Film

Jennifer's Body

Name: Jennifer's Body
Genre: Horror, Comedy
Released: 2009
Cast: Megan Fox, Amanda Seyfried, Johnny Simmons, Adam Brody, Sal Cortez

Diablo Cody's teen horror-comedy is less about the demon-possessed cheerleader eating boys than about the friendship curdling underneath — Amanda Seyfried's Needy watching her best friend become something unrecognizable and monstrous. Quippy, gory, unapologetically horny about its own dialogue, and smarter about female friendship and predation than its marketing ever let on. For people who like their scares served with a side of snark.

TMDb rating

6.0

If you liked this

Ginger Snaps2000

A werewolf movie that treats lycanthropy as literalized puberty, with the same sister-bond-corroding-into-horror engine as Jennifer's Body, but colder and meaner about it.

But Low-budget Canadian horror aesthetics; some effects have aged roughly.

Teeth2008no page yet

Vagina dentata as feminist revenge comedy — gleefully gross, genuinely funny, and just as interested in turning a body-horror premise into commentary on desire and danger.

But The central conceit is exactly as literal and squeamish as it sounds.

The Craft1996

Teenage girls discover power and it immediately curdles their friendships — witchcraft standing in for the same thing demonic possession does here.

But Very 90s in its fashion and effects; the tone swings wilder than Jennifer's Body's steadier snark.

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Carrie1976

Same core myth decades earlier: a girl transformed into something monstrous by forces around her, told from the perspective of someone who loved her before the change.

Brian De Palma's original teenage-girl-becomes-a-weapon horror, lush and operatic where Jennifer's Body is snarky — the ur-text for turning adolescent female rage supernatural.

But Slow-burn 70s pacing and total sincerity — there's no wink to the camera anywhere in it.

Heathers1989

The original pitch-black teen comedy about a friendship gone toxic and murderous, dripping with the kind of quotable, artificial dialogue Cody clearly studied.

But No supernatural element at all — this is satire with knives, not horror.

Jawbreaker1999no page yet

Mean-girl camp with a body at its center and a similarly stylized, aphorism-heavy script — sits right next door tonally.

But More comedy of manners than horror; the stakes stay social rather than supernatural.

Scream1996

The blueprint for horror that's in on its own joke without losing its ability to actually scare you, with teenagers as sharp and self-aware as Needy.

But Slasher mechanics rather than possession — a different horror subgenre entirely.

Mean Girls2004

No monster required — just the horror of a friendship dissolving under social pressure, told with the same rapid, quotable comic voice.

But Zero horror or gore; if you wanted the demon stuff, this won't scratch that itch.

The Loved Ones2010no page yet

Australian prom-horror that's just as interested in the grotesque intimacy between a predator and the person who used to love them.

But Considerably more brutal and less jokey — the comedy is much darker and thinner on the ground.

Fright Night1985no page yet

A charming monster hiding in plain sight among suburban teens, played for both scares and genuine wit — an ancestor of this movie's tonal balancing act.

But Vampire mythology instead of demonic possession, and a very different, more retro sense of humor.

Cheer2020

Strip away the supernatural metaphor and this is the literal version: cheerleading culture's actual toll on the girls performing inside it.

A documentary series about competitive cheerleading that's unexpectedly about the same thing — young women's bodies pushed, watched, and consumed by everyone around them.

But No horror, no fiction, no demon — just real injuries, real pressure, and real kids under real strain.

Dead Poets Society1989

Same idea turned up to eleven and stripped of teen-movie polish: the beautiful and powerful devouring those beneath them, played with far less humor and far more slime.

A gleefully trashy body-horror satire about the wealthy literally feeding on the young — grotesque practical effects, class rage, and zero restraint.

But Cult-schlock production values and an ending so extreme it borders on absurdist theater.