Jeepers Creepers 2

Not since the early days of Wes Craven thrillers have we had a really good fright flick to scare us in true Halloween fashion. This one does the trick thanks to some extra good CGI effects and some scary situations in the middle of a deserted countryside where teens find themselves menaced by a winged creature determined to make them his flesh-eating victims.

In the only adult role, RAY WISE does a convincing job of making it all look reasonable enough to swallow--and it owes a lot of its punch to the imaginative tales of authors like Stephen King. There are no standout performances among the various teens, but all of them look incredibly afraid of the winged creature--with good reason. The make-up job here is marvelously chilling.

The story is the stuff dreams are made of--or rather, nightmares. And it's all done with extremely clever build-up of suspense as the teens, one by one, become divisive and challenge each other in ways that only undermine their vulnerability. A few of the scenes are very graphic in depicting the creature's stranglehold on his victims and not for the squeamish--or the young and impressionable.

Recommended as a good fright flick, nothing more. But credit must be given to director Victor Salva for keeping the whole tale tense and taut with visual excitement.

Summing up: An above average thriller of its kind. Jonathan Breck makes one scary Creeper.

Decent follow-up to Jeepers Creepers takes place just days after the original. The story focuses on a group of athletic high school kids (a varsity team along with their coaches and cheerleaders), who are on their way home when they get stranded in parts unknown after their bus abruptly breaks down. They soon come to the terrifying realization that it wasn't an accident, and that they're now all being hunted by a meticulous monster who's in the midst of a timely feeding frenzy. At times exciting, with more than enough violence and effective scares make this good fun if you're willing to pardon all of the annoyingly one-note characters and banal dialogue. **½

Honestly, with the onslaught of low budget horror flicks in the past few years - yes, even the good ones - rewatching JEEPERS CREEPERS 2 was a breath of fresh air. Simply put, they don't make 'em like they used to anymore. A mid-range budget ($19 million!) creature feature with fantastic practical effects, great lighting, above average cinematography, and it doesn't even take place in a house! You can feel a grand scale to this film, something that's uncommon in many modern horror movies these days.

It's also one of those rare action/horror pics that's equal parts exciting and scary. Obvious thought was put into the way the film's made and some of its more ingenious set pieces - like the Creeper's wing separating the bus in half - so yeah, I pretty much think JEEPERS CREEPERS 2 is incredibly fun and underrated as hell. And yes, it's superior to the first film in almost every way.

JEEPERS CREEPERS II

Aspect ratio: 2.39:1 (Panavision)

Sound formats: Dolby Digital / DTS

Stranded in a broken-down bus on a lonely country road, a group of high school jocks and cheerleaders are targeted by the monstrous Creeper (Jonathan Breck) who needs their body parts for the purposes of regeneration. But the Creeper hasn't reckoned on the tenacity of one of its earlier victims (Ray Wise), a grieving father seeking revenge for the loss of his youngest son...

Though crafted with technical precision and performed with gusto by a strong cast of newcomers and veterans, this disappointing sequel sacrifices the heartfelt emotional undertow of its magnificent predecessor JEEPERS CREEPERS (2000) in favor of bigger and splashier set-pieces. While it's as raucous and entertaining as one could hope for, it's also a surprisingly conventional effort from writer-director Victor Salva, whose best work (POWDER, RITES OF PASSAGE, etc.) has always focused on small groups of characters caught up in extreme situations. Here, his attempts to shoehorn deeper issues into what is essentially a popcorn movie seems forced and inconsequential, and he spreads his narrative concerns too thinly over a broad range of interchangeable characters: The elements of homophobia and racism which initially divide the young heroes - until they're forced to overcome their differences in order to survive the Creeper's onslaught - are rendered increasingly meaningless as the movie progresses, until they no longer have any direct influence on the wider storyline.

But Salva is too much of a craftsman for his movie to be a complete washout. The action/horror set-pieces are genuinely spectacular, and Breck camps it up superbly as the hideous Creeper, swooping out of the darkness to carry unsuspecting victims to their doom. Working in scope format for the first time in their respective careers (REAL scope, not that Super 35 rubbish), Salva and cinematographer Don E. FauntLeRoy conjure a series of startling images from the outset, many of them tinged with visual poetry: The golden cornfield in the opening sequence, where the film's first victim suffers an appalling fate (a genuinely horrific set-piece); the point-of-view shots from the Creeper's perspective as it swoops on fleeing prey; and the eerie calm of the closing sequence, which portends sequels to come. Salva's regular composer, Bennett Salvay, delivers a terrific symphonic score, as brassy and frightening as any in recent years, which serves to boost the film's dramatic appeal in no uncertain terms.

Wise, a late addition to the cast, dominates the film as an avenging farmer who is every bit the Creeper's equal in terms of strength and persistence, and he's given strong support by veterans Diane Delano and Thom Gossom Jr. The younger cast members are enthusiastic and talented, and it's a fair bet that some of them (Travis Schiffner, Al Santos, Nicki Aycox, etc.) will figure heavily in various Hunkiest/Sexiest lists during the next few years. Look out for a brief - but welcome - cameo appearance by Justin Long from "JC1". It may not live up to every expectation, but there's still much to enjoy in JEEPERS CREEPERS II.

Jeepers Creepers 2 (2003)

I went to see this movie, expecting a bit less than the first movie, but it ended up to be a bit MORE than the first. Jeepers Creepers 2 starts off with a kid in a cornfield, wiring up scarecrows for his father's farm. I won't tell what happens, but it then cuts to a school bus full of basketball players and cheerleaders, who are on their way home from a championship game. Then, they're tire blows out from a sharp metal object thrown by an unseen presence. They decide to try driving for a bit longer, still with 5 running wheels, and then another blows out, again by a sharp metal object thrown at the bus. Then the body count starts. This attempt to create a sequel succeeded, and the very ending of the film, I won't say what it is, was a neat idea. This movie had less gore, but more action and fun than the one before it. I give it an 8/10.