Jeepers Creepers

Putting aside the not terribly good title, this is a most effective horror movie with an urban legend kind of plot. Very natural and realistic performances by the two leads, Justin Long & Gina Philips, help a lot, and the director knows what he is doing. They portray a brother and sister who are on a long drive home at the wrong time. Long is a very likeable fellow to watch and has done a lot of things since this, but I've never liked him better than here. Many very frightening scenes and some are quite cringe worthy. This may sound odd considering the gore involved, but this is a fun movie to watch. However, if you get weak in the knees at horror films, maybe not. Quite a bit above average.

Jeepers Creepers starts with an incredible first 15 minutes that easily misleads one into thinking they are witnessing a truly special horror movie in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre vein. In this tense and exciting opening, two teenagers travelling down a lonely back-road are almost run off the road by a menacing truck; they later see the truck parked by an old church, and witness its driver throwing what appear to be bodies down a rusty shaft.

But from this point onwards, the film becomes a mess of clichés and bad plot decisions. Instead of driving to the nearest town to get help, the stupid teens decide to investigate the situation themselves. They discover an underground room decorated with the corpses of hundreds of missing people. Now they do what they should've done in the first place—get the hell out of there! But it's too late, and the killer—which turns out to be a supernatural bat-winged creature(!)—is intent on hunting them down.

Salva proves that he is adept at creating suspenseful moments but less capable when putting together a credible script. He introduces some mumbo-jumbo about a psychic who may or may not be able to help the kids, some drivel about the creature feeding for 23 days every 23 years, and ends the film poorly.

Jeepers Creepers definitely had potential, and Salva is obviously not without some talent behind the camera, but the end result is distinctly average.

While the movie has a few glaringly laughable scenes of characters reacting stupidly (particularly the main actress), it gets off to a great start right away and a consistent feeling of dread, catalyzed by curiosity, which keeps you immersed. Justin Long is excellent in a serious role despite my preference of him being funny, though there is some of that, too. In fact the bits of satire here and there must be appreciated. Certain realisms such as how Justin's character reacts to a horrifying scene in the beginning was depicted really well and laudable especially in the face of other situations portrayed terribly. Effects were pretty good, albeit a bit cringe at times, but the low budget and gritty feel to the flick definitely added an unease to its horror vibe. Moreover, the creativity; this isn't a slasher flick, but a hybrid sort of creature feature. The ending, I really gotta give props for - unexpected, and it made me like it even more. I'd have given it a 7 before the ending.

The plot of the movie was very interesting and I was so hyped about that movie. I have to admit that I didn't had high expectations about that movie. Eventually, it was an amazing movie. The storyline was well-written. The characters were very interesting and very likeable. Also, I really admire that the 2 main characters weren't a couple. The brother-sister relationship they had, was so good, amazingly developed and totally realistic. The kills were nice. However, I expected something better. It was a very intense movie, most scenes were unexpectedly shocking. Also, there were some scary and creepy scenes. The whole vibe of the movie was very creepy and intense. The ending scene was totally unexpected. The casting was very good. Last but not least, the monster's appearance was very well edited.

I've been reading the reviews for this film and have found myself sighing continually. Why? Because too many people take films like this far too literally. Like the reviewer who questions the characters decision to go back to the church. Hello, this is a horror film and if they weren't stupid we wouldn't have a movie. What were you expecting? Kubrick? Jeepers Creepers does exactly what it says on the tin. It's creepy, it's silly, and, if you can get over yourselves for a minute, lots of fun. Leave your brain at the door and have fun.

Niz