Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.5

Jennifer Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf November 7, 2014

Well, if a production is determined to rip-off “Carrie,” there’s no reason to be subtle about it. 1978’s “Jennifer” looks to cash-in on the outcast subgenre of horror, forgoing Stephen King plotting to raise a holy ruckus, being the rare movie to use snake handling as a method of screen torment. While derivative and missing the stylish curves of a Brian De Palma picture, “Jennifer” manages to find a few thrills of its own, with star Lisa Pelikan submitting committed work as the titular demon seed, showing surprising comfort with snakes and goofball plotting as she tries to turn a thin idea into a rounded performance. Missing any real scares, “Jennifer” retains an adequate amount of tension as mischief is played out, hitting all the highlights of a 1970s fright film without ever generating any authentic psychological disruption. “Carrie” was bizarre and unsettling. “Jennifer” is merely amusing, with the occasional surge of evil.

Born on the wrong side of the tracks, Jennifer (Lisa Pelikan) makes a daily trek to an all-girl private school, working with a scholarship that’s afforded her a wonderful education and triggered the disdain of the rich kids who bought their way in. Sandra (Amy Johnson) is the alpha female on campus, a drugged-out troublemaker who’s routinely saved from expulsion by her father, Senator Tremayne (John Gavin), who writes checks to keep his daughter enrolled. Deciding that she hates Jennifer, Sandra declares war on the mousy teenager, tormenting her with increasingly hostile acts of menace and violence. While Jennifer is subjected to daily humiliations, she remains dutiful in her studies, coming home to her devout father, Luke (Jeff Corey), who’s determined to remind his child of her once mighty power over snakes, triggered during religious ceremonies. Hoping to suppress her instincts, Jennifer is tested in full when Sandra pushes too far, leaving sympathetic teacher Jeff (Bert Convey) to wonder about her breaking point, while cool kid outcast Jane (Louise Haven) struggles with her own place in the high school pecking order.

Directed by Brice Mack and scripted by Kay Cousins Johnson, “Jennifer” has the appearance of a television movie. Emotions are not subtle here, with Sandra’s reign of terror played as loud as possible to convey her inherent evil, lashing out at others to cover-up her own domestic difficulties with an absentee father and an estranged mother. If the production could get away with mustache for Sandra to twirl, they would. Depicted as a pill-popping, smoking, pathological liar (weaving stories of California conquests such as Warren Beatty), Sandra is a mean thing who’s turned her gaze to Jennifer, targeting her for horrendous punishment due to her economic background and home state of West Virginia. “Jennifer” is primarily a feature about this sustained act of bullying, displaying Sandra’s escalating attempts to ruin her victim’s life, even going as far as to attempt to drown her during a swim class. Working to frame her enemy for academic cheating and soup ladling incompetence, Sandra has declared war on Jennifer, persuading her friends and local boys to join the campaign of harassment.

Bullying antics are broad, but “Jennifer” needs the amplification at times, especially when it focuses on the teenager’s former life as an all-star snake handler, with her father convinced she’s squandering her powers by attending school. It’s an enticing development, and the screenplay spends a substantial amount of time focusing on Jennifer’s discomfort with her reptile-coaxing past without ever really explaining it. At one point in the film, Jennifer is able to converse with her pet snakes, another scene displays her ability to project their presence in front of enemies. The limits of her powers are never explored, but sheer wiggle factor of the gift is detailed extensively by Mack, who understands that the B-movie audience wants to see three things: gratuitous nudity, Sandra’s comeuppance, and slithering snake attacks.

“Jennifer” attempts to come across as a diabolical horror event, but it’s never suspenseful beyond a few encounters with Sandra’s bullying fixation. The feature mostly sits on terror to build atmosphere, with Luke spouting bible quotes as he goads his daughter into her position as queen of the snakes, and there’s pronounced class tension between Jennifer and the rest of the school, extending to the headmistress, another drug-addled boob who’s beginning to see how the “scholarship kid” is threatening her ability to pressure donations out of parents during bouts of bad behavior. Jennifer is hit from all sides and the picture finds its stride as it escalates, with Pelikan submitting appropriately unsettling work as the lead character, portraying the eroding innocence of the snake handler as she becomes fed up with awful behavior, making a connection with Jane, an overweight girl who’s also subjected to the cruelty of Sandra’s wicked ways. Because it wouldn’t be a film from the 1970s without an act of rape. Still, Pelikan keeps her dignity and portrays Jennifer’s comfort with revenge carefully, never overdoing sinister looks.

And for those who enjoy such details, period references pop up from time to time, including Mark Spitz, and unstoppable sexual appeal of John Travolta, and Jeff mentions this newfangled thing called “The Pill” during one of his lessons.

Jennifer Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.85:1 aspect ratio) presentation does battle age, with softer cinematography and slight color fade. However, this obscure title fares just fine on BD, with a reasonable amount of detail emerging from faces and costumes. Grain is managed to satisfaction, keeping a filmic quality to the viewing experience. Hues are best with fabrics and Pelikan's red hair, while disco lighting adds heavier colors to the mix. Blacks show some solidification, but remain communicative, surviving evening sequences. Source material is in fine shape.

Jennifer Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 2.0 DTS-HD MA sound mix takes some volume riding to get through, with music selections running very hot, stretching into shrill extremes on occasion. Dialogue exchanges are settled, with encouraging clarity to detail performances, keeping voices distinct. It certainly isn't an excitable track, just a little excessive at times, throwing balance out of whack. Overt damage isn't detected, but a noticeable hiss carries through the entire mix.

Jennifer Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• A Theatrical Trailer (2:03, HD) is included.

Jennifer Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There are oddball touches to "Jennifer," including male characters who love to race their cars in a parking garage and a climax that's baffling, aiming to be some type of psychological freak-out, complete with exaggerated cinematography and monstrous snakes. It feels like a quick way out of a difficult narrative situation, paying off Jennifer's powers without committing to a sinister display of death. The picture goes big to make a final statement, hoping to match "Carrie" in terms of hellraising, but it fails to conjure the same insanity. However, "Jennifer" does have a welcome low-budget vibe and enjoyably hateful characters, delivering on its promise of cheap thrills. As knockoffs go, I'd rather stick with "Jennifer" and its dented ambition than deal with the actual remake of "Carrie."