Tags:
Film: Jeepers Creepers
Year: 2001
Director: Victor Salva
Writer: Victor Salva
Starring: Gina Phillips, Justin Long and Jonathan Breck
Review:
This film begins in a car with a pair of siblings; the sister is Gina Phillips while the brother is played by Justin Long. They are coming home from college for their break. We see that they get along, but they also bicker back and forth. They are in Phillips’ car which is old, but still runs pretty well. Long is driving faster than he should.
They are given a scare when an old van comes up behind them. It came out of nowhere very fast and honks its horn. It terrifies them, but they let it go past. They notice that the license plate says ‘Beatngu’.
They see this same vehicle down the road, but it is parked outside of an old rundown building. There is a person outside of it, played by Jonathan Breck. We don’t see his face; just that he is wearing a trench coat, a hat and has some wild hair sticking out of the back. He is taking something out of the back of his vehicle and dumping down a pipe. Long and Philips notice that he is throwing is tied up in bloody sheets with rope and it looks like they might be human. Breck sees them and gets back into his vehicle and chases them again. This time though, they go off the road and stop in a field. Breck continues on.
Long decides that he wants to go back and check out what was dropped down that pipe. If it is someone still alive, he would want someone to do the same for him. He goes back, learning that the building is an old church, and he looks down the pipe. He hears someone moan and climbs in with Philips holding his feet. Some rats climb up toward him and he panics. In doing so, he kicks his feet and Philips lets go of him. He falls in.
He asks her to watch the road and let him know if Breck comes back. He investigates. He ends up finding a whole bunch of bodies that are in a weird state, where their skin is rock hard and preserved. There are hundreds of bodies in this room. Earlier, there was talk that a couple disappeared on this stretch of road. Long ends up finding someone with a ring for the high school the boy went to.
Long finds his way out and joins his sister. They drive on to a diner. They cause a scene trying to get a waitress, played by Peggy Sheffield, and her manager, played by Jeffrey William Evans, to call the police. The payphone there then rings. They answer it and hear the voice of a woman, Patricia Belcher. She tells them things that Long has already seen. She warns him to be wary of the cats and of the song ‘Jeepers Creepers’.
Two state troopers show up, played by Jon Beshara and Avis-Marie Barnes. While they are trying to get the story straight, someone breaks into Philips car. Some of the people in the diner saw it. It looks though that whoever did it, only smelled Long’s laundry. Some of it is on the ground. Long is upset because the person now knows his name. There is no sign of who did, but there are finger prints on the door handle. The thing is they looks like powder and are blowing away.
Back in their car, Long and Philips are heading for the station. The troopers are in the car behind them. The troopers learn that the church is on fire. The troopers then hear something on top of their car. It is Breck. We see that he is not human. He kills Beshara with an axe by pulling his head up through the roof. He throws the head onto Philips’ hood. Barnes is killed too.
Can Long and Philips get away from Breck before it is too late? Long hears an updated version of ‘Jeepers Creepers’ right before the troopers are attacked and they run into a cat lady soon after, she is played by Eileen Brennan. Will more of Belcher’s predictions come true? Who is Breck and what does he want? Can he be stopped?
I have to say that I really like this film. The concept of the Creeper is cool, in that no one knows what it really is, but that he is seemingly unstoppable. I also like that he takes certain things from people and it can cure him. Since no one knows about it though, I thought it was interesting to have his back-story filled in by a psychic. I feel that Long and Philips are great together and you really feel like they are siblings. There is some good action and the film doesn’t fall into boring parts. When there isn’t action, we are getting something revealed. The pacing is well done for this film. I also love the ending as well.
I personally would have to like to know even more about the Creeper, but I can’t fault the film for not revealing too much about the character. Sometimes that can hurt a film and I feel that is something that would have happened here. This is also a rare horror film where we don’t get to see the bad guy defeated. I do like this, but this goes back to we don’t get a lot revealed about it.
I would recommend seeing this film if you haven’t. This horror film has a basic story, with a great concept of a horror film character. The acting is good from Philips and Long, Breck is solid as the creature. There are some things that are weird about this film, but it just adds to the creepiness I feel. The film moves fast and the tension builds pretty well. This film is worth at least a viewing, but it isn’t the best one out there.
My Rating: 7 out of 10