| Director(s) | Victor Salva |
| Principal Cast | Justin Long as Darry Jenner Gina Philips as Trish Jenner Jonathan Breck as The Creeper Patricia Belcher as Jezelle |
| Release Date | 2001 |
| Language(s) | English |
| Running Time | 91 minutes |
The movie opens on a pair of siblings, Darry and Trish, on their way back home from college until they’re almost rear ended and run off the road by a dangerous and aggressive driver who ensures both the siblings and the audience understand just how loud truck horn can blare. After barely surviving the experience, who else would the duo run into other than the driver who almost turned them into pancakes dumping a suspicious cadaver shaped bag down a pipe? After the pair investigates the scene and uncover secrets they should have never stumbled upon, they find themselves under hot pursuit by an assailant that they haven’t even begun to comprehend.
Usually, when a horror movie starts off with something awful happening to a character/characters it’s hard to start off caring because no investment has been made. These introductory scares are usually just done to set up some stakes and tease the audience for what’s to come. Almost like a promise from the director that things will get bonkers so the audience maintains enough focus to care about the beginning of the movie (coughs aggressively in Evil Dead) . Jeepers Creepers on the other hand, spends its first few moments introducing us to the Jenner siblings, our primary points of contact and concern. I could immediately sense their dynamic based on the way they talked, emoted, and bickered with one another. In just 5 minutes , I felt intimately aware of the pair’s history and sympathized with them which is great because it was precisely at this moment when shit hit the fan. Cue maniac truck driver, truck, and blaring horns.
Normally a blaring horn jump scare would have me up in arms, but in this case it was executed so well I couldn’t help but appreciate it. I was so enthralled by Darry and Trish’s conversation up to that point that I didn’t notice the truck slowly creeping behind them until the horn burst through. Normally such a sequence would only be scary in the immediate moment, but because the movie employs iteration on its scares so effectively I was captivated the whole time. The scene constantly cut to the character’s freaking out over the truck ,talking about it, and then back to the truck proper so I was constantly reminded and made aware of the stakes, scares, and their relation to one another.
This interplay between dialogue, scare, dialogue about scare, and then back again is the rhythm the movie employs as it moves along. Sometimes there are more characters involved than just Darry and Trish, but the basic movement stays the same. This is why the first two acts flow so well and feel so fluid. The characters are always present alongside the scare, each part giving the other more of an impact. Experiencing the scares as an event and then understanding the way they impact the characters gives each horrifying moment a depth that’s missing a lot of the time. Likewise, the constant dialogue gives an nuanced look at the motivations,drives, and thought process of the characters which helps getting past some of their more questionable decisions and fully behind their better ones. It’s only in the third act, when the movie moves away from to more generic conventions like scares with unknown characters that aren’t involved with Darry and Trish or generic set-pieces that the pace ever feels bogged down. Thankfully, these moments are few and they only happen in one section of the movie so you can ignore them for the most part.
Good horror operates by the rule of “don’t show the monster” which boils down to only reveal the antagonist when the story calls for it and only the what’s necessary. Ambiguity is what makes situations scary because audiences can’t hide in their certainties any try and “rationalize” the fear away. The audience should always be questioning exactly who or what they’re dealing with until just the right moment. If a reveal is done too early, there’s no tension. If it’s done too late, no one cares anymore. Jeepers Creepers manages to toe this line just right. The identity of the “creeper” is slowly revealed as the movie proceeds but no revelation ever gives any information that removes the ambiguity of the menace. Each revelation only makes them seem more sinister and overwhelming without ever discounting what came before. There are a few moments that are played out a bit too long and come off as unintentionally comedic as a result, but the bursts of laughter are replaced by terror soon enough.
On the topic of revelation, the movie excels in using perspective, both knowledge-based and positional, to its advantage. There are multiple clever scares that keep focus in on the foreground while something ominous encroaches in the background. You’re not aware of the reveal until it’s already about to happen so every scare feels unique and more importantly, deserved. I love the use of signs and license plates to convey double meanings and reinforce power relations. Early on Darry and Trish play a game involving deciphering license plates and what they actually mean giving each other points for correct deductions. In reality the game is more for us, the audience, to get us to read signs in multiple ways. Throughout the movie, signs are introduced in a “conventional” way and then either through new information or a change in camera position come to stand for something completely different. For example, when Darry and Trish drive into a church, the camera moves from them all the way to a cross on the top of the church looking back down. From the new point of view, the siblings feel smaller and less in control of their fate. The cross , adorned with crows, foreshadows that their path will be fraught with something opposite of divine. Moments like these reveal just how much care and effort went into every detail. There’s always another meaning.
Now I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention what a great job the cast did. Long and Phillips are the heart of the movie and if their relationship didn’t come off as lived in and genuine, I don’t know how many of the scare sequences would work. There are quite a few moments where a lesser actor would’ve evaporated the tension by making things too funny. For example ,one scene involves Long reacting to having his underwear stolen and being despondent in response. No one should be able to pull it off, but Long does and highlights just how scared his character is. By the end of the movie I really felt for the characters and what they went through. Additionally, as good as Long and Phillips are at conveying fear, Breck is even better at generating it. The way he holds himself up as the “Creeper” gives the assailant a menacing and intimidating aura. He somehow manages to exude charisma while projecting unstoppable evil.I would go more in detail but I think that spoils a lot of the fun.
I know it seems like I’ve heaped on a lot of praise, but I think this is a movie that is seriously discounted (especially at the time of release) except by genre fans. Sure, there are a few plot details that raise some questions about the logistics of the situation. Sometimes the practical effects feel a bit dated . There are some CGI effects that don’t pan out all that great. But those issues can all be overlooked when the story and characters are as captivating and developed this. And talk about that ending. I haven’t been able to listen to this song since my first complete watch through without trembling a bit .
REPORT CARD
| TLDR | Jeepers Creepers is one of the best horrors of the 2000’s for good reason. The story is well-paced, the characters are interesting and well developed, the art direction is macabre and unsettling, and the antagonist is wholly unique and interesting. If anything, I think the effectiveness of the ending justifies at least a watch through. |
| Rating | 9.2/10 |
| Grade | A |
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