Police officer Frank Spivey one day stumbles upon a man who is about to murder a young girl, and it all ends with Frank shooting the man down. The girl's face is horribly disfigured, and it seems like she can't speak either. When he later on realizes that she has nowhere to go, he takes her home and lets her stay with him until he can find some other place for her. Soon though, Jenifer starts to become a huge problem, eating up Frank's family's cat and what else. But even so, Frank seems to have become obsessed with the girl and lets her stay with him. As time goes by, the more Jenifer makes Frank's life miserabel, and in the end, there's only one way out.
I didn't expect too much from Dario Argento's addition to the Masters of Horror series, but I was really impressed with what the man had accomplished here. I've seen most of his flicks, and have found a few of them to be quite enjoyable, although, I'm not a huge fan of his work. Thing though is that he really hit the spot with Jenifer, which is a genuine creepy flick that stayed with me long after it was over. And I love horror movies that do that to you, makes you think about them long after you've finished watching them, just as much as I hate it, if you know what I mean.
Best thing with Jenifer though was the story, as it was easy to get into, and extremely captivating all the way through. I heard some people saying that it was nothing special, not memorable etc, and of course we all have different kinds of taste. But honestly, I can't really understand that trail of thought. When constantly watching so much horror flicks, week after week, year after year, you end up seeing a lot of flicks that are just repetitions of other flicks. So when movies like this comes along, not very often but it happens, it's like finding that fine pearl after looking through hundreds of empty shells.
It was strange seeing Steven Weber in the role of the man who ends up taking care of Jenifer. He's usually a funny guy, and when the movie started, I wasn't sure if it could even be scary with him being in it. Well, I was dead wrong. Not only is he NOT funny, but he also does one hell of an acting job. I sincerely felt sorry for the guy, and his performance works all the way. I think this was on the plus side as well, not that he did a good job, but that he actually worked really well in a horror flick that was actually quite creepy. Apart from that, he wrote the teleplay for Jenifer as well, which is another cool thing. Carrie Fleming who plays Jenifer is great, and the make-up is...how can I put it..awesome! The girl really looks creepy, at the same time, you feel a bit sorry for her, even though she acts like she does.
The ending was somewhat predictable, but even so, it was a great ending, and I can't see how it could've had a better ending. So what if it's slightly predictable, it makes the whole thing come together, and just makes the outcome very good. There's some gore in the movie which was well needed, not for the fact of getting to see actual gore, but to show what Jenifer really is.
I'm actually really impressed here, and would never had thought that Jenifer would prove to be such a good flick. It had a great creepy feel to it from beginning to end, and even if the ending was a bit predictable, it still delivered big-time. Credit to those who did the make-up, as it just looks amazing. If you haven't seen, do yourself a favor and rent or buy a copy of it. Not to be missed.
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ALTERNATIVE TITLE: Jenifer
MOVIE YEAR: 2005
DIRECTOR: Dario Argento
WRITING CREDITS: Steven Weber, Bruce Jones
GENRE: Horror
CAST: Steven Weber, Carrie Fleming, Jasmine Chan
COUNTRY: USA
RUNTIME: 58 min
RATING: 9/10
Masters of Horror (S01E04): Jenifer Website/IMDB Click here
Masters of Horror (S01E04): Jenifer Trailer Click here
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