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August 29, 2003
By Veronica Mixon
After the wildly successful sleeper hit, Jeepers Creepers,
it makes perfect sense for director
Victor Salva to follow with a sequel
set in another lonely road. The fearsome
creature has returned after 23 years
to feast on human flesh for 23 days.
The film is set during the last 24 hours
of the 23rd day and it starts with a
classic bang.
A pre-teen boy is out in the fields
with three scarecrows when he notices
that one of them moves. Upon closer
inspection, he notices that the scarecrow
has claws and appears to be watching
him. When he retreats screaming in horror,
it leaps off the wooden cross, snatches
its prey and flies off while his stunned
father and older brother look on in
horror. It is an awesome beginning for
Jeepers Creepers 2!
Salva takes the opportunity to give
the audience more information about
the marvelous yet scary demon that he’s
created and we love it!
Most of the action of the film is set
on a lonely country road where travelers
including a high school bus bearing
the football team, some cheerleaders
and faculty are stranded out of radio
contact. Of course, the kids make up
the usual types – the macho jock
Dante (Al Santos) teasing the more timid
guys like Izzy (Travis Schiffner) and
fighting with the black players including
Double D (Garikayi Mutambirwa). There’s
also the blonde cheerleader, Minxie
(Nicki Aycox) who slowly realizes that
she is psychic. There are gay jabs and
insults tossed around when the jocks
aren’t sunbathing atop the bus
in a blatant homoerotic scene.
While they wait for help, it grows
dark and one by one the adults are pick
off. Horrified, the battling teenagers
try to keep the creature (played to
scary delight by Jonathan Breck) out
never realizing that he’s locked
them in the bus to make sure that none
of them get away. Of course, to survive,
they must band together as a force of
one to outwit this evil thing. Meanwhile,
they get help from the farmer (Ray Wise)
who is searching for the creature who
killed his son.
Jeepers Creepers 2
doesn’t have much of the original
shock value of the first film. Audiences
immediately identified with the arguing
brother and sister from the previous
movie and when they happened upon evil,
it was intriguing. However, the micro-mini
look at high school life in that bus
is a nice set up even though it's familiar.
The confinement of the teenagers who
ultimately must escape that tight space
is creepy and thrilling. The fresh young
cast is adequate and controversial director
Salva best known for his tales about
outsiders is cleverly crafting a safer
emotional life for himself in celluloid.
The creature’s history and his
flying leaps make you gasp! I smell
another sequel being cooked up!
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