MASTERS OF HORROR: DARIO ARGENTO'S "JENIFER"

MASTERS OF HORROR: Dario Argento's "Jenifer"
By Ken Leicht

Episode 1.4 – Jenifer

Dario Argento’s entry into the Masters of Horror Sweepstakes finds Stephen Weber as a cop who rescues a young girl from death at the hands of a butcher knife wielding madman. Pitying the disfigured girl and strangely attracted to her, Stephen takes Jenifer home much to the dismay of his wife. Soon afterwards, Jenifer seduces him and then starts killing and eating the household cat and the neighbor’s young girl. Stephen then tries to take her away to a remote cabin. But sadly it’s not remote enough.

Ultimately, the story heads pretty much where you would expect it to. There’s some great gore and nudity but the story itself falls into the old Twilight Zone/Hitchcock/Tales from the Darkside/Tales from the Crypt mold. I appreciated the sickness and gore but jeez, again, why didn’t the guy bail on this nut the second she ate the cat? The stupid people disease which infects most horror films is sadly evident in this anthology series.

So in conclusion, four down, nine to go. Still no masterpiece from the Masters of Horror.