By: debbie lynn elias
“Jeepers, creepers, where’d ya get those peepers? Jeepers, creepers, where’d ya get those eyes?” And so our story begins. “Every 23rd spring, for 23 days, it gets to eat…” Oh yeah….he’s back – The Creeper, that is – and just in time for the back-to-school feeding frenzy. For those of you that missed Victor Salva’s 2001 “Jeepers Creepers”, The Creeper is the ultimate bogeyman (sorry Freddy!). Showing his ugly self every 23rd spring for a period of 23 days, he feeds on various body parts from very select victims in order to complete its own “body”, i.e., eyes to see, feet to walk, lungs to breathe, and mysteriously, winged arm attachments to fly. The scent of fear is used to select its specific organ entrees. (Maybe Hannibal should hook up with this guy!)
Set a few days after the original, it’s now the 22nd day and The Creeper is still a tad hungry. Eyeing a potentially fruitful cornfield, The Creeper “pretends” to be a scarecrow, luring in an innocent child, whom he snatches, grabs and snacks on. (Known for having a taste for teens, it’s a bit out of character for The Creeper to go after a child; an action never explained by director/writer Salva.) Too bad for the Creeper, his appetizer was the son of local farmer Jack Taggart who is determined to seek vengeance on his son’s abductor.
On Day 23, we meet up with a busload of high school jocks and cheerleaders on their way home after winning a basketball championship. While driving the somewhat deserted Highway 9 (a favorite dining spot of The Creeper), one of the bus tires is mysteriously blown out, stranding the gang as they try to find a way out of their predicament. Adding panic to an already unsettling situation, a radio report has relayed some rather gruesome details about multiple burning bodies found by the local police, which reports provide the fuel to fire nightmarish visions for one of our cheerleaders, Minxie Hayes, who it seems is receiving warnings from an earlier victim. Stranded teens, deserted highway, burning bodies, mysteriously blow outs, visions of doom and Day 23 – – ah, the perfect set-up for some real horror. But remember – be careful what you wish for because you just might get it and boy do we get it!
Gruesome, bloody, brutal, pee-in-your-pants terror emanates from the screen as this go round, director Salva gives us more than shadowy views, glimpses and backlit outlines of The Creeper. Providing us with full-on, close-up detailed shots, Salva adds new elements to the already known package as some of the “unknown” is eliminated and attention is now paid with excruciating detail to The Creeper, the physical detail of which, thanks to cinematographer Don E. FauntLeRoy, is even more frightening than unknown shadows.
Richard Redlefsen returns to handle the Creeper make-up and costuming and does another incredible job. Thanks to a budget double that of the first installment, Creeper 2 has a superior level of make-up and effects, all of which only add to the story and never moreso than with the Creeper itself. Previously a rather lumbering, albeit winged creature, The Creeper now takes more to the sky with far greater speed and stealth, giving him wider meal selection and the ability to swoop own and effortlessly pluck his dinner as if an apple from a tree. Oooh yeah, there’s nothing like having The Creeper winking and smiling at you as he licks his lips in anticipation of what’s to come! Creepy and a little tongue-in-cheek at the same time. Perfect. The special effects are grandly and gloriously gruesome creating a fear factor that will make you wish you brought Band-Aids with you to the theater to tape your bloodied fingers (either from gripping your seat or digging your nails into your date)
As with the original, character development is minor with just enough involvement and interaction from the humans as is necessary. As opposed to our prior brother-sister pairing, here the main focus is on Jack Taggart played by 50 year tv and film veteran Ray Wise (who you can also see this week in Project Greenlight’s “The Battle of Shaker Heights). He makes Taggart interesting by adding some depth and believable emotion as a father who has lost his child, evoking an air of sympathy, and at times even a cheer, from the audience as he takes on The Creeper. And thankfully, Jonathan Breck returns as The Creeper.
Salva has given “Jeepers Creepers 2” legs sturdy enough to stand on its own without relying on the original. A brief set-up early on, some skillful manipulation of classic horror effects, increased action and kill-time, the added dimension of some outstanding special effects and increased detail and attention to The Creeper itself gives “Jeepers Creepers 2” all that is needed to be one ruthless, gruesome, terrifying delight.
Now, if we can only get Freddy and The Creeper to go head to head……..
Jonathan Breck: The Creeper
Ray Wise: Jack Taggart
Nicki Avcox: Minxie Hayes
Written and Directed by Victor Salva. MGM Pictures. Rated R (104 minutes)
