Search Movie Review Archives

Taking place a mere matter of days after the Creeper first went in pursuit of brother/sister duo Trish and Darryl, "Jeepers Creepers 2" finds us back in God's country, a.k.a. the middle of nowhere, where the now-awakened creature has but a few days left of his 23-day feasting frenzy to gorge on human flesh and selected organs. This time around, he has a veritable buffet to choose from when a school bus carrying a football squad complete with coaches and cheerleaders crosses his path. Like all good horror schlock, the movie doesn't give us much time to get involved with any of these characters, and any attempts it makes to do so- a girl who has dreams about the Creeper, dissension amongst the group over who might possibly be the next blue plate special- are mediocre at best. They're not alone, however: headed to their aide is a father out for vengeance against the Creeper for taking his youngest son from their cornfield, but not before disguising himself as one of their many scarecrows. Don't you just hate that? ***

You could go on for hours with all sorts of questions: are their really football teams this small, to say nothing of their cheerleading squad? But you know what? Why bother? "Jeepers Creepers 2" is the type of movie that is made with so many different hokey explanations for its various plot twists that you can't help but admire its endurance. The first movie was little more than a shameless play on genre clichés that managed to scare up some good fun; its sequel, surprisingly, while lacking much of the wit of its predecessor, keeps the suspense at a serviceable level, throwing in a handful (or wingful) of those sudden jolts that you could smack yourself for jumping at. The Creeper has more to do- and eat- in this outing, so it's so small shock that the filmmakers have expanded his, uh, morphing capabilities, with rather nasty results, I might add. With a cast that gets the job done without ruining their credibility, and some winks and nods to the original that diehard fans will be amused by, this is one sequel that hits the spot, if just barely.

Opting for a wider presentation the second time around, director Victor Salva opened up "Jeepers Creepers 2" into big, beautiful 2.35:1 widescreen. This anamorphic transfer is actually a very good rendering of the image, despite a few noticeable flaws now and then. This is a very dark movie, and as such, contrast and shadow detail look very good for much of the presentation, with some slight lapses here and there, mostly inside the bus. Blacks are solid throughout, and colors are nicely saturated, with accurate fleshtones and Creeper-tones. Detail is terrific, with sharp edges that lack intrusive halos, and the source print is fresh and clean, with very little film grain and no other blemishes. Very nice! ***

The audio is mastered in Dolby Digital 5.1, and ranks as a very impressive mix that gets it right in terms of cheap horror jolts and jumps. Every moment where the score hits a sudden pulse, the track jumps to life, making excellent use of the surrounds and the .1 LFE in equal measure. The rest of the film sounds terrific, with lots of cool, well-imaged sound effects, and aggressive moments that truly make the most of the soundfield. Dialogue sounds natural and channel separation, while not always important, is great when noticeable.

Then we move on to the featurette "The Making of Jeepers Creepers 2," which takes a look at multiple aspects of the movie, beginning with reflections from Salva and his cast and crew about working on the movie. Salva discusses his preference to use unknowns for this movie, as well as working with a crew that he is familiar with. Many of the cast members seemed to have a lot of fun making the movie, which, incidentally, features nearly twenty times more special effects shots than the original. The creation of the various Creeper effects are also divulged, as well as the score by Bennett Salvay, who describes his shift in musical tone as keeping in touch with the Creeper's new method of transportation: flying. And last but not least, the digital effects are broken down for us as well, showcasing the evolution of various characters and props that were contructed in the computer realm. Altogether, this is a very satisfying piece that should illuminate much about the production. ***

Up next is "A Day in Hell," which is a pretty damn good documentary piece showing us what it was like for one day on the set of "Jeepers Creepers 2." I like this especially because it shows us a great deal of behind-the-scenes footage, giving away all the secrets of how they filmed the material that took place on the bus, and shedding light on the various methods of filming the Creeper against a greenscreen environment, so that backgrounds could be added later. You don't want to miss this. ***

Moving on, we then have a collection of deleted material, beginning with a montage of deleted scenes and clips that range from lengthy to a blip in the radar screen. While most of this is pretty much horseplay, it's actually kinda neat the way they've composed in all in progression with the events of the movie. Then there are two storyboarded sequences that were cut out of the script before shooting began: not much, but a nice addition just the same. The disc closes out with some photo galleries, one of which is a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of those excellent DVD menus, and the original theatrical trailer. --