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23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A modern day Grimm's fairy-tale, July 25, 2006
I think that many critics and viewers really missed the boat on this one. While obstensibly a horror film this is a far cry from the slasher film excursions so common these days. With it's dreamy cinematography, full orchestral score and primal, archetypal story this comes closer to capturing the nightmare feel of a classic Grimm's fairy tale than just about any contemporary film I can think of. Neil Jordan tried for this sort of feel (less successfully) back in 1985 with The Company of Wolves.
The opening half hour in particular is the finest setup of any horror film of the past five or so years. After that, the film treads into more conventional monster movie territory before finally coming together with a fantastic, feel-bad capper. I think it is key that the climax of the film comes off as more than just a sick joke...there is a sense of loss at the characters death. Of course, there is no reason for an innocent and likeable character to suffer a horrible fate except that life is unfair and sometimes the good suffer at the hands of the evil. In this respect, the film IS different from the classic monster movies and more in keeping with post 60's horror fare.
Director Salva keeps the audience close to the lead actors and Justin Long in particular gives a remarkable performance. He's charming, funny, believable, sympathetic and it must be said...outstandingly handsome. I've read it argued that his character is intended to be gay and while there are hints of this it's ultimately left ambiguous by the filmmakers.
This is one of those films with frustratingly uneven passages but also moments of unusual, bracing originality and visual splendor. For that I'm rating it 5 stars.
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22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
"What the hell did you bring into my house?", April 6, 2004
Boy, do I feel slow on the uptake...I've seen this film twice now, and I just got the 'other' meaning of the license plate on the Creeper's truck. I guess if it were a snake, it would have bit me...oh well...I may not get there the quickest, but I will get there...eventually. Jeepers Creepers (2001) is a fun, interesting, stylistic film that runs out of gas about halfway through, but still had enough going for it to earn critical and commercial success, spawning a sequel, Jeepers Creepers II (2003) which broke Labor Day box office records for that year. Written and directed by the controversial Victor Salva, who also did the chilling horror film Clownhouse (1988) and Powder (1995), Jeepers Creepers brings to life (or death) a new figure in the Hollywood creature pantheon with the Creeper, a demonic looking figure that awakens every 23 years and feeds for 23 days, according to legend.
The film stars Gina Phillips as Trish and Justin Long as her brother Derry, traveling together by car a lonely and desolate country highway on their way home from college. After a scary incident with an old truck, the two witness a sinister, cloaked figure unceremoniously dumping what appears to body sized parcels wrapped in cloth and rope down a large, corrugated metal pipe next to a boarded up church. Also parked nearby is the same truck that nearly ran them off the road earlier. Once past the old church, the two begin to question what exactly they saw, but are soon joined again by the mysterious truck, more intent than ever now to ram their car, and drive them off the road. After losing the truck, the two go back to the church, despite Trish's protests, to investigate. Derry proceeds to do something stupid, and see something no human was mean to see...oh, he did confirm what they originally thought, that the figure was indeed dumping bodies down this large drain, but that's just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. What other secrets are uncovered? What is the nature of the creature? Do Trish and Derry survive long enough to get help?
I thought the makeup and such on the Creeper looked quite good and suitably malevolent. And the revelations revealed about this character came at a nice, even clip as the plot unfolded. There were a number of minor points where one could argue that the plot is weak or very thin, and I would have a hard time disagreeing, especially during the last half hour of the film. I really enjoyed the scenes that focused on something in the foreground, but provided enough leeway on the screen to see something in the background, even if it was fuzzy and out of focus, before the characters on the screen understood what was happening. Cheap scares are had here, as things pop out `and go boo!' but there is also a nice build up of real tension throughout the film, along with a smattering of comedy, usually of the sarcastic kind, to temper the horror. The weakness of the film comes from the predictability of the second half of the film. The original beginning had brought forth high hopes, but these hopes diminished slightly as the film eventually tread the path repetition as most end up doing, but at least this one did so with style and professionalism most uncommon with those in the same genre. You may recognize Justin Long from TV's Ed were he plays Warren Parker Cheswick. It's pretty much the same affable character played in this film, but a little bit older and a little more cynical. Gina Philips is quite lovely, with her flowing, brownish hair and doe eyed appearance that conflicts with her more cynical than her brother attitude. Both actors did a wonderful job, showing a mixture of inherent and hard earned talent, the kind gained through lots of work and dedication.
The picture here, available in both wide screen and full screen, looks wonderful and crisp. Special features include theatrical trailers, a photo gallery, deleted, extended, and alternate scenes, behind the scenes featurettes (six), and a commentary track with director Victor Salva. Many of these features are located on the flip side of the disc, with the film being on the other side. I guess the one thing I took away from this film more than anything else is if you see a darkened figure dumping what appears to be bodies down a sewer pipe next to an abandoned church, just keep on moving. You can make a report at the next town, for sure, but avoid actually crawling into the pipe to confirm what you already know.
Cookieman108
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17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Surprisingly good, given negative press., February 26, 2002
Jeepers Creepers (Victor Salva, 2001)I think that, with the arguable exception of Battlefield Earth, I haven't heard so much negative press about a movie in the past decade as I did about this one. No idea why. This is one of the better horror movies to come out of Hollywood in quite a while, and Victor Salva has finally lived up to the promise that's kept Hollywood allowing him to make bad movies on a fairly regular basis for the past decade and a half. The story opens with a brother and sister team, Derry (Justin Long, from the TV series Ed) and Trish (Gina Phillips, who recently had a turn on Boston Public and shows up next year in The Anarchist's Cookbook), driving across the state on their way home from college for spring break. On a secluded stretch of highway, a strange truck menaces them before roaring past. A few miles down the road, they see the truck's driver dumping something that looks suspiciously like a body wrapped in a sheet down a large pipe, and after he drives away they stop to investigate. Complications ensue. The movie's probably not going to win any awards for its acting, writing, or cinematography, all of which fall into the slightly-above-average category. But then, this isn't a movie with Oscar aspirations anyway. It's supposed to be a fast-paced slick little horror film, and that's what it is. Salva achieves the right balance between showing the nastiness and cutting away to let suggestion do the work, and also uses the suggestion technique with his bad guy most of the time (something that hasn't been seen too much in films for a while). Add in a Miss Cleo-esque psychic (Patricia Belcher), a few hick cops who actually break stereotype a few times, and a fun bad guy (Jonathan Breck, from the painfully bad film Spiders), and you've got a fine little flick. *** ½
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