Jennifer

There are a lot of similarities between Carrie and Jennifer (over-religious single parent, school snobbery, pent up anger sparking supernatural revenge, and I guess even at one point toward the end having Jennifer looking remarkably similar to Margaret White at the end of Carrie). Jennifer's power involves control over snakes, whereas Carrie had control over practically everything.

Jennifer is played by Lisa Peliken, who is excellent in this. She gets a scholarship to a ritzy school, and her poor background and lack of wealth make her an easy target. She almost instantly gets on the bad side of the biggest clique in the school, led by Chris Hargensen-like Sandra. The special effects (especially a giant snake) are poor, but it is a fun, dated movie to watch.

Jennifer is a poor and hard-working student and she possesses a power over snakes,an ability to control them and communicate with them.Her father Luke is a mentally unstable religious nut.The worst of all some wealthy students led by cruel Sandra constantly harass Jennifer at school.Sandra turns many other students and teachers against Jennifer including the school's headmistress.Eventually Jennifer gets revenge on her cruel classmates with the help of her snakes.Vastly enjoyable and fun to watch "Carrie" clone with likable main character.There is no gore,but if you like your horror cheesy and entertaining you can't go wrong with "Jennifer".I'd love to have a date with such a pretty girl.7 out of 10.

Anyone who knows anything about horror will have no trouble identifying Jennifer's main influence - it is, of course, Brian De Palma's Stephen King adaptation Carrie. The two share so much in common that I can't quite believe that director Brice Mack actually got away with making this film. It's not just the central premise either, things are ripped directly from Carrie wholesale; stuff like the overbearing religious single parent, the popular clique that takes a dislike to the outcast protagonist and the sensitive member of said clique that has a bit of sympathy for the outcast. The central character is, unsurprisingly, named Jennifer. Jennifer is a scholarship student at a relatively wealthy school and as such gets picked on for not having as much money as the other girls. She takes it for a while but soon the bullying is stepped up a gear and Jennifer decides that she just can't take it anymore. Luckily for her, however, she can wield a strange power over snakes and decides to use it to get her revenge.

While the film is clearly a knockoff, it does have to be said that in its own right, it's actually a decent horror movie. Don't go into it expecting to be thrilled because it's very much of the slow burn variety, although it does manage to put forward some interesting characters. It's clear that it was shot on a low budget, however, and while the acting is largely decent; certain cast members are just terrible. Jeff Corey stands out in that respect as Jennifer's overbearing religious father. The central premise centres on snakes and as such you would expect the movie to feature a few of them; but actually they don't turn up properly until right near the end which is a bit of a shame. I'd have liked to have seen a bit more of a relationship between the lead character and the snakes. Jennifer is also not even nearly as big an outcast as Carrie was; she's just not weird enough and her reaction to the bullying even seems a bit extreme. Still, I wasn't particularly expecting anything great from this film and going in with expectations like that will ensure you wont be disappointed.

Jennifer is a poor young redheaded woman from West Virginia attending a private girl's school on a scholarship. She and her father had left their home in disgrace, when around the age of seven some snakes Jennifer had been handling in church apparently bit and killed the preacher's son. She refused to handle snakes ever since, though her father now runs a pet store and often encourages her to use her power again.

Her father is a bit of a simpleton, unable to make meals for himself without burning them, relying on his "Jenny" ever since his wife died. While he does operate the pet store, most of the time he's in a back room listening to Christian radio.

Pretty Jennifer is quite smart, though. I'm not sure if her scholarship was based on her low income or her high intelligence. She gets in trouble with a cruel clique at school. They already hated her for being different, but when she snitches on them for cheating on a mid- term exam (only after they accused her of being the ringleader when they were caught), they're literally prepared to kill her.

The main culprit is Sandra, the daughter of a Senator. The school's headmistress is quite eager to kick Jennifer out as well, preferring students with rich and powerful parents.

The swim team invites Jennifer to join them, but the movie does not make much of that plot element. One of Sandra's crew, an overweight girl, also sticks up for Jennifer occasionally, to her own detriment. Additionally, one of the teachers also wants to be Jennifer's friend.

Eventually Jennifer is pushed to the point where she does start using her power.

This was an OK movie, nothing exceptional. Some of the giant snakes, briefly glimpsed, are a bit silly. Is it a rip-off of Carrie? Well, probably. The video distributor was selling it along those lines, with a tagline on the back of the video box reading "Compared to this, 'Carrie' was an angel." The overall plot is similar: misfit child of religious fanatic is picked on at school and resorts to using psychic powers.

Beyond that, I don't know if they're too similar. Jennifer's father is a bit of a loon, and while he pulls a belt out at one point to threaten Jennifer, it's unclear whether he's ever actually delivered on the threat: he doesn't seem to be as cruel as Carrie's mother. Jennifer doesn't become filled with rage like Carrie, attacking innocent people, but acts in self-defense, only attacking those who are prepared to kill her.

I only saw the last half-hour of this film. I have been looking all over the four corners of the earth and finally found it available for order on the internet. When I see the whole thing, I'll make additional comments. I'm tired of maudlin films with reprehensible characters who get killed or suffer misfortune, only to have the other characters weeping or remorseful over the misfortune that character deserved to get. But that's not the case with Jennifer. It is uncompromising and doesn't pull any punches when exacting revenge on many of the film's vicious characters. Some of you have criticized the effects, but be understanding that without today's digital and computer effects, they were limited in what they could do. A good effort, with some reasonably well-known stars adding spice to the film.