Jennifer is a poor young redheaded woman from West Virginia attending a private girl's school on a scholarship. She and her father had left their home in disgrace, when around the age of seven some snakes Jennifer had been handling in church apparently bit and killed the preacher's son. She refused to handle snakes ever since, though her father now runs a pet store and often encourages her to use her power again.
Her father is a bit of a simpleton, unable to make meals for himself without burning them, relying on his "Jenny" ever since his wife died. While he does operate the pet store, most of the time he's in a back room listening to Christian radio.
Pretty Jennifer is quite smart, though. I'm not sure if her scholarship was based on her low income or her high intelligence. She gets in trouble with a cruel clique at school. They already hated her for being different, but when she snitches on them for cheating on a mid- term exam (only after they accused her of being the ringleader when they were caught), they're literally prepared to kill her.
The main culprit is Sandra, the daughter of a Senator. The school's headmistress is quite eager to kick Jennifer out as well, preferring students with rich and powerful parents.
The swim team invites Jennifer to join them, but the movie does not make much of that plot element. One of Sandra's crew, an overweight girl, also sticks up for Jennifer occasionally, to her own detriment. Additionally, one of the teachers also wants to be Jennifer's friend.
Eventually Jennifer is pushed to the point where she does start using her power.
This was an OK movie, nothing exceptional. Some of the giant snakes, briefly glimpsed, are a bit silly. Is it a rip-off of Carrie? Well, probably. The video distributor was selling it along those lines, with a tagline on the back of the video box reading "Compared to this, 'Carrie' was an angel." The overall plot is similar: misfit child of religious fanatic is picked on at school and resorts to using psychic powers.
Beyond that, I don't know if they're too similar. Jennifer's father is a bit of a loon, and while he pulls a belt out at one point to threaten Jennifer, it's unclear whether he's ever actually delivered on the threat: he doesn't seem to be as cruel as Carrie's mother. Jennifer doesn't become filled with rage like Carrie, attacking innocent people, but acts in self-defense, only attacking those who are prepared to kill her.
