Olhos Famintos

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 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.

I knew this one was considered a classic, but I avoided it for quite some time just because I thought it was going to be your basic cat and mouse, torture porn kinda thing. I was only half right...

This ended up being so much more than I thought it was going to be and I quite liked it. Even for it being over 20 years old I thought it held up really well. It still has the vibe of an early 2000s movie with some silly dialogue and not amazing acting, but there was a whole other added element to the story that I was not expecting, and was pleasantly surprised with.

While I enjoyed the movie as a whole, the first half definitely had that solid creep factor, while the second half was a little more "fun" if you will. The story at its core was a little skimpy, and left quite a bit up in the air as far as background or explanation goes.

While I definitely would've preferred a bit more to the plot, I surprisingly really enjoyed this overall. There was some serious spook, cool creature design, and the foundation for a gnarly story. Would recommend.

I must say, I was expecting a lot worse from this film. The whole first half is genuinely scary. Although the brother and sister's rivalry was played up just a bit too much, their characters were still a lot more believable than most modern scare films. Their dialogue was especially natural, and didn't contain a single "oh my god, like, did I just totally see, like, an undead demon, or is it just me?" which I praise the writers for (there's only so many times Buffy the Vampire Slayer can say lines like that before I start doing a little slaying of my own). Despite the constant squabbling the kids do, you can still warm up to them enough to feel empathic about their plight. The cinematography was excellent, my favourite scene being the long pan up the side of the church. The music and sound were cued perfectly and conveyed a true sense of fear, anxiety and isolation.

Unfortunately, the second half of the movie really suffers. Like so many other movies, once the killer/monster is revealed the whole thing goes down hill. It goes from relying on X-files-like suspense to bland gore and a cliché monster suit. Top it off with some overacting "we're not taking any crap" police officers and a poorly acted psychic lady and you turn what could have been a gem of a scary movie into a second rate dud. The biggest disappointment was the end. It was horribly tacked on in a desperate attempt at being a shocker.

Other then the whole second half, the only other complaint I have is regarding the DVD. The menus show clips from the movie which essentially run in sequence, and if you pay attention to them, they spoil just about everything. Where they are, what the monster looks like, etc. I haven't bothered to watch the menus all the way through but with any luck they spoil the ending too (but that's not really so bad in this case).

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.