imaginative, made the characters hard to relate to and that is still the case with this film – it’s hard to feel any genuine sense of concern for character’s well-being when they don’t seem that believable. Also gore-hounds are bound to be disappointed by the movie’s relatively low body count, Jennifer’s Body might in fact be more appreciated by those who don’t enjoy slasher films as it offers a fairly smart satire of the genre’s more seedy conventions. In particular Jennifer’s Body raises some interesting points about the sexualised role of women in slasher films and, with much of the lead characters’ attentions focused on their looks and boys, the extent that women play up to this themselves.

Megan Fox, who so far has failed to justify the amount of press coverage lavished on her, actually delivers an excellent performance as the titular Jennifer, going from comically bitchy cheerleader, to literal man-eater and even manages to invite sympathy for her character’s predicament. Also of note is Karyn Kusama’s direction which, while still not up to the standard of her debut Girlfight, is a lot more cohesive than her work on Aeon Flux and manages to transcends the film’s limited budget.

It’s hard not to draw comparison to Heathers, with it’s portrayal of murderous high school rampages, oblivious adults and even a band trying to cash in on the situation however, at least Jennifer’s Body is choosing to reference the very best of the genre. Also, the film does manage to fit in a few swipes at more recent developments in the field, in particular having The OC’s Adam Brody play the lead singer of the band is a delicious bit of casting, considering that his former show launched many similar groups of whiny, eye-linered pretty boys into the musical mainstream.

Although the film’s reception has proved that it isn’t going to appeal to a large audience, it would be unfair to write off the film considering the excellent performances, wit and interesting ideas it contains.