Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Dustin Rowles | News | March 21, 2025
We’re not a monolith here, and our takes on certain movies don’t always line up—but I like to think we respect each other’s opinions, even when we disagree. That said, I have to be honest: I didn’t agree with our original review of Megan Fox’s Jennifer’s Body. And I probably shouldn’t say this—but it’s been 16 years, and he used a pseudonym—I remember noticing in that review the same troubling tone that would eventually contribute to that writer’s dismissal.
Sure, we weren’t quite the “woke internet garbage” site we are today, but still—that movie was a blast. Megan Fox, Amanda Seyfried, and screenwriter Diablo Cody deserved better. I’m glad we eventually revisited the film (in one of Kayleigh’s profiles) with fresh eyes.
I genuinely liked it at the time—though I’ve always had a soft spot for Diablo Cody. But its reputation has only grown since then, now recognized as a cult horror classic. These days, Amanda Seyfried can’t promote a new project without fielding questions about a sequel.
Will we ever get one? Who knows. There’s not exactly a great track record for sequels to box-office underperformers that gained cult status later. Still, I love that the film keeps getting second looks. And Seyfried—while still game for a follow-up—has never stopped championing the original, as she should.
Most recently, she reflected on the film with GQ magazine and blamed its poor reception on botched marketing.
“If the critics criticize anything, it would be the marketing,” she said. “The marketing sucked, it just did. And we all agree.
“The marketing team cheapened it like it was just a gory romp. I think they ruined it, and I think Karyn and Diablo were a really good team. I love Needy. It was the first time I got to play really nerdy, wearing the glasses. Megan got to turn into a demon, it was awesome. We all just had a lot of fun, so I wanna celebrate it by doing a sequel.”
She’s not wrong. It was the age of loud, hyper-sexualized Michael Bay movies, and the film’s marketing leaned hard into that—at the expense of everything that made Jennifer’s Body special. But the media and the culture were just as complicit. It was an easy target, and we were all too eager to take the shot (see also: the joyous Annie remake, albeit for different reasons).
“I can’t critique this movie, to me it’s perfect. It’s got balls,” Seyfried added. “[Screenwriter] Diablo Cody was outspoken and beautiful and smart and funny. We were expressing a certain angst in a very specific, comedic way in a very specific genre. The special effects were so incredible, there were stunts, there was everything you could want.”
Amen to that. If we’d embraced it like we should have, we might’ve had a sequel years ago—and Karyn Kusama, who’s gone on to prove herself time and again, might have gotten the bigger career she always deserved.
