(Credit: DVDtown.com)
Directed by
Dario Argento
Cast:
Steven Weber …. Frank Spivey
Mark Acheson …. Side Show Owner
Harris Allan …. Pete
Julia Arkos …. Ann Wilkerson
Jeffrey Ballard …. Young Jack
Laurie Brunetti …. Spacey
Jasmine Chan …. Amy
Kevin Crofton …. Homeless Man
Carrie Fleming …. Jenifer
Jano Frandsen …. Hunter
Cynthia Garris …. Rose
Brenda James …. Ruby
Brad Mooney …. Friend #1
Beau Starr …. Chief Charlie
In the last few years, Dario Argento has been one of the most fascinating discoveries for me in the area of Horror. His films are seemingly a cross section of Hitchcockian Suspense, the operatic mood of a Spaghetti Western, and the gory bloodbaths of 1980’s Slasher flicks. The man has built a huge following over the years, earning him a spot in the pantheon of Horror directors reserved for such names as John Carpenter and George Romero. Argento’s Suspiria is one of the greatest Horror films of all time and now adding to his filmography is his Masters of Horror entry, Jenifer, which is one of the best and most disturbing episodes of the entire series.
The story concerns a cop named Frank Spivey (Steven Weber), who kills a man trying to butcher a young girl. In the aftermath of the shootout, we find the girl has a horribly disfigured face and cannot speak. A note on the man only contains the word “Jenifer”, which the police guess is the girl’s name. Things go pretty much downhill from there for Frank. Not happy with her simply being institutionalized, he the poor girl home. Not exactly welcomed into the Spivey household, Jenifer doesn’t ingratiate herself with Frank’s wife Ruby (Brenda James) after she eats the family pet leaves some terrible bite marks on Ruby’s face in a fit of anger.
Argento is a master of simply putting his audience on edge throughout a piece, and in Jenifer, he’s is able to execute that in spades. Jenifer (Carrie Fleming) is hideously ugly in the face, but is a goddess from the neck down. When she finally puts the moves on Frank, you want to look away, but can’t help but be transfixed by the scenario. Spivey becomes like a drug addict; unable to stop his urges for Jenifer even as she begins her killing spree.
Jenifer can be considered a career highlight for Weber, who also wrote the episode on a goof. Not a single moment of his smart-aleck character from Wings can be seen here, as Spivey slowly falls deeper and deeper into a bottomless pit of despair. Weber seems to find a nice groove between subtle changes within Spivey’s psyche and simply going over the top with his descent into madness and tragedy. Based on an illustrated short story by Bruce Jones, Weber does an admirable job of fleshing out the story, providing a good look at Spivey’s home life before Jenifer brings the whole thing crashing down.
There are really no other prevalent performances in the episode other than Carrie Anne Fleming who portrays the horrifying and sensual Jenifer. K.N.B EFX designed the hideous makeup for her and she’s just as disgusting as she should be for this type of piece. Fleming is just right at portraying Jenifer’s animal-like insecurity, as well as her giving an appetite for flesh without making her evil outright.
Even for a series entitled Masters of Horror, Dario Argento wanted to push the envelope. That mission was most certainly accomplished with Jenifer, as Argento created a memorably horrifying piece of Television. Once again, the director is able to combine his penchant for viscerally gory antics with psychologically disturbing suspense that becomes an hour long nightmare. While apparently the director did have to contend with a small amount of censorship while making the piece, much of the man’s horrific vision stays intact. Jenifer is the highlight of the series so far, and may not be surpassed for some time.
Score:8.5/10
The Video
The episode is great looking on this disc, with a crisp transfer that looks as cinematic as any of these episodes. The film is presented in Anamorphic Widescreen with an aspect ratio of 1.85:1.
The Audio
The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack is also fine, with no noticeable flaws and has a good balance.
SPECIAL FEATURES: Audio Commentary, Featurettes, and Trailers.
So Hideous My Love: An Interview with David Argento – This runs about 16 minutes or so and was kind of a disappointment compared to some of the other Featurettes from this series. Each of the other discs featured film makers talking about their past work, and not having that on this disc was very disappointing. Still the interview that is here is pretty entertaining and also shows some of the footage that had to be cut for broadcast on Showtime. As a warning, those that are squeamish may want to avoid this footage. Both clips that were cut involve oral sex, one of which is REALLY hard to watch.
Working with A Master: Dario Argento – This is a nice little Featurette that has a few of Argento’s past collaborators, including Tony Musante, the star of The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, and longtime musical collaborator Claudio Simonetti. Also interviewed are much of the cast of Jenifer as well as Howard Berger from K.N.B., who lets a little of his fanboy side out. I still wish there was as much retrospective material as there is on the other discs, but what’s here is still worth it.
On Set: An Interview with Steven Weber – This is a really funny interview with Steven Weber, who seems to be in awe of both Dario Argento as well as the creators of the original short story this was based on. You can really see the love Weber has for this material, which comes out in his performance.
On Set: An Interview with Carrie Anne Fleming – Very gracious here, you get the sense that Fleming had a blast on this project. She also has nothing but good things to say about Argento, whom she has the utmost respect for.
Script to Screen: Jenifer – This runs about 37 minutes and features a lot of behind the scenes footage as well as a script to screen comparison.
Behind the Scenes: The Making Of Jenifer – This also features a lot of behind the scenes footage, instead of showing it in a documentary style. It’s as if a camera was simply turned on as Dario Argento and his broken English tried to motivate these actors. This was apparently a very lively set, which we can see in the finished product.
Howard Berger and the Make-Up of Jenifer – This feature’s K.N.B.’s Howard Berger applying Carrie Anne Fleming’s hour long makeup process and the work and materials that goes into it. This goes about 18 minutes.
Audio Commentary with Writer/Actor Steven Weber and DVD Producer Perry Martin – One thing’s for sure, Steven Weber’s a really funny guy. He handles this commentary with a lively, “tongue-in-cheek” manner that makes the track extremely enjoyable. Perry Martin even takes time to make fun of Weber during the episodes numerous sex scenes, which is cause for much hilarity.
Trailers – You get a ton of trailers here, most for other Masters of Horror entries, as well as other Anchor Bay releases.
Still Gallery
Dario Argento Bio
Score: 7.5 /10
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