Dir. Victor Salva, U.S., 2003
Cast:
Ray Wise, Jonathan Breck, Eric Nenninger, Garikayi Mutambirwa
What Victor Salva's Jeepers Creepers 2 lacks is the frightening suspense of the original film. Unfortunately, without something of the nerve-wracking opening to Jeepers Creepers, the follow-up - while thrilling - is rather mediocre fayre.
Every 23rd spring for 23 days, it gets to eat: 'it' being The Creeper, a supernatural, serial cannibal. This time, Salva (Jeepers Creepers, Powder) focuses on the last two days of the killing cycle, beginning with the abduction of a young farm boy. The lack of high tension is noticeable though, with the movie relying on shocker moments from early on. And when grieving father Taggart (Ray Wise, Twin Peaks) customises some weapons to slay the creature in revenge, it feels as though we have fallen into the last half of film.
While Taggart saddles up, the action diverts to the sub-plot, which is actually the film's redemption. A high school basketball team is returning triumphant from the state championships. Their joy is short-lived, however, when the bus gets a flat tire. Driver Betty (Diane Delano, Northern Exposure) discovers a strange star carved out of bone and metal - with a human tooth embedded in it - lodged in the blown-out tire. Needless to say, this is the Ceeper's calling card.
As the sun sets on the Creeper's last few hours of feeding, his attacks become more frenzied and intense. One by one, the adults are snatched away, leaving the panic-stricken kids locked in the minibus. This was one of Salva's aims: "I wanted to see if I could make a movie that could sustain suspense with just a smattering of characters trapped in a long, thin tube, basically, which is what the schoolbus is."
Along with the expanded cast for this film, Salva has also added one genius attribute to the killer: he has the Creeper indicate which of the teenagers whets his appetite. Hence an interesting 'Lord of the Flies' psychology becomes apparent on the bus as rivalries flare up and threaten to divide the kids into "those who will be eaten, and those who will not". Will they band together, or will those who believe themselves 'safe' abandon the rest?
While the bus plot affords some great comic/visual/thrilling scenes, occasionally the tongue-in-cheek elements fall flat: in the tired reliance on a psychic, for instance. Cheerleader Minxie's psychic dreams provide the back-story tool for those new to the Creeper, but as jock Scott (Eric Nenninger, Malcom in the Middle) points out in a great line, "you were waving pom poms at people this morning, now suddenly you're the psychic hotline?!"
Salva deliberately went for new faces in the high school cast. Producer Tom Luse says, "We really did work hard to look at new faces; we really tried to create an opportunity to be exposed to new talent.[and it was] a key reason we decided to shoot in L.A." Admittedly, while some faces will doubtless be coming to screens near you in future productions, some of that new talent is hit and miss.
Jeepers Creepers 2 is firmly schlock horror, and enjoyable enough as that. Where it falls down is in not being sure whether it is sincere horror or Scream-like parody: Luse says that Salva is more into telling stories with a horror element than necessarily in horror stories. As a story, this is enjoyable enough, although it feels overlong at only 104 minutes. It's an evening's diversion, but ultimately - unlike the Creeper - you may not come away feeling your hunger has been entirely sated.
Ruth Bushi
|
