Jeepers Creepers (2001 franchise)

The Creeper on a dark, deserted highway...

Jeepers Creepers (2001), AKA Here Comes the Boogeyman; sequels Jeepers Creepers II and Jeepers Creepers III: Cathedral

Summary

"Fear takes a road-trip. On this road in the middle of nowhere evil has found the perfect place to hide. It has a face. It has a home. And worst of all it has a plan." "Are you hungry for more?" "It's time has come." Travelers through an isolated countryside are chased by the sinister driver of a bizarre, rusting, antique truck that nearly runs them off the road, after they observe him dumping what looks like bodies down a chute behind an abandoned church.

Details

• Release Date: 2001, 2003, (third sequel in production)
• Country/Language: US, English
• Genres/Technical: Horror (southern Gothic), Fantasy, Science Fiction
• Setting: Florida, USA
• Starring: Gina Philips, Justin Long, Jonathan Breck; Jonathan Breck, Ray Wise, Nicki Aycox; Jonathan Breck, Carrie Lazar, Brandon Stacy
• Director: Victor Salva
• Writer: Victor Salva
• Producer/Production Co: Francis Ford Coppola, United Artists, American Zoetrope, Cinerenta-Cinebeta; United Artists, Myriad Pictures, American Zoetrope;
• View Trailer: (link), (link), (link), (link)
• Film Website: (link), (link)
• TVTropes: (link)
• IMDB Page: (link), (link), (link)

Ratings

MPAA Ratings

• Rated: R (Violence, Adult Content, Profanity, brief Nudity)

Tentacle Ratings

A rough measure of how "Lovecraftian" the work is:

• SS___ (Two Tentacles: Barely Lovecraftian; vaguely similar in tone, could be a very loose adaptation)

The bizarre, winged Creeper (Jeepers Creepers) demon/alien/monster, which emerges from hibernation every 23 years to go on a 23-day killing spree which it uses to regenerate its ancient, failing organs and limbs by consuming fresh ones, is suggestive of a monster from Weird Fiction, with its strange biology. The Southern Gothic trappings found in at least the first film might also suggest some similarities to Lovecraftian horror.

Note: This rating is not intended as a measure of quality, merely of how closely related to Lovecraftian "Weird" fiction the work is.

Reviews

Review Links:

• Lee Roberts at Horror Freak News, (link) - "Though not great, Jeepers Creepers is definitely not cookie cutter either, and is good enough to add to anyone's movie library of horror. I would also recommend Jeepers Creepers to anyone trying to introduce someone to the horror genre as it has a little bit of everything needed without going too far in any one thing...."
• Richard Scheib at Moria film reviews, (link) - "(3/5) ...Not quite the classic it seems to think it is... Victor Salva certainly knows how to create horror and Jeepers Creepers is a well-constructed rollercoaster ride of eerie shocks, grisly viscerality and unexpected slam-punches... all directed by someone who has a flair for genre material. That said, the film never fully puts the screws on the audience – there are some good shocks but never a single sequence that the audience goes out buzzing about and becomes talked about for years afterwards, the way a classic should."

Synopsis (SPOILERS)

 Spoiler Section (Highlight to Read)

Travelers through an isolated countryside are chased by the sinister driver of a bizarre, rusting, antique truck that nearly runs them off the road, after they observe him dumping what looks like bodies down a chute behind an abandoned church, and discover that he is actually a strange, winged, flesh-stealing creature which has emerged from its 23-year slumber for the last days of its ritualistic 23-day eating spree....

• Jeepers Creepers - A brother and sister driving home through isolated countryside for spring break encounter a flesh-eating creature which is on the last day of its ritualistic eating spree.
• Jeepers Creepers 2 - Set a few days after the original, a championship basketball team's bus is attacked by The Creeper, the winged, flesh-eating terror, on the last day of his 23-day feeding frenzy.
• Jeepers Creepers 3 - A successful businesswoman, mother, and survivor of the previous film, Patricia "Trish" Jenner, teams up with witnesses to a murdering spree by a winged flesh-eating monster in hopes to end his disastrous killings once and for all.

Notes

Comments, Trivia, Dedication

• The bizarre-looking truck driven by the Creeper in the first film ("Get a load of that nasty old thing. What is that, the vehicle choice of assholes and serial killers?") is a modified and heavily rusted 1941 Chevy COE, with a "cow-catcher" bolted onto the front and a souped-up engine (perhaps a 383 Chevy crate motor with a supercharger). The license plate reads "BEATNGU" ("Be Eating You").

Associated Mythos Elements

• race: Creeper