Trish (Gina Philips) and Darry (Justin Long) are traveling home from spring break, driving down a country road that hasn’t seen the underside of a car in a very long time. Then suddenly out of the horizon behind, a battered army truck comes charging at their rear, blaring a killer horn, trying to run them off the road. Surviving the incident, they spot the same truck and its owner, some miles ahead, in the yard of an old church that’s dressed to kill - literally! A shadowy figure, the man is seen dumping bodies wrapped in bloodstained white sheets down a large chute that dives underground. Deciding to play conscientious saviour, Darry plummets down the shaft to see if there is somebody in need of help, leaving his sister on guard at the mouth of the tunnel.
In for a shock, he discovers a hideous pile-up of carcasses in a crude cellar, some of which have been scarily sewn down the middle in a rough attempt at nauseating needlework. The ceiling was another canvas of petrified bodies that formed an anatomical artwork.
They hit the road and make for the nearest spot of civilization for help. Here they receive a mysterious telephone call from a lady who warns them that the creature in the truck is non-human…and that he is now on their trail. So they’d better run, and run very fast. What’s worse, she tells them that when they hear the old number “Jeepers Creepers”, they can start counting their minutes!
A thriller that deals with fantasy at its core, the plot is as thin as a lie, and equates with a low-level scary movie, using lots of blood and plenty of gore. While it starts off as a probable hit, understated and teeming with teenage punch, it eventually careens toward the ridiculous, with hardly any convincing power to tip the scales in its favour. Victor Salva, as director and screenwriter, seems to have great dramatic images in his head, but doesn’t pin them down to a coherent storyline.
This article was first published on 28 Apr 2002.