Jeepers Creepers

Synopsis: Siblings Darry and Trish (Justin Long and Gina Philips respectively) are traveling along a deserted country highway, when a beat-up truck comes from nowhere to deliver a healthy dose of road-rage. Later that day, when passing an abandoned church, they notice driver of said truck dumping objects that look remarkably like human bodies. Deciding to investigate, they (of course) get more than they bargained for...

Right. Just to get this out of the way (an obligatory job after viewing any slash-fest), there's the inevitable series of "why"s. Why do Trish and Darry stop to investigate the Creeper when they've already agreed he's a psychopath? If he's so powerfully primal, why does he bother destroying the evidence of his crimes? And on that note, why the hell does some ancient evil need to drive a truck anyway (and how does he pay for his petrol)?

In a nutshell, Jeepers Creepers is a better than average addition to the schlock-horror canon. But then again, with all the shite that's been released recently this isn't too great an accomplishment. These days, it seems all one can expect from a "horror film" is a couple of reasonable scares, some clever, self-referential gags and as few narrative holes as possible. With these stringent guidelines, the film well and truly delivers.

The opening half hour provides some genuinely tense moments, particularly when Darry explores the caverns beneath the church. However, the subtleties of both character and narrative begin to unravel as the film progresses, principally after the unveiling of the Creeper. What was previously a surprisingly fresh thriller quickly becomes bogged down by the cumbersome clichés of all things schlock. Useless cops, outcast psychic, this one's got it all. And those holes, dammit, those holes. Writer/director Salva tries his hardest to make it plausible for Trish and Darry to return to the scene of the crime, but doesn't quite pull it off.

The true strength of this film lies not in its ability to scare, but in the rapport between Long and Philips. Relative newcomers to the big screen they give us believable brother/sister dialogue. Childhood point-scoring games and coded talk of "trouble at home" help flesh out the unspoken connection between siblings, not unlike last year's You Can Count On Me, though obviously used to a different effect.

Jeepers Creepers was produced by Francis Ford Coppola's American Zeotrope and it's clear that Salva had some serious funding behind him. However, this remains his film, his "personal vision of terror". The studios haven't stepped in at the last minute to tie up the loose ends, of which there are quite a few. What we are left with is enough to know that if there ever is a sequel, the protagonist is going to be mightily pissed off, and rightly so...

 

 

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