Jeepers Creepers
May 2002 Reviewed by: Anthony Di Marco Format: DVD	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

There are so many promising films that fall apart in the third act. So many great premises foiled by the inability of the script to come up with an honest and logical payoff. Jeepers Creepers is such a film.

Our story starts off with what is now a well-worn film cliché: the lonely stretch of twisty road and a speck of a car gradually coming into view out of the distance. A brother and sister are making their way through the heartland of Florida on their way home from college -- sharing anecdotes, good-natured jabs, and quality time before things go completely to hell. In the tradition of Hitchcock the audience is made aware of a second speck, an ominous van driving quickly into view as a camper pulls off to the side. With the startling blare of its horn the rusted hulk nearly runs the terrified siblings off the road. The scene itself bears more than a passing resemblance to Steven Spielberg’s Duel, but does an excellent job instilling a profound sense of threat and mystery.

The events that follow up the ante as Darius and Trish witness the evil that resides within the van. Who is the dark figure donning a fedora? Who or what is wrapped in the sheets -- and were those blood stains? Should they go back to the church? Should Darius find out whose cries for help are coming from below the ground? And who or what was rummaging through Darry’s laundry? All these questions, and the scenes framing them build an almost unbearable amount of suspense during the first two acts, and give a false impression that Director Victor Salva’s (Powder) script has legs.

Once act three comes along and we know what Darry and Trish are up against, the story’s forward momentum begins to falter. But it isn’t the feeling of cinematic déjà vu in the police station showdown or the similarities of the Creeper silhouette to Freddy Kruger that bother me. The script’s oversimplified approach to explaining the Creeper’s motivation, and its shoestring connection with Darry drive me nuts.

I won’t ruin it for those who haven’t seen the film, but a play on words coupled with the rambling of a two-bit psychic just don’t cut it as solid plot devices. Also annoying and highly unsatisfying is the lack of any back-story about the Creeper -- a sin of high order for a horror film with a larger-than-life villain. C’mon, half the fun of any horror film is getting insight into the legend behind the monster! Victor Salva’s excuse for such an omission smacked more of his inability to come up with a genuinely interesting character, rather than as a means to heighten suspense.

The weak third act of Jeepers Creepers is even more frustrating given the reference quality of the DVD’s video and audio. Beautiful cinematography, and a rich soundtrack are expertly rendered onto the disc. Also atypical for this genre of film was the big sweeping score Bennett Salvay writes for the majority of the film. It is a little unnerving though that many of the orchestral cues are vaguely reminiscent of those written by Michael Kamen and Jerry Goldsmith.

The sin of repetition along with an overly gushy director plague much of the extra material included on this disc. The information contained in the Behind the Peeper’s documentary and director Salva’s commentary are so similar that the producers could have easily deleted the commentary without loosing any details surrounding the production. It’s very apparent that the director was extremely pleased with the performance of his crew, but enough with the superlatives already!

The script, not the direction, is what ultimately failed this film. It’s apparent that Victor Salva loves making movies. But he somehow forgot that the audience deserves a sensible explanation to the Creeper behavior. Not having a solid understanding of the Creeper and ending the film the way he did ultimately left me resenting it.

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