Jeepers Creepers : Le Chant du diable

I found parts of this movie, mainly the beginning to be very promising. I really thought that it was going to be an 'on the edge of your seat' horror film and the opening had all the tension and weirdness that one needs to set that kind of atmosphere. But as the movie progressed, even though it never sunk to being bad or even mediocre (no Friday the 13th B.S. here), I think it became a little bit of a disappointment because it didn't live up to the promise that it made in the beginning. And although I like to let my mind fill in the blanks, there was a lot that went unexplained that made it so that I wasn't really satisfied by the time it finished. I didn't recognize the names of the actors or the director, and they were neither here nor there for me - that's not to say that I thought the performances were bad, they definitely were fitting and on the mark for the genre. It's just that they didn't really stick out for me.

All of the above being said, if the movie was on cable on a cold winter night, I'd probably relent and watch it again - it's certainly better than most in it's category, but would I recommend it as a 'great' film? No, probably not.

Jeepers Creepers was a fresh and unique movie when it came out. It was creepy, had some good jump scares and enough gorey horror content to satisfy the youthful audience at the time who demanded to see it. Jeepers Creepers has stood the test of time and gone on to become one of horror's greatest franchises. The movies are often talked about (for the good and the bad) and debated (mostly about the director) but, at the end of the day, this franchise's first entry will be remembered for many years to come.

Every 23 years for 23 days, the creeper gets to feast. It's an interesting concept, and a double-edged sword: it creates an urgency for the creeper as it stalks its prey, but it also causes extreme limitations in terms of sequel planning because the creeper is only around for that limited period of time (it's like Disney with their moratorium program; get it before it's gone for years to come!). The acting in this movie is about what you would expect from a slasher. It's campy, but nobody approaches one of those movies expecting a Shakespearean production. Where Salva's first horror effort, Clownhouse, was boring and fell flat, when Salva approached Jeepers Creepers, he really had his finger on the pulse of America. He knew that people wanted to see, what they were scared of, and what would make for a good movie. A lot of elements in this movie are dated (particularly the effects), but on the whole this movie is still fun to watch and stood up relatively well. I prefer the second one to the original, but this will always be one of the true greats of horror.

When I watched this the first time quite a few years ago, it seemed like it would be a one-off. Now they plan the 3rd one, which is going to come out in 2011. Good or bad, the same director will be at helm, who claimed back then, that he wanted to make sure, that there wouldn't be any sequels. He had it all planned out (a story element would make this "impossible" to happen).

But I'm not going into detail about that, because I thought the movie was genuinely scary and creepy. I have to admit, that I wasn't aware of an obvious reference, that the title might have suggested. If you know it, it won't hit you as hard as myself, when it gets revealed at the end. But still, if you can go through the beginning and bear with it, when it gets pretty action-y towards the end, then you will enjoy it. I know I did. But I can understand, that some people did expect different things from it. I can only speak for myself and say that I liked the fact, that this was made the way it was. It dares to be different and does not give you a bunch of teenagers being hunt down by one guy ... Not to mention, that all this has a very cool conclusion (the main idea if you wanna call it that) in the end.

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

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.