Jeepers Creepers

Rating:
Summary: Old-fashioned creature feature with plenty of heart and soul
Review: Adding its own particular twist to the currently popular teen-horror cycle, "Jeepers Creepers" - the sleeper hit of 2001, co-produced by Francis Ford Coppola's Zoetrope Studios - demonstrates how a fairly conventional narrative can be enhanced by the kind of loving care and attention to detail exhibited here by writer-director Victor Salva. His clever, attentive script describes the terrifying experiences of teenage siblings Trish and Darry (played with exceptional warmth and sincerity by attractive newcomers Gina Philips and Justin Long) who are driving home from college when they're terrorized by a demonic creature which initially runs them off a lonely country road. After stumbling into the monster's lair and uncovering it's ghastly secrets (a genuinely heart-stopping set-piece), the kids flee from the monster's wrath, only to be warned by a terrified psychic (an ultra-creepy performance by Patricia Belcher) that the creature has targeted them for a particular reason and won't let them go...ever.

From the dark-hearted drama of "Nature of the Beast" (1994) and "Rites of Passage" (1998) to the spiritual uplift of "Powder" (1995), Salva has always demonstrated a willingness to challenge the conventions of mainstream cinema by thwarting audience expectations at every turn, and "Jeepers Creepers" is no exception. An avowed fan of old-time monster movies, the director has marshalled his considerable creative resources to produce an equally old-fashioned creature feature, updated for modern sensibilities and characterized by jump-out-of-your-seat thrills, a well-developed sense of irony, and plenty of heart and soul. To top it all off, there's also a pretty impressive monster - a combination of clever makeup, CGI effects, and a truly menacing performance by Jonathan Breck, buried beneath masses of latex and foam rubber.

With nods to an assortment of genre outings, especially "Duel" (1971) - which the director happily acknowledges during the DVD's supplementary materials - the film maintains a breathless pace before culminating in a final showdown which capitalizes on the strong emotional undertow established during the opening sequences. Salva mentions in his accompanying commentary that he was forced to cut twenty pages from this section of the script for budgetary reasons but, crucially, he doesn't mention what those missing pages contained. Perhaps he's saving them for the forthcoming sequel?

With fabulous, evocative production design by Steven Legler, and equally moody cinematography by frequent Salva collaborator Don E. FauntLeRoy, which transforms the central Florida locations into a Gothic, brooding 21st century dreamscape, the movie's relentless forward momentum allows just enough humor to offset the ultra-convincing trauma suffered by the principal characters as they pit their wits against a merciless force of supernatural horror. However, Salva's normally impeccable judgment is slightly compromised by an unwarranted, needlessly cruel postscript: Having staged a predictably lavish, crowd-pleasing finale that scales the heights of operatic tragedy, Salva chooses to close proceedings with a downbeat coda that's actually more depressing than horrific, and seems completely out of tune with the Big Fun Monster Movie that precedes it. It's the only significant flaw in an otherwise perfectly realized miniature.

MGM's two-sided special edition DVD (which runs 90m 34s) is coded for region 1 only and offers both a full-screen version and a widescreen (1.85:1) print, anamorphically enhanced. The former simply opens up the frame at top and bottom, while the latter preserves a sense of balance and composition throughout; the 'Magic Hour' sequences, in particular, have an extraordinary three-dimensional quality in places, replicated here with razor-sharp precision. As expected, the Dolby 5.1 soundtrack is deep and spacious, adding real 'oomph' to the big scare scenes, and the disc contains closed captions and a provision for 'open' English subtitles. The aforementioned director's commentary provides a detailed exploration of the creative process, including script development, casting decisions, and the technical aspects of various stunts and visual effects. Salva describes the virtues and difficulties of extended night shoots, and the advantages of writing his own scripts, and he also highlights a number of details which might otherwise elude first-time viewers (like the huge sign behind the monster during the infamous 'tongue' sequence). Salva clearly relishes the memory of what must have been a joyous working experience, and his enthusiasm is infectious.

The extras - most of which are presented at 1.85:1, anamorphically enhanced - are confined to side 2 and include a photo gallery, trailers, deleted scenes (including an alternate closing sequence no less baffling than the one which made it into the movie), and a comprehensive 'making of' documentary which can either be played back in chunks selected from the menu, or as a complete featurette (running 60m 3s) which offers interviews with all the principal contributors on both sides of the camera, including an unrecognizably handsome Jonathan Breck, without monster makeup! During an exploration of Bennett Salvay's nerve-jangling score, brief scenes from the movie are replayed with an isolated music track, and it's terrific - one wishes it could have been carried over to the main feature as an optional extra. Otherwise, this superior presentation does full justice to a remarkable movie, one of the first truly memorable American horror films of the 21st century.

NB. First-time viewers are advised that the supplementary materials contain major spoilers, and the animated menu on side 1 provides an overly generous view of the monster in all its glory - so choose your options quickly! Oh, and look out for the inevitable Easter Eggs on both sides of the disc...

Rating:
Summary: An absolutely great opening and then it goes down the tubes
Review: I actually managed to watch this movie without having ever seen the trailer, which accounts for my reaction. "Jeepers Creepers" begins with a pair of bickering siblings, Patricia (Gina Philips) and Darius Jenner (Justin Long) driving home from college along a fairly deserted back road. Shortly after discussing the local rural legend, a nice little cautionary tale about drinking and driving, a speeding truck (a late 1940's Model Rio, a flatbed truck with the back built up to look a bit like a meat wagon from Hell) sneaks up on them and just about runs them off the road. Shaken by their escape, the kids become even more rattled when they drive by a rundown church and see the truck, with its odd looking driver now doing something rather unsettling. To make matters worse, he sees them, and once again the truck sets off in pursuit.

In terms of contemporary horror films, the opening for "Jeepers Creepers" is extremely effective. After all, it takes place in the bright light of day and still manages to creep you out. But then, as Patty notes, we get to the part where the kids in the movie do something stupid that ultimately dooms them to the horrors of the rest of the film. Actually, when Darry discovers the grim truth of what has been going on underneath that old church, this 2001 horror film reaches its high point. At that point "Jeepers Creepers" goes off in a rather unexpected and ultimately unrewarding direction. If you have seen the trailer, then you already know what the payoff is (although why a movie would want to give that much away in the trailer is, as always, beyond me), but I was not only surprised, but rather disappointed.

This is a shame because the performances by the two leads in this film are way above the traditional low bar set in a splatter flick. Phillips and Long do not especially look like siblings, but they fight like them. More importantly, they manage to maintain a sense of realism as the proceedings get more absurd. They are clearly the best thing in this film (Long was nominated for a Saturn Award), along with the truck. But once Darry learns the truth, writer-director Victor Salva throws away the film's powerful momentum to enter the familiar slasher silliness of Freddy and Jason territory. Given the level of tension that is created, I was actually a bit miffed that suddenly the film was invoking humor. The final shot of the film is rather predictable given the premise, but its greater sin is in running counter to the tone of the film's opening.

Admittedly, I might have rated this film higher if I had known what it was really all about because then the payoff would not have been such a disappointment. To be fair, given how strong the opening of "Jeepers Creepers" is it might have been impossible to come up with an ending as good, but I sure would have liked to have seen Salva come up with a better effort. Now there is a sequel to this 2001 film, which just reconfirms another of my working hypotheses, that a really great horror film precludes the possibility of a sequel, whatever the appeal of the box office.

Rating:
Summary: Hush! Hush! Hush! Here comes the Bogey Man...
Review: Trish (Gina Philips) and Darry (Justin Long) are a brother and sister driving back to college from spring break in the middle of nowhere, chatting inanely as teenagers will on long car trips, playing wordgames with the license plates of cars they pass and so on. (All this rather nicely written by someone who evidently remembers what it's like being 18). Suddenly, for no apparent reason, in a frantic scene somewhat reminiscent of Spielberg's 'Duel' a beaten up old van (License plate: BEATNGU) almost drives them off the road. Soon after they spot it parked outside an old church. They see too the shadowy figure of the driver lifting out what look like they may very well be bodies wrapped in bloodstained sheets and dumping them down an old pipe. The driver spots them observing him and another chase ensues. They manage to survive this and could now just head for a 'phone and get the cops but Darry is fearful that someone may still be alive down the pipe and inists they go look. Obviously he ends up falling down it himself...

This is fun. As American teenagers-get-chased-by-hooded-evil-thing movies go, it's way above average. The main reason it's way above average is the first half which is entertaining and genuinely scary in an Oh dear, Don't Go In There, He's Behind You (Or Is Sure To Be Any Second) sort of way. Philips and Long act really rather well and Victor Salva's direction is effective and clever. But the second half is much weaker, turning into a rather routine chase movie. By now it's less 'Duel' than 'Terminator', not least in a very derivative scene where our hero and heroine think themselves safe enough being in a dirty great police station surrounded by armed cops: think again... The writing too is less inventive here. Patricia Belcher turns up as a local "psychic" and turns out to be a painfully lame plot device to get a bunch of information to Trish, Darry and the audience about what this Creeper character is all about and how he operates. In any event, the genuine suspense of the first forty-five minutes makes this film well worth seeing even if what follows it is decidedly disappointing.

Rating:
Summary: "That's not my scarecrow." - The Cat Lady
Review: Boy, do I feel slow on the uptake...I've seen this film twice now, and I just got the 'other' meaning of the license plate on the Creeper's truck. I guess if it were a snake, it would have bit me...oh well...I may not get there the quickest, but I will get there...eventually.

Jeepers Creepers (2001) is a fun, interesting, stylistic film that runs out of gas about halfway through, but still had enough going for it to earn critical and commercial success, spawning a sequel, Jeepers Creepers II (2003) which broke Labor Day box office records for that year. Written and directed by the controversial Victor Salva, who also did the chilling horror film Clownhouse (1988) and Powder (1995), Jeepers Creepers brings to life (or death) a new figure in the Hollywood creature pantheon with the Creeper, a demonic looking figure that awakens every 23 years and feeds for 23 days, according to legend.

The film stars Gina Phillips as Trish and Justin Long as her brother Derry, traveling together by car a lonely and desolate country highway on their way home from college. After a scary incident with an old truck, the two witness a sinister, cloaked figure unceremoniously dumping what appears to body sized parcels wrapped in cloth and rope down a large, corrugated metal pipe next to a boarded up church. Also parked nearby is the same truck that nearly ran them off the road earlier. Once past the old church, the two begin to question what exactly they saw, but are soon joined again by the mysterious truck, more intent than ever now to ram their car, and drive them off the road. After losing the truck, the two go back to the church, despite Trish's protests, to investigate. Derry proceeds to do something stupid, and see something no human was mean to see...oh, he did confirm what they originally thought, that the figure was indeed dumping bodies down this large drain, but that's just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. What other secrets are uncovered? What is the nature of the creature? Do Trish and Derry survive long enough to get help?

I thought the makeup and such on the Creeper looked quite good and suitably malevolent. And the revelations revealed about this character came at a nice, even clip as the plot unfolded. There were a number of minor points where one could argue that the plot is weak or very thin, and I would have a hard time disagreeing, especially during the last half hour of the film. I really enjoyed the scenes that focused on something in the foreground, but provided enough leeway on the screen to see something in the background, even if it was fuzzy and out of focus, before the characters on the screen understood what was happening. Cheap scares are had here, as things pop out 'and go boo!' but there is also a nice build up of real tension throughout the film, along with a smattering of comedy, usually of the sarcastic kind, to temper the horror. The weakness of the film comes from the predictability of the second half of the film. The original beginning had brought forth high hopes, but these hopes diminished slightly as the film eventually tread the path repetition as most end up doing, but at least this one did so with style and professionalism most uncommon with those in the same genre.

You may recognize Justin Long from TV's Ed were he plays Warren Parker Cheswick. It's pretty much the same affable character played in this film, but a little bit older and a little more cynical. Gina Philips is quite lovely, with her flowing, brownish hair and doe eyed appearance that conflicts with her more cynical than her brother attitude. Both actors did a wonderful job, showing a mixture of inherent and hard earned talent, the kind gained through lots of work and dedication.

The picture here, available in both wide screen and full screen, looks wonderful and crisp. Special features include theatrical trailers, a photo gallery, deleted, extended, and alternate scenes, behind the scenes featurettes (six), and a commentary track with director Victor Salva. Many of these features are located on the flip side of the disc, with the film being on the other side. I guess the one thing I took away from this film more than anything else is if you see a darkened figure dumping what appears to be bodies down a sewer pipe next to an abandoned church, just keep on moving. You can make a report at the next town, for sure, but avoid actually crawling into the pipe to confirm what you already know.

Cookieman108

Rating:
Summary: It'll Give You "Creepers"
Review: Finally a horror movie that does what it's supposed to do--scare the hell out of you!! A brother and sister named Darry and Trish are returning home from college, on a deserted road, when they are almost driven off the road by an unseen driver in an ancient truck. The truck vanishes, and they continue on toward home. But soon they pass an old church, and they spot the driver of the truck--shrouded in a black cloak--apparently dumping bodies down a pipe. After the figure disappears, the two check out the pipe and discover hundreds of skeletal remains. With the help of a psychic woman they discover that an evil, inhuman creature called the Creeper comes back every 23 years for 23 days, and now it wants Darry. Together the brother and sister must flee as they are pursued by the unstoppable, black-shrouded, axe-wielding demon.

First of all the acting is terrific, and the basically unknown actors provide good characters. The make-up effects for the Creeper are also very creepy. The film has a simple plot, that doesn't bother too much with explanations on the creature's origins. It just focuses on the plight of Trish and Darry as they try to escape the wrath of the Creeper. This movie blows every recent horror film out of the water. It is suspenseful, intelligently written, and intensely frightening. All I can say is It's About Time for a No-Holes-Barred FrightFest!!! A truly terrifying movie!

Rating:
Summary: Jeepers Creepers what a HORRIBLE movie!
Review: There are allot of really bad horror movies out there but this has got to be the worst! What a complete waste of time and money! Please ignore reviewers that rate it above one star; ignore them like the plague! If you don't have a clue.... buy this movie, but if you have even the slightest bit of intelligence....LEAVE! Trust me, this is BAD!!! If you want to see a good horror movie that will give you a good scare, buy the incredibly creepy "Session 9" Not only is it scary, but it is intelligent as well! The Exorcist, Fright Night, The Evil Dead, Casper, Scooby-Doo.....ANY of these would be money better spent! It gets one star for being one of the worst movies ever made! This is not a horror movie folks, it is just plain horrible!

Rating:
Summary: An absolutely great opening and then it goes down the tubes
Review: I actually managed to watch this movie without having ever seen the trailer, which accounts for my reaction. "Jeepers Creepers" begins with a pair of bickering siblings, Patricia (Gina Philips) and Darius Jenner (Justin Long) driving home from college along a fairly deserted back road. Shortly after discussing the local rural legend, a nice little cautionary tale about drinking and driving, a speeding truck (a late 1940's Model Rio, a flatbed truck with the back built up to look a bit like a meat wagon from Hell) sneaks up on them and just about runs them off the road. Shaken by their escape, the kids become even more rattled when they drive by a rundown church and see the truck, with its odd looking driver now doing something rather unsettling. To make matters worse, he sees them, and once again the truck sets off in pursuit.

In terms of contemporary horror films, the opening for "Jeepers Creepers" is extremely effective. After all, it takes place in the bright light of day and still manages to creep you out. But then, as Patty notes, we get to the part where the kids in the movie do something stupid that ultimately dooms them to the horrors of the rest of the film. Actually, when Darry discovers the grim truth of what has been going on underneath that old church, this 2001 horror film reaches its high point. At that point "Jeepers Creepers" goes off in a rather unexpected and ultimately unrewarding direction. If you have seen the trailer, then you already know what the payoff is (although why a movie would want to give that much away in the trailer is, as always, beyond me), but I was not only surprised, but rather disappointed.

This is a shame because the performances by the two leads in this film are way above the traditional low bar set in a splatter flick. Phillips and Long do not especially look like siblings, but they fight like them. More importantly, they manage to maintain a sense of realism as the proceedings get more absurd. They are clearly the best thing in this film (Long was nominated for a Saturn Award), along with the truck. But once Darry learns the truth, writer-director Victor Salva throws away the film's powerful momentum to enter the familiar slasher silliness of Freddy and Jason territory. Given the level of tension that is created, I was actually a bit miffed that suddenly the film was invoking humor. The final shot of the film is rather predictable given the premise, but its greater sin is in running counter to the tone of the film's opening.

Admittedly, I might have rated this film higher if I had known what it was really all about because then the payoff would not have been such a disappointment. To be fair, given how strong the opening of "Jeepers Creepers" is it might have been impossible to come up with an ending as good, but I sure would have liked to have seen Salva come up with a better effort. Now there is a sequel to this 2001 film, which just reconfirms another of my working hypotheses, that a really great horror film precludes the possibility of a sequel, whatever the appeal of the box office.

Rating:
Summary: Old-fashioned creature feature with plenty of heart and soul
Review: Adding its own particular twist to the currently popular teen-horror cycle, "Jeepers Creepers" - the sleeper hit of 2001, co-produced by Francis Ford Coppola's Zoetrope Studios - demonstrates how a fairly conventional narrative can be enhanced by the kind of loving care and attention to detail exhibited here by writer-director Victor Salva. His clever, attentive script describes the terrifying experiences of teenage siblings Trish and Darry (played with exceptional warmth and sincerity by attractive newcomers Gina Philips and Justin Long) who are driving home from college when they're terrorized by a demonic creature which initially runs them off a lonely country road. After stumbling into the monster's lair and uncovering it's ghastly secrets (a genuinely heart-stopping set-piece), the kids flee from the monster's wrath, only to be warned by a terrified psychic (an ultra-creepy performance by Patricia Belcher) that the creature has targeted them for a particular reason and won't let them go...ever.

From the dark-hearted drama of "Nature of the Beast" (1994) and "Rites of Passage" (1998) to the spiritual uplift of "Powder" (1995), Salva has always demonstrated a willingness to challenge the conventions of mainstream cinema by thwarting audience expectations at every turn, and "Jeepers Creepers" is no exception. An avowed fan of old-time monster movies, the director has marshalled his considerable creative resources to produce an equally old-fashioned creature feature, updated for modern sensibilities and characterized by jump-out-of-your-seat thrills, a well-developed sense of irony, and plenty of heart and soul. To top it all off, there's also a pretty impressive monster - a combination of clever makeup, CGI effects, and a truly menacing performance by Jonathan Breck, buried beneath masses of latex and foam rubber.

With nods to an assortment of genre outings, especially "Duel" (1971) - which the director happily acknowledges during the DVD's supplementary materials - the film maintains a breathless pace before culminating in a final showdown which capitalizes on the strong emotional undertow established during the opening sequences. Salva mentions in his accompanying commentary that he was forced to cut twenty pages from this section of the script for budgetary reasons but, crucially, he doesn't mention what those missing pages contained. Perhaps he's saving them for the forthcoming sequel?

With fabulous, evocative production design by Steven Legler, and equally moody cinematography by frequent Salva collaborator Don E. FauntLeRoy, which transforms the central Florida locations into a Gothic, brooding 21st century dreamscape, the movie's relentless forward momentum allows just enough humor to offset the ultra-convincing trauma suffered by the principal characters as they pit their wits against a merciless force of supernatural horror. However, Salva's normally impeccable judgment is slightly compromised by an unwarranted, needlessly cruel postscript: Having staged a predictably lavish, crowd-pleasing finale that scales the heights of operatic tragedy, Salva chooses to close proceedings with a downbeat coda that's actually more depressing than horrific, and seems completely out of tune with the Big Fun Monster Movie that precedes it. It's the only significant flaw in an otherwise perfectly realized miniature.

MGM's two-sided special edition DVD (which runs 90m 34s) is coded for region 1 only and offers both a full-screen version and a widescreen (1.85:1) print, anamorphically enhanced. The former simply opens up the frame at top and bottom, while the latter preserves a sense of balance and composition throughout; the 'Magic Hour' sequences, in particular, have an extraordinary three-dimensional quality in places, replicated here with razor-sharp precision. As expected, the Dolby 5.1 soundtrack is deep and spacious, adding real 'oomph' to the big scare scenes, and the disc contains closed captions and a provision for 'open' English subtitles. The aforementioned director's commentary provides a detailed exploration of the creative process, including script development, casting decisions, and the technical aspects of various stunts and visual effects. Salva describes the virtues and difficulties of extended night shoots, and the advantages of writing his own scripts, and he also highlights a number of details which might otherwise elude first-time viewers (like the huge sign behind the monster during the infamous 'tongue' sequence). Salva clearly relishes the memory of what must have been a joyous working experience, and his enthusiasm is infectious.

The extras - most of which are presented at 1.85:1, anamorphically enhanced - are confined to side 2 and include a photo gallery, trailers, deleted scenes (including an alternate closing sequence no less baffling than the one which made it into the movie), and a comprehensive 'making of' documentary which can either be played back in chunks selected from the menu, or as a complete featurette (running 60m 3s) which offers interviews with all the principal contributors on both sides of the camera, including an unrecognizably handsome Jonathan Breck, without monster makeup! During an exploration of Bennett Salvay's nerve-jangling score, brief scenes from the movie are replayed with an isolated music track, and it's terrific - one wishes it could have been carried over to the main feature as an optional extra. Otherwise, this superior presentation does full justice to a remarkable movie, one of the first truly memorable American horror films of the 21st century.

NB. First-time viewers are advised that the supplementary materials contain major spoilers, and the animated menu on side 1 provides an overly generous view of the monster in all its glory - so choose your options quickly! Oh, and look out for the inevitable Easter Eggs on both sides of the disc...

Rating:
Summary: very good start
Review: a very good movie until the creeper is seen and starts killing a lot. The creeper looks really stupid. The psychic was completly unneccessary.

Rating:
Summary: Good Teen Horror Flick... Keep it in perspective....
Review: On a desolated country highway Darry (Justin Long) and his sister Trish (Gina Philips) are nearly run off the road by The Creeper (Jonathan Breck) in an old beat up truck.

Later they spot The Creeper and see what appears to be a body wrapped in a sheet being thrown down a sewer pipe.

Darry insists that they check it out.

At the bottom of the sewer Darry finds hundreds of dead bodies.

Darry and Trish now become targets of an evil far more unspeakable and unstoppable than they ever imagined.

Rest of the cast includes Patricia Belcher and Eileen Brennan.

When I first saw the previews for Jeepers Creepers I thought the movie looked terrible and the tagline what's eating you? Didn't help matters much.

With nothing to do one night I gave Jeepers Creepers a chance with rather low expectations.

It got off to a fast start and pretty much never let up, it was full of suspense and jolts.

The biggest complaint I hear about Jeepers Creepers, is when we find out who and what the Creeper is.

I do agree that it did hurt the movie a bit. Even when we find out the Creeper is some supernatural demon I was fine with that.

But once he started sprouting wings and when we get a good look at The Creeper that hurt the movie.

The first half of the movie, The Creeper was kept hidden we didn't really see much of him and that worked.

Still with that said Writer/Director Victor Salva does a great job.

The movie was well written and his directing was right on the money.

Salva showed great potential as horror filmmaker, but dropped the ball with Jeepers Creepers 2.

Justin Long and Gina Philips both give great performances.

Despite the 2nd half of Jeepers Creepers, it's still a fun movie that delivers the goods.