Horrible carnage

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.

From a poor background, co-locating in a pet store with her depressed father, Mensa-grade intellect sees the beguiling Jennifer (Pelikan) given an opportunity to break free from her lower-class shackles amongst the well healed at a prestigious girl's school. But after prolonged bullying and passive subversion from the arrogant head mistress (Foch), Jennifer reveals her penchant for snakes, and her telepathic ability to command them to avenge her mistreatment.

A strong cast (Bert Convy as a sympathetic teacher, John Gavin in one of his last film roles before taking up politics) and some effective special effects are the cornerstones of this blatant "Carrie" knock-off, the parallels so shameless (particularly in the characterisations) that if you removed the snake aspect, you'd be watching an inferior remake.

Pelikan is capable and actually looks better than the material with which she's got to work, and Foch in particular is a strong, assured presence as the pompous principal, whose belief it is that only money and status can achieve worthy character. The giant snake head effects aren't bad, and you wonder how the actors feel about some giant puppet head clamping down on their skulls – not what they'd have anticipated at theatre school. But it's all about the audience, and it's cheesy and fun, so thumbs up.

I know it's a long shot, but just in case you always wondered what Stephen Kings legendary character Carrie would be like if she used her telekinetic powers to manipulate animals, here's your chance! "Jennifer" IS "Carrie", but with a bunch of snakes thrown in. At least after a while; don't get your hopes about seeing snake-action up too soon. Carrie with snakes, how awesome does that sound? Both girls are the main target of mockery and humiliation at school, they both have one exaggeratedly protective and foolishly religious parent left and – of course – they are both driven to a mental collapse that ends with seriously horrific consequences for everyone. Heck, the only real difference is that Jennifer didn't suddenly start to menstruate in the school gym's shower! It's really too bad that the main story lines and narrative structure of "Jennifer" are so blatantly reminiscent to "Carrie", because the film itself really quite satisfying and competently made. The characters have depth, the script contains large and clever amounts of social commentary and the overall atmosphere of the film is unsettling and continuously ominous. Director Brice Mack (who the hell is he?) patiently takes his time to build up towards a solid & suspenseful climax, particularly through a long series of painful high-school situations. Lisa Pelikan is excellent as the pitiable heroine Jennifer, but Amy Johnston is even better as her nemesis, the rich, snotty, spoiled and manipulative bitch Sandra. She's one of them characters you would really like to pull out of the TV-screen and personally strangle her with your own bare hands. You know, like Nancy Allen's character in – oh yeah – Carrie!! "Jennifer" is an overall solid and recommendable thriller but, be advised, it's rather slow-paced and contains very little gore. As a matter a fact, this might actually be the ONLY rip-off that is less gruesome, less exploitative and less grotesque than the classic original it's based on. That particular aspect of curiosity alone is worthy of a recommendation.

This film is basically a rip off of Carrie, girl is bullied throughout the movie and then we get a climatic finish where strange powers are on full display. The problem with this trope is that you have to watch a lot of movie where the powers are not on display and there is filler to the extreme! Another movie that follows this formula is Evil Speak with Clint Howard, but that one was way creepier from what I remember. That being said, I was a kid when last I saw that movie so it may seem silly now. This one I liked the ending and aspects of it, but at times it just was a bit too far fetched.

The story has Jennifer, a nice young lady from rural country going to a private academy. Despite what is said, not all the girls dislike Jennifer, only this one senator's daughter and her clique. Her clique and the daughter are all flat chested, but hang around a girl they call fat, but to me had the best bod of the bunch as she had boobs and was not a zipper. The senator's daughter was not even all that, but she just had to taunt Jennifer and her chubby friend to a ridiculous degree so when the comeuppance occurs I was fully in Jennifer's corner.

Not sure what the deal with the school is as some of the girls seem to live there, but Jennifer lives with her father in a rundown looking pet store. I think the degree to which the head mistress protects the senator's daughter is a bit unrealistic too as sooner or later that girl was going to do something that would have brought down the academy's reputation...not sure there is any private school where the girls can just drive off with a couple of guys and go to a disco and do drugs...

So, the film had its moments and the climax was pretty cool as Jennifer displayed her powers which was not just controlling snakes, but materializing them out of thin air! However, there is so much filler, like watching the mean girls dance at a disco, Jennifer no where to be seen. I guess they did okay as this film was obviously a rush job to capitalize on the success of Carrie.

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.