Enlarge By Doane Gregory, 20th Century Fox Man-eater: Megan Fox has cannibal tastes in Jennifer's Body. Jennifer's Body, the horror thriller opening Friday with a script by Oscar winner Juno) that blends R-rated frights with the stripper-turned-scribe's smarty-pants sense of humor. "Hell is a teenage girl." That opening line is brought to flesh-and-blood life in, the horror thriller opening Friday with a script by Oscar winner Diablo Cody ) that blends R-rated frights with the stripper-turned-scribe's smarty-pants sense of humor. With strong hints of 1976's Carrie (the scary prom) and 1988's Heathers (the snarky attitude), Jennifer attempts to update the modern-day conceit of a woman's sexuality as a source of terror — memorably exemplified by the shower scene in 1960's Psycho— and drag it into the 21st century. WRITER'S PICKS: Diablo Cody's favorite female-centric creepers PHOTOS: Megan Fox on screen and on the red carpet The shapely body this time belongs to a possessed high school hellion (Megan Fox of Transformers 1 and 2), a queen bee with cannibalistic leanings who develops a taste for her male classmates in the worst way. The only sin of her victims? Finding their attacker attractive. "It's like an animal needs to eat to survive," Fox says. "When a shark hunts for prey, it goes after the weakest fish." Perhaps most destructive is the toxic sway that gorgeous Jennifer holds over Needy (Amanda Seyfried of Mamma Mia!), her dorkish BFF since childhood who must summon the courage to put an end to her pal's feeding frenzy. "It represents adolescent females at their worst," Seyfried says. Jennifer's Body strives to be an original take on a trend in horror that continues with upcoming remakes of A Nightmare on Elm Street and Poltergeist, one that puts strong female characters front and center. That's because a generation of girls weaned on Twilight and True Blood (and a few of their mothers, too) who prefer vampy bloodsuckers to vapid pop stars can't wait to feast on what fresh hell might await at the multiplex each weekend. The demographic fact that females have accounted for more than half the ticket sales for such past fright flicks as The Grudge and The Ring didn't escape the notice of Hollywood. Which is why, for much of this decade, studios have been busy pumping out updates of such classic scares as Prom Night and Halloween. That explains last Friday's arrival of Sorority Row, which puts a fresh gloss on a slasher scenario from 1983. After accidentally causing the death of a friend, college women — including Demi Moore and Bruce Willis' daughter Rumer — are stalked by a mystery slayer and slain one by one. Lisa Dombrowski, an associate film professor at Wesleyan University, recalls how a producer of the 2003 remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, whose success helped kick off the current raid on chillers from the '70s and '80s, told her class that tracking for the film initially showed a lack of interest among girls. "They crafted a new set of trailers that highlighted clips of Jessica Biel fighting back against Leatherface," she says. "The tracking shot through the roof. Part of the appeal of these films is the fantasy of female empowerment and taking action, even violent action. They are stories of what they fear most and of overcoming that." Jennifer's Body also is in the tradition of films that turn a female body into a weapon and/or portray it as something monstrous, such as recent cult titles Ginger Snaps and Teeth or such oldies as The Exorcistand The Brood. Says Aviva Briefel, an associate professor of English who teaches a class on horror movies at Bowdoin College, "It sounds like Jennifer's Body is an attempt to celebrate a women's act of violence, a rape-revenge fantasy." Given that Jennifer's condition was caused by guyliner-wearing emo rockers who tried to use her as a human sacrifice, the situation does make her somewhat sympathetic. But a genre can't thrive on a diet of recycled goose bumps alone. While Jennifer's Body pays attention to the past, it also strives to break from it. As Seyfried says, "It's the kind of kick-ass film that guys usually make," but created by women. Cody took a knife to horror stereotypes, as well. It bothers her when plot summaries assume, given Jennifer's outfit in promotional photos, that she is all-too-predictably a cheerleader. Instead, she's the leader of a flag team at her downscale high school, which can't afford a squad of pom-pom shakers. Besides, "Jennifer is not so much popular as untouchable," Cody explains. "Her being incredibly beautiful makes her bulletproof. I didn't want it to be some clichéd story about a crazy cannibal cheerleader." "The tradition in horror films is that the victimizers tend to be males," says director Karyn Kusama (Girlfight). "It's usually a male vs. female experience. This one is more complicated than that. The alpha female can be as frightening as a crazed killer. Everyone knows a girl from high school who could make you feel small. The boys are irrelevant." Actually, they are totally out of the picture during the most erotic sequence, when Jennifer and Needy share a long, lingering kiss. "People ask me if it is a shameless ploy to titillate boys," Kusama says. "What interests me is their assumption that it is only for boys. The way the scene functions is to reveal another layer to these two girls. It's a secret component of their relationship, something that makes them very vulnerable. Girls who have seen it understand it and say it's one of the most frightening scenes." Or, as Cody puts it, "There's something very tense about kissing a cannibal — she could eat her face." Seyfried says the film reflects the cruel realities of pubescent behavior. "It symbolizes the relationship that a lot of girls have with each other at that age," she says. "They haven't figured things out yet, and there's a lot of insecurity and competition. It is kind of similar to what high school was like for me, except without all the chewing jaws and the zombie Satan worshiping." Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. 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