Jennifer's Body has surprisingly found an unlikely spiritual successor fifteen years later in a new comic series: The Creeping Below. When Karyn Kusama and Diablo Cody's horror comedy, Jennifer's Body, hit theaters in 2009, the film received a pretty mixed reception. The film has since gained a cult following despite its bad Rotten Tomatoes score, and now a new horror comic is playing with its original concept to tell a new story.
The Creeping Below by Brian Azzarello and Vanesa R. Del Rey is a new horror series published by BOOM! Studios that follows a woman named Val who attends a music festival in Oslo, Norway. She's described as a person who loves hardcore metal music, which leads her to a performance by a local group.
When she's offered the chance to meet with them, she takes the opportunity - only to realize that it was a dreadful mistake. The band turns her into a sacrifice and leaves her for dead in the woods. What the band doesn't expect is for Val to rise again, equipped with horrifying new abilities to exact her vengeance on the people who killed her.
The Creeping Below is the Unofficial Jennifer's Body Sequel Fans Have Been Waiting For
The Creeping Below #1 by Brian Azzarello, Vanesa R. Del Rey, Hilary Jenkins, and AndWorld Design
While not an actual sequel to Jennifer's Body, BOOM!'s fascinating new horror series feels like the ultimate answer to what happened following the end of the film. Fans will recall that after Jennifer's death, her best friend, Needy, developed Jennifer's abilities after being bitten by her in a fight. She ends up hunting down the band that unknowingly turned Jennifer into a succubus throughout the end credits. The Creeping Below feels like an extended look at what happened during those credits, only this time the victim of the band's actions is behind the vengeful murders.
Related
Jennifer's Body 2 Has A Big Challenge To Overcome
A sequel to Jennifer's Body has been teased, but if it happens, it's facing a major challenge left by the first movie that won't be easy to overcome.
While Needy was a good choice to exact revenge on the satanic band that killed Jennifer the first time, choosing to have the victim in The Creeping Below hunt down her killers takes things to the next level. It ultimately feels like a cross between the concept of Jennifer's Body mixed with classic revenge thrillers. Now, the story of The Creeping Below will have a more personal connection to the violence to come. Plus, with Val's new abilities hinted at in the first issue's conclusion, it's clear that she's going to have the tools that she needs to exact her vengeance.
The Creeping Below Introduces Supernatural Powers from Another Set of Gods
Norse Mythology Takes Center Stage in Val's Story
Unlike Jennifer's Body, in which Jennifer rises from the dead thanks to a succubus, Val is restored in The Creeping Below by "the Old Gods of Norse mythology." When she wakes up at the end of the first issue, she finds herself adorned with power, as well as rooted into the ground. This choice to dive into Norse mythology rather than a typical Satanic influence sets the story apart from other supernatural thrillers as it explores a new mythological perspective.
The Creeping Below has a lot of potential to become the next great independent horror comic.
Norse mythology has a strong basis in nature, so the concept lends itself to gnarly depictions of body horror, as showcased by Val when she wakes up following her death. It will be interesting to see how other gods play into her new power set as she seeks revenge against her killers. Perhaps she can call upon lightning to electrocute one to death or use the trickery of Loki to plot an unlikely end to one of the band members. With only one issue out so far, it's yet to be seen how Val will use her connections to the Norse gods. However, there's so much potential for what's to come that the next issues can't be missed.
The Underlying Themes of The Creeping Below Shape a Unique Feminist Horror Story
Val Isn't Just Fighting for Herself
The basic plot description included in The Creeping Below's first issue synopsis is utterly fascinating. It perfectly sets up what kind of story Creeping will be by mentioning that Val is being guided by the Norse gods on her path of revenge not just for her but "in the name of women everywhere." This motivation establishes her as a kind of folk hero for women, hellbent on ensuring that others aren't victimized. Plus, it highlights the difficult road women must take to seek justice by highlighting that she can either "walk a warrior's path...or become a behemoth beyond human recognition."
The Creeping Below isn't the only horror comic drawn by Del Rey in 2024; check out The Excorcism at 1600 Penn #1 by Hannah Rose May and Del Rey, available now from IDW Publishing.
From Norse gods to a feminist undertone, The Creeping Below has a lot of potential to become the next great independent horror comic. However, what makes it a must-read is how much it has in common with the cult-hit 2009 horror comedy, Jennifer's Body. Everything that fans loved about that film can be found in just the first issue alone, and with the next issue due to release at the very end of 2024, The Creeping Below is something that fans of Jennifer's Body should check out as soon as possible.
The Creeping Below #1 is available now from BOOM! Studios.
Sources: BOOM! Studios YouTube
Your changes have been saved
Directed by Karyn Kusama and written by Diablo Cody, Jennifer's Body is a horror-comedy film starring Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried. When a newly possessed high school cheerleader (Fox) turns into a succubus specializing in seducing and killing her male classmates, her best friend (Seyfried) is the only thing that stands in the way of her sultry killing spree.
Release Date September 18, 2009
Runtime 102 minutes
Director Karyn Kusama
Writers Diablo Cody
Budget $16 million
Studio(s) 20th Century
Distributor(s) 20th Century
English (US) ·