Only a few days ago we reviewed Brian De Palma's Carrie (1976) as part of this month's "films with woman's names as titles" theme. Please re-familiarize yourself with that film by clicking the link above before you read today's review of Jennifer (1978).
The film tells the story of Jennifer Baylor (Lisa Pelikan), a shy, mousy high school girl who doesn't make friends easily and who lives in fear of her religiously fanatic father, Luke (Jeff Corey). After being accepted to a private school on a scholarship, Jennifer is teased ruthlessly by high school queen-bee Sandra Tremayne (Amy Johnston), while gaining the sympathy of school teacher, Jeff Reed (Bert Convy). One of the girls, the popular Jane Delano (Louise Hoven), feels remorseful about her role in teasing Jennifer, and is later kicked out of the popular group because of it. Unfortunately for Sandra Tremayne and everyone else, Jennifer has the power to control and communicate with snakes, and that when you make her mad, nothing good can come of it.
Those of you who took the time to review the Carrie article before reading this have no doubt noticed I merely copied and pasted most of the plot synopsis from that article here and then changed the names of the characters. That appears to be the same method of writing that director Brice Mack used when he wrote the script for this film. While borrowing elements and archetypes from other films is perfectly acceptable and understandable, Mack's film blatantly cribs so many specific ideas and elements from De Palma's film that from here on out, Jennifer is called Carrie with Snakes in this review.
Technically speaking, there isn't any special or noteworthy about Carrie with Snake's cinematography, story, or anything else for that matter except maybe the laughably terrible ending wherein an army of snakes and snake demons (or rather, puppets) are unleashed by Jennifer upon all those who had wronged her in the past. The film's budgetary restraints are never more evident than in the film's uninspired ending, which could've been more effective and chilling if Mack had a better understanding of shadow, editing, or subtly--but then this is the guy who directed Rooster: Spurs of Death!, so we can forget about all that.
Lisa Pelikan, the film's titular star, does a rather decent job playing a good-hearted country girl who can inexplicably command snakes with her mind, but she isn't anywhere near as awkward and unpopular as the character out to be, which in turn makes it harder for us the audience to approve of her brutal actions against her bullies. However, it's the film's villain--Sandra Tremayne--who truly steals the film. Sandra is a spoiled, self-centered, sociopathic monster who surrounds herself with a platoon of mindless girls whom emulate her and hang on her every word and who orchestrates events so that her equally heinous boyfriend rapes her former friend Jane simply because Jane felt a little guilty about making fun of Jennifer. Tremayne is such a ruthless and cold-hearted psychopath she makes Patrick Bateman look like an underachiever by comparison.
However, the competent performances in Carrie with Snakes are few and far in between, with the worst character/actor easily being Jennifer's father, Luke. Luke, unlike Carrie's mother Margaret, is far from being a disturbing presence, or even a little bit scary. Corey plays Jennifer's 'fanatical' father as a whiny drunk whose "fire-and-brimstone" preaching are, at best, utterly boring. Once in the film we're treated to Luke pulling his belt off to physical threaten Jennifer, but since he's portrayed as an incompetent simpleton who can't even cook his own meals without burning himself, he comes off as being about as threatening as a wet napkin.
Ultimately, Brice Mack's Carrie With Snakes is a cheesy and dated horror film that should only be watched with a group of friends for a cheap unintended laughs rather than for legitimate scares or chills. Though it's not the worst bargain basement horror knock-off ever to be made, it only just barely rises just above the rest.
Find the nearest Blockbuster near your home so you can rent this film almost immediately. Or, if you prefer that movies came to you instead, set up a Netflix account and start your ordering as soon as possible.
Comments