One Good Movie - Double Feature

Happy Halloween, friend,

I present a double feature to celebrate the dead.

Both are horror movies and both are comedies. Perhaps they’re in conversation with each other, I’ll let you decide.

Jennifer’s Body

Released in 2009, the tale of high school and satanic murder was dismissed by audiences and critics.

A terrible marketing campaign focused on Megan Fox’s sex appeal didn’t help.

Written by Diablo Cody, the teenage dialogue is sharp. Director Karyn Kusama brings a feminist focus to material that usually only services teen boys.

Megan Fox is pitch-perfect as the coolest girl in school, and Amanda Seyfried is her equal as the dorky best friend.

Add in a queer subtext and indie rock ridicule, and you have one of the superior horror entries of the last 15 years.

Plus JK Simmons in a wig.

Follow that with John Landis’

An American Werewolf in London

An astonishingly constructed horror film.

You’ve likely seen it.

It’s worth a rewatch with 2023 eyes.

The mixture of horror and comedy seems effortless.

Plus Jenny Agutter.

Beware the moon.

-Guy