How rare is it that we get a good monster movie? The 1950’s were filled with monster movies that as cheesy as they were, they were also a ton of fun. Victor Salva was a fan of those movies and it shows when he wrote Jeepers Creepers, a fun horror film with a great new movie villain. Not to mention it was a nice break from all the crazy CGI films of late, this was an old fashioned make up horror movie. With two good lead actors and their silly clichés that are guilty pleasures, this was a fun road trip movie with the great creeps.
Trish and her brother Darry are coming home from college. As they drive through the countryside, a mysterious driver in a rusty old delivery truck tries to run them off the road. After letting the vehicle pass them, they later see the same truck, in the distance off the side of the road, with a hulking man sliding what looks to be bodies covered with blood stained sheets, into a large pipe sticking out of the ground next to an old, abandoned church. Darry insists they go back and investigate. At the bottom of the pipe, he finds hundreds of bodies sewn together, covering the walls of a massive cavern beneath the church. They go to a restaurant and call the cops, they are phoned by a local psychic, Jezelle, who warns them that they are in terrible danger. She plays the song “Jeepers Creepers” on the phone, and tells them that when they hear that song, they will be in extreme danger.
There may be cliché moments with why these two “smart” adults go back to find the dead bodies, the psychic lady who everyone think is a psycho and never listens to her, and the chase scenes are a bit predictable. But I absolutely loved this movie and the risks it took. The creeper is one of the best horror movies I have seen in a long time. His make up effects and the way he hunted down his pray was just terrifying and gross at the same time. He sniffs his victims, their items and when they have something that he wants, he won’t stop until he has it.
Justin Long and Gina Philips did a good job and had great chemistry. One of the things I loved about the film that instead of a cliché boyfriend/girlfriend story, they’re brother and sister. Their relationship seemed genuine, the way they played off each other was perfect. My only complaint is that sometimes Gina did play the role a little dead, though I can get past it since her character seems to have a tougher edge probably from a tough break up before we meet them on the road trip. I also like that the film reminded me a little bit of Steve Spielberg’s first film Duel and I wouldn’t doubt that Victor got some inspiration from that film. The cars are also play a major role as a villain and what a haunting honk the creeper’s truck made. I really liked Jeepers Creepers, it’s scary, funny and clever and people need to lighten up because this is one of the better horror movies to come out in years.
