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| Masters of Horror - Dario Argento - Jenifer | 
 enlarge | Director: Dario Argento
Actors: Steven Weber, Carrie Fleming, Brenda James, Harris Allan, Beau Starr
Studio: Starz / Anchor Bay
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.98
Buy Used: $1.50
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Avg. Customer Rating:  63 reviews
Sales Rank: 36282
Format: Color, Dvd-video, Widescreen, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: Unrated
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 58
Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.4 x 0.7
MPN: ANBD14461D
UPC: 013131446197
EAN: 0013131446197
ASIN: B000FS2W3A
Theatrical Release Date: November 18, 2005
Release Date: August 15, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: * PLEASE READ! NO COVER ART OR INSERT- DISC W/ CASE ONLY. Original US Released. Disc is in Excellent condition! Get it fast! We ship QUICKLY - WORLDWIDE. Beware of many dishonest sellers! No FAKE or IMPORTED DVD here! Shop with confidence.
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Amazon.com
Leave it to Dario Argento (Suspiria) to cook up a truly stomach-flipping installment in Showtime's Masters of Horror series. Argento's hour-long Jenifer has an uncluttered through-line that combines a relentlessly destructive film noir plot with zombie attitude. Steven Weber plays a cop who kills a man about to harm a disfigured woman named Jenifer. Weber finds himself strangely protective of the girl, who incidentally has enough sexual appetite to tempt him away from everything sane and holy. Unfortunately, she has other appetites as well, which spells trouble for the odd child (or housecat) who might be taken as a snack. Weber's downward spiral is predictable enough, but there's something in almost every scene that makes you shiver--either overtly (Jenifer chomping down on entrails) or indirectly (the way trees ripple as a car moves into the forest). Jenifer is played by Carrie Anne Fleming, wearing a prosthetic horror mask and flimsy negligee, an unsettling combination of repulsive/sexy that Argento exploits to the maximum. The trim script is by Steven Weber, from a short story by Bruce Jones; the excellent music is by Claudio Simonetti, whose ensemble Goblin did the music for other Argento films and the original Dawn of the Dead. --Robert Horton
Product Description
Frank spivey is a detective who rescues a strange young girl from a deranged killer. With a horribly disfigured face but a beautiful body she is seductress psychopath & succubus all in one& her name is jenifer. Studio: Starz/sphe Release Date: 09/25/2007 Starring: Steven Weber Run time: 58 minutes Rating: Nr Director: Dario Argento
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| Customer Reviews: Read 58 more reviews...
 "Disappointing" is too mild a term here April 2, 2007
17 out of 22 found this review helpful
This entry into the "Masters of Horror" series is, by far, the worst I have seen (of about six or seven of them), a true disaster of a film. Or so I thought until I came here and saw the glowing reviews of so many other people. I am at a loss to understand what they could have seen in the film, so I'll try to explain my reaction and hope that those who read this review will read the more positive reviews and see which seem more in accord with their tastes.
First, the plot. Spivey, a police officer (Steven Weber) stops a man from killing a woman (Carrie Fleming) with a meat cleaver. Spivey shoots the man, who utters one word before he dies: "Jenifer." The woman turns out to be a deformed woman about whom nothing is known. Weber somehow manages to check her out of the mental ward and take her to his house, the first instance of a serious plot hole in the film. There, Jenifer eats the family cat, causing Spivey's wife and son to leave. For no reason that I could discern, Spivey makes no apparent effort to get them back.
What Spivey does get out of his relationship with Jenifer is a lot of sex. Why he would want to engage in sex with someone with cat breath is not clear. Jenifer has, it seems, some sort of hold over him, a hold that begins the moment he meets her. He does try to break free eventually, leading to an ending so predictable that it is obvious long before it unfolds.
In trying to reconcile the positive reviews of this film with my own reactions, I have gone over the film again in my mind and tried to figure out what there is to recommend it. The film is shot well, but the cinematography is not spectacular or even especially noteworthy, especially when compared to some of Dario Argento's earlier, better-known work (think Suspiria). The acting is competent, but the characters are so flat that there is little either principal actor can do with his or her role. Weber, for instance, never fully conveys why his character would choose Jenifer over his family, and Fleming is even more limited since her character does not speak. Indeed, Jenifer seems only to growl, eat, whimper, and have a lot of sex. There are some nice homages throughout, notably to Psycho (or, more precisely, Bernard Herrmann's magnificent score) and to Frankenstein (the scene in which a girl throws flowers into water). But allusions are not enough to save this film, at least not in my view.
Obviously, there are many who disagree, and I'm glad they found this film to their taste. For me, however, "Jenifer" really does rank as only 1 star.
A Sorry Excuse for Horror August 16, 2006
16 out of 52 found this review helpful
While I have not seen or purchased the DVD of Jennifer (Showtime's Masters of Horror), I did have the UNfortunate chance to watch the episode when it originally aired.
It's lousy.
Jennifer tells the tale of a police officer who saves a facially disfigured girl and then develops a strange bond with her. This bond becomes physical, sexual, and leads to the destruction of many avenues in the police officer's life.
I have so many problems with this story that I don't know where to begin. First, it's not scary. Second, the "twist" ending can be spotted within the first 5 minutes by anyone with an IQ higher than Forrest Gump. Third, none of the characters relate to each other so there is no sense of shock or loss at the odd choices the main police officer makes. Fourth, Steven Webber, who is a decent TV actor, is a crappy writer and clearly bit off more than he could chew with this story. Fifth, Jennifer herself is absolutely revolting...gross out horror is the lowest denominator of the genre.
Now I realize that the Horror genre is probably the hardest for viewers to personalize. One man's Jaws is another man's Jaws: The Revenge, but I'd find it hard to believe that anyone would find it worth their time to want to own or repeatedly view the mess that is Jennifer. Perhaps you'd want to spy the extras included on the DVD...in that case just rent it.
If you disagree please contact me, because I have a bet with a friend that nobody will.
 True to the Comic October 20, 2006
16 out of 19 found this review helpful
Based on an old Eerie comic illustrated by Bernie Wrightson, this is an eerie tale that plays against a number of emotions. The story starts with a police officer who sees a man try to kill a woman. He shoots the man before he can cause harm. The rescued woman is Jenifer. She has a disfigured face, a killer body, and seems unable to talk. But no sooner is the case open than the detective begins to become obsessed with Jenifer. He visits her at an asylum and decides she needs compassion and friendship so he brings her home. This causes new trouble.
With Jenifer in the house things quickly fall apart for the detective's family life. Then he discovers that Jenifer has a very active libido and has targeted him. Then more of Jenifer's nature becomes apparent as she eats the family dog. Things continue to go downhill as the detective is both repulsed by Jenifer's behavior and enslaved to her passion. The downward spiral continues until the inevitable ending.
This is one of the best of the Master Of Horror series and may be the best of them all. The story is dark and disturbing. It is missing the cuteness that ruined some of the others in the series. The script is true to the original except the detective is given a happier home life so that he call fall even further during the story. There is a large amount of nudity and sexuality in this film. Had this been a theatrical release there would probably have been talk of an NC-17 rating for a couple of the scenes. All in all this is a very good horror film that gets to the viewer on multiple levels. Definitely check it out.
 Talk About A Homewrecker! August 19, 2006
9 out of 12 found this review helpful
Jenifer is bad news. She's got a ton of baggage, she'll strip you of everything you own and love, she's a lousy conversationalist, and she's got weird growths on her tongue. I don't think the great sex can make up for all the negatives when dealing with Jenifer. Who is she? Where does she come from, and is she human at all? Who the hell cares? Do you? I sure as hell don't. In the disc's documentary, Dario compares Jenifer to a drug, and that's a wonderful analogy for this film. Jenifer is indeed like a drug, and Steven Weber's character acts increasingly more and more like an addict. Even though the evil is so blunt and apparent he just can't let her go. She's trouble the moment he brings her into the house. Right off the bat she's biting his wife and eating his cat(hey, that rhymed pretty good, I should think about taking up rapping). Realistically, you'd kick this chick's [...] all the way back to the looney bin or call the cops, but Jenifer's strength is the powerful drug-like hold she has over her "owners". Weber loses everything because of this woman and it's an interesting and disturbing journey. Being the Argento fan I am, I was very excited about this particular installment in the Masters Of Horror series. And I certainly wasn't disappointed. I didn't get the full impact until a short time after the film had ended and I took time to reflect on certain aspects of the film. I can say in all honesty, this was very well done. In terms of style, it's more like Argento's American works like Two Evil Eyes or Trauma, though totally different at the same time. Fans will certainly check this out without a review to prompt them. Some will(and do) just dismiss this as gruesome, unscary and dumb, but Argento's name is bulletproof to fans, so nanny-nanny-poo-poo. Enjoy!
Jenifer got under his skin August 17, 2006
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
It sounds like Jenifer (yes one n), got under the last reviewer's skin. It's that type of story, written over 30 years ago by Bruce Jones. Jones is probably one of the best comic book writers of all time. This story is about obsession. How a man cannot pull away from a hideously deformed woman with a beautiful body. If you enjoy the over the top work of Argento, and the art of Berni Wrightson (which inspired the look of the film), this hour of horror will be appreciated. The dvd has a lot of extras as well.
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