Dollhouse of Horror

Amanda Seyfried is a fine actress, the more so because she can sing as well as act. Megan Fox, maybe not so much. So I wasn't terribly interested in seeing Jennifer's Body until I learned that Miss Seyfried is in it. But by that time my calendar was full and when I got some breathing room, the movie was out of theaters. So I had to wait for the DVD release (thanks, Netflix). And in the fullness of time it did come to me and I did watch it, and lo, it is regrettably underappreciated. I am not a connoisseuse of either the high-school romantic comedy or the horror movie, so I cannot say whether it is good by the standards of either genre; but in any case it is, as Roger Ebert puts it, an interesting movie.

It definitely has the plot structure of the high-school romantic comedy. I have limited experience with horror movies, but it certainly seems to have a typical horror plot, too. What's interesting is that it is at once both and neither, a horrifying rom-com, a chick flick with moral as well as emotional power. The main characters are both women, and they are strong characters, too. I particularly appreciated that the hero/villain conflict is actually heroïne/villainess conflict, such that the movie is not portraying Woman as one or the other. Nor is it a simple case of good vs. evil: the heroïne/villainess conflict is unusually conflicted in its own right and a surprise ending involves the blending of good and evil. The monster attacks are well enough conceived and executed so that they are, in fact, horrifying rather than merely shocking. While there is necessarily some violence it is not dwelt upon, more often shown indirectly, and surrounded by a great deal of suspense. The monster is rarely (and even then only briefly) seen as such. All of the victims are men — no luscious-lady vicarious sadism here (well, OK, there is one bit, but it is, in the original sense of the word, horrible more than anything else; it is not in the least sexualized). There's not a great deal of sexual activity but such that there is is not titillating and perhaps the most memorable bits are mildly shocking in conception — certainly not the usual fare..

The ending is well conceived, too; it resolves some conflict that, by what would be the typical ending of such genre movies, the viewer wants resolved but ordinarily is not, perhaps in order to permit sequels. More, until that resolution is begun, the movie gives no indication that it will be resolved, making it a particularly gratifying surprise ending.

It would be interesting to know the reaction to this movie of someone completely unfamiliar with horror and high-school rom-com movies. I don't see many of either; I have too often found them cringe-worthy, so I require something that makes the risk of cringing worthwhile. But this movie is affirmatively interesting, at least in light of its source genres, and I think good in its own right.