Jeepers Creepers
And now the song is stuck in your head forever
Stay on the
highway. For the love of all that is good and holy, do not take the
scenic route, do not take back roads, and do not stop. Of course, if
people actually followed these common-sense rules, we'd lose hundreds
of horror movies. Just like how horror characters just have to run
upstairs to get away from a killer, they also have to take the most
dangerous road possible, preferably in a car that is guaranteed to
break down. These tropes and cliches are tried and true in the horror
genre. The real challenge is to fill in all the details with
something different or interesting.
Jeepers Creepers is
a 2001 horror movie starring Justin Long (Dodgeball, Galaxy Quest) as
Darry Jenner and Gina Philips (Dead And Breakfast, The Sick House) as
his sister, Trish. The siblings are driving one the back-roads of
Florida, heading home for Spring Break from college. Their 1960 Chevy
Impala is run off the road by a large, rusted truck. Further down the
road, they spot the truck parked outside of an old church. They see
the driver, a hulking man who's face is obscured by a cowboy hat,
dumping what appear to be bodies down a large pipe. The drive sees
Trish and Darry and pursues them in his truck, attempting to run them
off the road again. They escape and, at the insistence of Darry,
double-back to the church. Darry climbs down the pipe on a rope, but
Trish loses her grip and Darry falls into a small cavern. Inside,
Darry discovers hundreds of dead bodies, all of which have been
eviscerated and sewn back together. He is able to escape the cavern
through the church and is traumatized by his experience. Trish takes
Darry to a nearby gas station where they call the police. While
waiting, they get a phone call from an unknown woman, warning them of
what is to come. She plays the 1930's song “Jeepers Creepers”
saying that when they hear that song, they are in terrible danger.
The ignore her warning and join the police on the way to the church
when the police receive word that the church is on fire. On the way,
the police are attacked by the driver who eats the tongue out of one
of the officer's decapitated head. The driver pursues Trish and
Darry, but Trish hits him with her car repeatedly. To their surprise,
the driver sprouts large bat-like wings. They drive to a local police
station to wait for their parents when they meet Jezelle Hartman
(Patricia Belcher, The Number 23, (500) Days Of Summer) the woman who
warned them on the phone earlier. She explains that her dreams
predict the future and that the driver is an ancient immortal demon
known as The Creeper who feasts on human body parts to stay alive.
The Creeper smelled something it liked on Trish or Darry and will stop
until he gets what he wants. How will Trish and Darry survive?
Creeper is way better than his original name 'Pizza-Face Lipschitz'
Jeepers Creepers is
a horror movie geared towards the high school and sleepover crowd
more than the typical horror fan. That's not to say that the movie
is low on scares or gore, because it's not, but the overall feel of
the movie just doesn't feel like an adult movie. Perhaps it's the
main characters, Trish and Darry, who's lack of maturity make the
movie come off as something more suited for viewing with a group of
friends. It might also be because Justin Long has a very punchable
face and I say that as someone who thought he was funny in the movie
Dodgeball. Maybe that's because those douchey “I'm a Mac”
commercials starring Long are still fresh in my head. The plot is
undoubtedly generic, but does try to create it's own mythology by
adding a new monster to the mix. The plot also relies on people doing
incredibly stupid things which does get tiresome once you've already
seen a lot of horror movies. Jeepers Creepers tends to set things up
well, but fizzles after the action, leaving a lot of questions. If
the Creeper has been around for years, why would he bother driving
like a maniac and honking his horn, drawing attention to himself? How
does Jezelle have these future-telling dreams? Why is there no
follow-up after The Creeper kills a bunch of cops inside a police
station? Why couldn't Trish and Darry just keep running away?
I give Jeepers
Creepers credit for having the two main characters be brother and
sister instead of boyfriend and girlfriend. It is very rare to have
that and gives the movie a different dynamic than your average
“attacked on the back roads” horror movie. Of course, it does
bring up the small issue of a lack of romantic interest. Just about
every movie has a romantic interest for the main character(s), but
Jeepers Creepers does not. Why is that? The Creeper is a decent
supernatural villain with some fun powers and an overall creepiness
thanks to his cannibalism and strange look. I would have liked more
on his origin a little sooner in the movie, but something is better
than nothing. The is a fair amount of fun violence and more gore than
you would expect from this type of movie. The inclusion of the
Jezelle character is a bit too random and I'm not a particular fan of
the “magical lady” character that occasionally pops up in horror
and science fiction. She reminded me a lot of The Oracle from The
Matrix, though much more enjoyable to watch. The movie also feels
short, just barely making it to the 90 minute mark. I know I complain
about movies being too long, but this really stuck out to me. The
acting in the movie is fairly good and the dialogue relatively
believable for college-age people in the early 00's.
"You don't understand. I'm a Mac! Doesn't that mean anything to you?!"
Jeepers Creepers
has it's moments thanks to some good violence and gore. There is also
a bit of dark humor in the movie, which may or may not elicit a laugh
or two. The plot is pretty standard with a lot of the typical cliches
and tropes you've come to expect in these types of horror movies.
There are a few good scares and a genuinely creepy monster to keep
things entertaining. The usage of the song “Jeepers Creepers”
doesn't really make sense and feels forced in to the plot just so
they could use the name for the title of the movie. The character
development is a bit rushed and iffy at times and the lack of a love
interest surprised me. The acting and direction is fine though
nothing stands out in particular. There is already one sequel made
with a third on the way. Jeepers Creepers doesn't have much that you
haven't seen before, but it could be considered a good starter movie
for someone just getting into horror.
5.5/10
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