JENNIFER EIGHT

JENNIFER EIGHT is a suspense thriller about a theoretical serial killer who preys on blind girls; police have given the name of “Jennifer” to the girls’ composite police station mock up of the victims. Police detective John Berlin questions the sole witness in the latest case involving the disappearance of a blind girl’s roommate. Berlin finds himself increasingly drawn to Helena (the blind woman), and after she is attacked in her apartment, he provides more protection for her. The case takes a surprising turn at the end of the film.

The cinematography in JENNIFER EIGHT is breathtaking and gives the viewer a sense of involvement and immediacy with the characters. The acting, too, is commendable–especially on the part of Uma Thurman who plays Helena with sensitivity and vulnerability. The movie contains several Gothic elements like the deserted institute for the blind with its dark, labyrinthine hallways and rusty fire escapes situated in a bleak, mountainous region of California, and of course, the interesting dimension of Helena’s blindness which causes her to rely solely on her sense of hearing to report as a witness. Unfortunately, the film contains an abundance of foul language and shadow nudity, and needs considerable editing to make it tighter. For example, the interrogation scenes tend to drag and the dialogue becomes somewhat stilted which takes away from the film’s believability.