Z/Web

Author: Diablo Cody

Surprisingly, I really liked this. My expectations were low after hearing the early reviews and box office, but I didn’t find that many flaws. It’s a nifty blend of genres, mixing horror, comedy, and teen angst in a hip and colorful fashion. However, it’s not a huge, big budget audience pleaser. This is a quirky cult film. People who like Heathers would like this.

The problem is the film’s positioning. Having Megan Fox as the lead means it has to be marketed as some big vehicle for her. I’m not sure when this was cast: if the film was cast back when she was a nobody, this would have made more sense. But now she’s popular and so the marketing tries to get on that and unfortunately they have marketed it as a sex vehicle for her and that’s not at all what it is. The marketing turned off many people who didn’t care to see her in her first “adult” role. Diablo Cody fans weren’t sure what to make of this either as this genre seems so different from Juno. But if this had been a low budget unpublicized film with an unknown in the lead, people would have been raving about it, telling all their friends to check out this cool new flick. It would have been a huge sleeper hit. As it is now, the expectations were so high it’s a giant flop, which is sad, as it shouldn’t be. It’s a terrific film for what it is: a quirky cult film. The dialogue is smart and sassy, the acting and directing appropriately over the top, and though the storyline isn’t unfamiliar, the perspective of best friends growing apart when one gets possessed by a demon is fresh. I really liked it and recommend it. Just don’t expect too much. I predict it will be a cult hit for years to come and be better appreciated by future generations. Some of the relationship material in the film is quite deep.