Does the eerie tune ‘Jeepers Creepers’ start play in your head every time you hear the words? Are you afraid the Creeper may emerge from the shadows and pursue you? Jeepers Creepers was released in 2001 and introduced us to the demonic Creeper, a horror character that we will never forget. The monster and the music stayed with us, and the film’s creators went on to create a profitable franchise based on the original film, and the Creeper has reigned ever since.
Surprisingly, the first film was inspired by a true story of a man murdering his wife and a pair of siblings witnessing him dump her body, which led to a man named Dennis DePue tailing the kids’ car in order to apprehend them. The result was a manhunt that culminated with DePue’s death.
The event was obviously dramatized, and the legend of the Creeper rising every 23 years to kill and dismember for 23 days was added, and thus the Creeper was born. Victor Salva helmed the film’s direction. Gina Philips and Justin Long play sisters, Trish and Darry Jenner, while Jonathan Breck plays the Creeper. The title of the film is derived from a 1938 song of the same name, which is featured in the film in a Paul Whiteman version.
Let us get started with this terrifying franchise.
It’s waiting. It’s hungry – Jeepers Creepers (2001)
The film begins with Darry and Trish, two siblings, traveling across the countryside. They were portrayed as siblings to preclude any possibility of romance, allowing the film to focus solely on being frightening. This was Justin Long’s first horror film, and his outstanding audition was what got him the part.
After letting the truck pass them, a strange driver in a dilapidated 1941 Chevrolet COE tow truck tries to run them off the road, and they spot the same driver tossing what look to be bodies wrapped in blood-stained sheets into a large pipeline protruding out of the ground near an abandoned church.
They flee when he notices them. Breck was extremely scary and had managed to scare the shit out of the director which had landed him the role and we can see why. Justin and Gina had not seen Breck in his Creeper costume prior to filming so their reactions on seeing him are a hundred percent real.
Darry and Trish go back to the scene to search for the bodies. Trish holds Darry’s feet as he investigates the pipe, but when rats appear in front of him, he freaks out, and Trish loses her grip on his legs, causing him to tumble down the pipe.
The pipe opens up into a basement of sorts and he discovers hundreds of victims sewed together on the walls of a vast cavern beneath the church at the bottom. Darry returns to the surface, deeply shaken by what he has witnessed and they depart the scene, stopping at a petrol station to call the cops.
While they wait for the cops, they get a call from Jezelle Hartman, a local psychic who plays the song “Jeepers Creepers,” warning them that if they hear it, they will be in great danger. We are hearing the song for the first time. Despite being terrified, they pay no attention to her.
They come to hear that the historic church has gone up in flames, and all proof of any bodies has been destroyed, according to the news. The siblings are then finally allowed to leave with a security escort provided by the police.
An armored vehicle driver attacks and kills the police officers. As Trish and Darry run, he loads the dead into his truck and starts the chase. Darry and Trish try to enlist the help of a local cat lady, but the killer tracks them down and murders her. The home of the cat lady in the movie actually belonged to a cat lady!
They, however, manage to hit the killer with their automobile and repeatedly run him over. When its wings, which had previously been unnoticed, begin flapping around after they crush the body, they comprehend its unnatural nature. They drive to a police station to await their parent’s arrival, but Jezelle arrives and informs them that they are still in danger.
She exposes the creature’s true nature: it is an ancient demon known as “The Creeper,” who rises every twenty-third spring for twenty-three days to feast on human body parts, which then become a part of its own body. She also tells them that it hunts down its victims through fear, and that it has discovered something it enjoys by sniffing Trish and Darry’s fright. Interestingly, the skin of the Creeper is grey in this film, but black in the sequels.
The Creeper infiltrates the police station and takes over the cells, where it is surrounded by cops after feasting on criminals, but it kills a large number of them. Jezelle leads Trish and Darry upstairs, telling them that one of them will die as the song “Jeepers Creepers” plays in the background. The Creeper approaches Jezelle and sniffs her, but she flees before the Creeper can discover Trish and Darry.
The Creeper manages to apprehend Darry. Trish tries to reason with it, even if it means sacrificing her own life for her brother’s sake. The cops rush in and fire their weapons, but the Creeper grabs Darry and leaves through the window.
Finally, the Creeper’s new hideout, an abandoned boiler factory, is revealed in the closing scene, and the audience discovers what the Creeper wanted: it consumed Darry’s eyeballs by ripping out the back of his head, leaving him an eyeless, unmoving corpse. In the background, the song “Jeepers Creepers” plays. In the early twentieth century, the profanity “Jeepers Creepers!” was coined as a polite euphemism for ‘Jesus Christ.
With $15.8 million in box office receipts over a four-day Labor Day weekend, the film broke the previous record for a four-day Labor Day weekend. Despite several budget cuts, Jeepers Creepers made a total of $59.2 million worldwide, with $37.9 million in North America.
The Creeper is back for more – Jeepers Creepers 2 (2003)
The Creeper’s carnage was stopped short at the end of the first film, and the second film picks up a few days later. Victor Salva devised the “Every 23 years for 23 days it gets to eat” rule in Jeepers Creepers (2001) to assure that no sequel would be made unless the film was set in the future, which he knew the studio would not want.
Francis Ford Coppola, on the other hand, discovered a simple loophole and set it within the same 23 days as the first film. So, in order to avoid filming another sequel, this film is set on the 23rd day.
The film begins with a little boy named Billy Taggart being kidnapped by the creeper while his brother and father helplessly watch, signaling that the hunt is far from done. The rest of the film takes place primarily on a school bus transporting a high school basketball team home from the state championship.
The school bus was referred to as the ‘Creeper’s lunch box’ during filming because he picks his prey one by one. The Creeper targets the bus and one by one blow its tires out with shurikens. The shurikens were made by the crew by using cattle bones. All of these road sequences were shot on the Tejon Ranch in California, on a tiny stretch of a private road and the bus interiors were shot on a set in an airport hangar.
While riding the bus, a student called Minxie has visions warning her about the creeper, and this is where the crap really starts to fly. The bus is trapped alongside the road, with no way of contacting for assistance. They manage to flag down a car that promises to alert the authorities, but that never happens.
The first person to fall victim to the Creeper is head coach Charlie Hanna as she is picked up and taken away without anyone noticing. The next one to be taken away by the Creeper is bus driver Betty Borman and chaos ensues on the bus with all the children panicking.
A debate erupts among the kids as to whether they should stay on the bus or exit and seek assistance. The Creeper returns to select its next victims while this is going on. There is a scene where the Creeper ‘flirts’ with the teenagers on the bus which was almost cut out because the director thought it would be too hilarious for the movie. He was afterward glad he didn’t because the sequence was a hit with the screening crowd. Minxie has another vision where she learns the truth about the Creeper’s existence and she tells everyone else.
Meanwhile, Billy Taggart’s father and brother overhear the kidnappings over a police radio line and rush to the bus stop to find out what happened to their son (in the opening scene). They are able to radio the youngsters from a smashed automobile on the side of the road, informing them that assistance is on its way.
However, it was too late because the Creeper shows up almost immediately after and starts killing the kids one by one. This entire sequence is grisly, with blood and guts flying everywhere, decapacitated heads and limbs being eaten by the creature, and sheer terror instilled by the monstrous flying creature.
Finally, when the Taggarts arrive with harpoon-like weapons, they and the surviving kids work together to subdue the Creeper, but they soon discover that the creature is not dead. Because the Creeper is a demon, he had simply entered his 23-year hibernation, from which he would awaken.
The final scene depicts the Taggart farm, which now has the Creeper as a tourist attraction named ‘Bat Out of Hell,’ which was the film’s alternate title for a time. It has been 23 years since they caught it, and a bunch of adolescents enters into their barn to inspect the comatose Creeper tied to a wall.
Father Taggart, sitting guard beside the creature, simply says that it was time for the creature to rise again followed by the Jeepers Creepers song playing subtly in the background.
Because surprise attacks are expected in this genre, you end up evaluating the craftsmanship rather than being scared. Kudos to the makeup and costume teams, especially Richard Radlefsen, who was in charge of Creeper makeup and the lead outfit. The Creeper in itself is horrifying enough and the movie packs a punch.
Third Time’s the Charm – Jeepers Creepers III (2017)
The third installment of the franchise is set between the first and second films, and so depicts the events that occurred in the days following Darry’s death and before the creature was captured by the Taggarts. The film opens 23 years before Darry was attacked, with a man fleeing the Creeper. The man is taken away by the Creeper and his friend watches this happen only to hear a loud scream and a machete, along with a dismembered hand that belonged to the Creeper, fall to the ground.
The scene transitions to the current day, where the Creeper’s truck has been seized and is being searched for clues. It turns out that Day 19 of the Creeper’s search has arrived. When an officer looks into the truck, he is injured by booby-trapped spikes in the back. Dan Tashtego, the sheriff, arrives on the scene and he sets off a trap, and a spear emerges from the truck’s tailpipe, impaling his hat and a car. The two proceed to inspect the spot where the Creeper flew away.
The truck is seized, and the officers discover that the Creeper has done similar things before, including destroying the church in the first film in order to conceal information from the officers. Tubbs intends to demolish the vehicle in the impound yard, but Tashtego believes it won’t make it there at all. This film takes place in North Poho while the other two had taken place in South Poho.
Because the Creeper returns for his truck, Tashtego proves to be correct. The flatbed tow truck, driven by Frank and Deputy Dana Lang, was charged with delivering the truck to the impound yard. It is unexpectedly assaulted by the Creeper while en route. The vehicle is unchained and slides off the bed.
When the tow truck cops exit, they witness the Creeper standing on top of the truck as it pulls away, reenacting a scenario from the original film. The Creeper kidnaps Frank and leaves Lang transfixed in terror.
A vision of her son visits Gaylen Brandon, the mother of the boy killed by the Creeper in the opening prologue. He discusses an antique Gaylen has hidden on her land and urges her to leave. Gaylen resists the warnings and Kenny walks away, displaying his damaged back, which the Creeper had stitched up, confirming that he was a ghost. Kenny was only a corpse in the first film but in this one, he has a much larger role. Addison Brandon, her granddaughter, notices Gaylen crying on the hilltop. She then walks over to her horse to feed it.
Meanwhile, Tashtego informs Tubbs that the Creeper will be eradicated once and for all. He has put together an assassination squad to do this. However, the Creeper strikes again, this time, on a group of kids. Kirk is out riding his dirt bikes with his mates Luke, Red, and Jody. The Creeper’s truck is discovered. The boys are terrified of the booby traps, so they all jump on their bikes and try to run but all of them are either killed or captured because they are no match for the demon.
Addison visits her buddy Buddy’s house in search of hay for her horse, and he assists her in her search. While they are feeding the horse, Gaylen is spotted digging something up under a tree. When Kenny appears again and urges her to stop, she persists in learning more about the Creeper and why it killed her son. She discovers an old Creeper hand, which raises her into the air and grants her a vision of the ancient origins of the Creeper. In the meanwhile, Addison is kidnapped by the Creeper.
Tashtego’s team arrives and speaks with Gaylen, who exposes what she knows about the Creeper hand. As the climax approaches, the crew and the Creeper engage in bloody combat. However, the majority of the team is killed in battle, and Tubbs retreats, knowing he will lose.
However, Addison manages to escape the Creeper and wounds him. She returns home and the next day, Buddy leaves for his basketball championship, tying it all in and connecting the movie to the second installment. It ends with Trish vowing revenge for her brother, Darry’s death.
The previous films featured an unknown supernatural monster that was cruel, intelligent, and susceptible at the same time. It was impossible to defeat the Creeper in this film. His vehicle is impenetrable to explosive gunfire, and he can perform Jedi-like maneuvers, but he gets captured in the second film, which is a big discrepancy.
This film gives the impression that the Creeper is far more well-known than in the previous flicks. They formed a Creeper hit squad with the relatives and friends of the victims. Knowing that the best returns every twenty-three years makes the sequel seem rather absurd.
Future Of Jeepers Creepers Franchise – Future Of Jeepers Creepers Franchise
The brand has been for a long time and has had its share of problems, but the lingering Creeper now has a chance to make a comeback. It is one of the few horror franchises that started in the 2000s and continues to terrify audiences. The dates are still iffy but it is rumored to be releasing on the 28th of October. Jeepers Creepers 4 is set to be the first installment of a new trilogy, giving fans what they’ve been waiting for since Jeepers Creepers 2 was released in 2003.
Timo Vuorensola, who has been dubbed “the right fit” for bringing the franchise back to life, will lead the relaunch. Screen Media will handle the film’s distribution in North America.
Jeepers Creepers 4, formerly known as Jeepers Creepers: Reborn, was announced earlier this year and is set to release on Halloween. Gabriel Freilich is the only known cast member who has been involved with the franchise’s relaunch. The impending fourth installment’s logline reveals two characters, Chase and Laine. The Creeper’s latest onslaught has landed right in the middle of a couple. Laine will most likely be kidnapped by the monster, and the actress who will play her has been revealed.
The plot of Jeepers Creepers: Reborn centers around attendees of the Horror Hound Festival, a fictitious horror festival. Louisiana is hosting the event for the first time. Unfortunately for the attendees, the Creeper will be hunting and murdering individuals who are attending the festival and those who are nearby.
Chase and his lover Laine will be the main characters of Jeepers Creepers: Reborn. Chase, a horror fanatic, pulls his girlfriend, Laine, along for the journey, but it is Laine who develops a weird connection with the Creeper. She begins to have visions and premonitions about Creeper and the town’s past. Laine will most likely be the film’s Final Girl and the only one who can stop Creeper until the next installment.
The series was completed in January 2021, and the movie is expected to be released this fall, according to reports. It will be fascinating to watch what the Creeper gets up to and how the franchise moves forward with a new cast and crew. Keep an eye out!