So what makes a good horror movie....well, good?  There are many different criteria, dictated by the tastes of  many different people, but a few things are fairly universal.  Good scares?  Definitely.  A scary killer/villain/circumstance, that you yourself would find terrifying if faced with?  Seems logical.  How about good cinematography and settings that will each enhance the frights and pull you into the terror?  This also seems fairly important.  Wait, what about some sympathetic characters that you can care about and root for?

If these are the things that make a good horror film...Jeepers Creepers is a great horror film!

Let me qualify that statement with the following.  I did not want to like, or even watch, Jeepers Creepers.  At all.  When I first saw the previews for this film, I instantly threw it into the back of my mind in the folder marked "Hollywood Teen Horror: Avoid At All Costs".  I vaguely remember it occupying theatre screens beginning on August 31, 2001, but its run was suddenly and violently overshadowed by the true life horror of the events of 9/11; less than two weeks after its opening.  Needless to say, audiences were not in the same mood to be shocked and horrified on screen after the real-life blow they had received.  But the film had already made about $16 million dollars in its opening weekend (not bad for a $10 million budget) and would go on to be considered a box office success.  

Regardless, it wasn't until after the world's mourning had passed, and the nation was in high gear for a little terrorist ass-kicking, that many (including myself) were back out of the home and enjoying themselves.  For me, this took the form of Hollywood Video's 2 DVDs for $20 bux deals.  A perfect time to catch up on all the stuff I had missed...and for a $10 price tag, Jeepers Creepers was on its way home with me.

The first thing that I realized after watching the disc, was that I was a fool for not having watched this film in the theatre.  I cannot imagine how much cooler it would be on the big screen.  The second thing that passed through my mind as I began working my way through the special features, was that I had just seen was one of the few truly scary films of 2001.  Sharing the top honors list with flicks like Session 9 and The Others, Jeepers Creepers stood head and shoulders above the throng of forgettable fare like Ghosts Of Mars, Spiders, and Bones, that were released the same year.  So now it was time to investigate.  What could make a horror film appeal to both mass audiences and old school horror fanatics at the same time?

 First, the tale is remarkably simple.  Surprisingly, the simpler the tale, generally the more impact it holds.  Take a look at film greats like Halloween or Texas Chainsaw Massacre.  These films are not about WHY the crazies are hack-n-slashing...they simply ARE hack-n-slashing; that should be enough.  If you really need to know why these things are happening, there are plenty of inferior sequels that will try and tell you.  So what we have here is a story about a...creature.  This particular baddie rises every 23 years for exactly 23 days to feed, has an affinity for the 1930's song, "Jeepers Creepers", drives a dilapidated and sinister van/truck thing that would give the average serial killer a stiffy, and can sprout wings and fly like a demon.  "The Charge Of The Light Brigade" by Lord Alfred Tennyson sums the film's premise up nicely..."Their's not to reason why, their's but to do and die".  And if director Victor Salva's final product tells us anything, it is that he prefers them to die!

Trish (Philips) and her brother Darry (Long) are headed home from college to visit with their parents, for Trish to begin forgetting a failed relationship, and for Darry to get some laundry done.  Cruising through the barren landscape of middle-America in Trish's aged and dying vehicle, the siblings are able to reconnect and fall into the familiar roles of bickering bro and sis.  Things seem to be going swimmingly...until they encounter another lone traveler on this long road who seems to possess more than a little bit of road rage.  After nearly running the pair off the road multiple times, and generally scaring the crappola out of them, the maniac speeds off; leaving only a fading glimpse of his personalized plates...BEATINGU.  A message of his lead foot tendencies, or perhaps a veiled promise of a violent act?  Or maybe it means something worse...

Either way, when they pass the creep several miles down the road, as he is dumping a frighteningly "body-shaped" package into a hole in the ground, they have a decision to make.  Investigate...or get the hell out of Dodge?  Well, you can't have a horror film if everyone ran away from the scary stuff, so of course our terrified duo is soon calling "Hello?" into the darkness of the suspicious hole.  It is here that the film takes a sort of Hitchcock turn and begins showing us the true terror of the "thing" they have encountered...without ever showing us the "thing" itself.  The cavernous, underground chamber holds the preserved remains of countless victims, all displayed predominantly in a sort of macabre "Sistine Chapel", where one might worship a god of carnage and madness.

But, as we all know, you can never see a killers secrets and simply "Get away with it".  This time is no different.  Soon Trish and Darry are running for their lives with a psycho in a trench coat always seeming to be one step ahead of them, and always seemingly able to "sniff" them out...no matter where they go.  Police protection?  A nice thought, but can it be successful in deterring the Creeper, when he has already made the decision of his next meal?

There is so much here to rebuke...a thin plot, some ludicrous and unneeded inclusions (the psychic lady who "knows" things about the Creeper is particularly weak), and of course a winged demon that wears a hat and drives a truck.  But taking the film at these levels is a gross mistake.  There is a palpable sense of terror and dread that is finely crafted by writer/director Salva, and builds a basic story into something so much more.  The characters (which so many people get off on bashing) are, in actuality, some of the more real characters to grace the screen in a horror film of recent memory.  It is SO very refreshing to see a brother and sister team instead of 3 young couples made up of horny college kids and the one hero/heroine that will survive and conquer because they are chaste...ugh.  Enough of that crap.  Here we have a couple of realistic and often juvenile kids that have a natural repoire and besides being good actors, are good examples of the brother and sister dynamic.

The visual impact of the movie, borrowed much from the teachings of John Carpenter: "Show where the monster is NOT, instead of showing the monster where he is".  In doing so, when the Creeper is finally revealed to us, we are able to look past the fact that he is wearing a huge coat and using a battle-axe weapon...and instead focus on the fact that we are at least getting to check him out.  The shots of the Creeper silhouetted against the night sky backgrounds or lurking at the edge of a field, stir up those same feelings we got when Michael Myers was staring up through the sheets in the backyard or standing at the corner of the house across the street.  All in all, there are some really creepy moments and some genuinely talented camera work to go along with the scares.

As far as this DVD release goes, there is more here than I would have expected.  Besides the usual additions of Audio Commentary and Photo Galleries, there are some true treats for the fans.  Check out some extended and deleted scenes, alternate openings and endings, and SIX featurettes on the production and creation of the film.  These are a great chance to look into the passion of this team of filmmakers as they struggle to make each and every detail, from the choice of cars to the choice of actors, as good as they can be.  Any doubts over the intentions of Salva will be cleared up by the end of these extras, and you will realize that he indeed set out to make a finely crafted horror flick.

Is Jeepers Creepers one of the best horror films of all time?  I wouldn't go that far...there is some lacking in the originality department especially.  But it is a great film that stands alone on the merit of the time it was made (teenie-movie HELL since the Scream series tried to take a stab at the genre and instead redefined it into a ridiculous parody of itself), and the fact that it managed to stay true to itself and not sell completely to the teen masses.  There are so many reasons to simply enjoy this film, and so few reasons to find fault...  Add it into your collection today, if you have not already.  And while I don't expect great things from the sequel, Jeepers Creepers is a fine example of a filmmaker doing his craft correctly...what more could you want?

-aaron-
 

Directed by: Victor Salva   Written by: Victor Salva   Cast: Gina Philips Justin Long Jonathan Breck Patricia Belcher Eileen Brennan Brandon Smith

DVD Features: English, French and Spanish Languages English, French and Spanish Subtitles 5.1 Surround Sound Deleted And Extended Scenes Alternate Opening And Ending Director's Audio Commentary "Behind The Peepers" - Six Featurette Making Of... Photo Gallery Original Theatrical Trailer