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| Jeepers Creepers 2001 - Source At The End Of The Review |
The Creeper
The antagonist of Jeepers Creepers is the creeper, an ancient monster that hunts and eats the body parts of human victims. The creeper disguises itself as a human male. It wears a long black trench coat and a brimmed hat. In this way, it attempts to conceal its true appearance, which is that of a demonic-looking creature with bat-like wings.
The 2001 movie introduces us to some information that remains consistent throughout the films. The creeper harvests human organs to replace its own. It does this by terrifying its victims. Once this is accomplished, the monster can smell their fear, and he can then tell whether the victim has some body part that he wants to consume. He then terminates the person and claims their body parts or organs for himself.
Another feature of the Jeepers Creepers movies is the vehicle that the monster drives. It is a 1941 Chevy COE (Cab Over Engine) truck that has been modified into a box truck with a cattle guard at the front. The truck has an ominous-sounding horn, and the monster uses it to store deceased victims until he can dispose of their remains. In later movies, the truck's box is shown to contain some of the monster's bladed weapons. It is also revealed that the vehicle is heavily booby-trapped.
A plot device common to all the movies is how the creeper feeds. It is established from the first movie that it mostly lives in a state of hibernation. It emerges every 23 years. It gets to hunt for 23 days. It then goes back into hibernation. In the 2001 movie, the creeper is played by Jonathan Breck.
Synopsis
I watched all four of the Jeepers Creepers movies during the week of August 27. I'll rate this one as a 7/10. The movie was written and directed by Victor Salva.
In the first movie, which in my opinion is the best entry of the franchise, we find two college students travelling home for spring break. One is Darry Jenner (Justin Long). The other is his sister, Trish Jenner (Gina Philips).
As they are traveling, they are approached by The Creeper's (hereafter TC) truck. It tailgates them and gives them a fright, but then it passes by. A short time later they see the truck parked by an abandoned church. TC is shown throwing humanoid-shaped bloody sheets into a large pipe. TC's truck again approaches from behind, and they are forced to run off the road.
Darry and Trish return to the location where TC was previously seen throwing bodies into the pipe. Darry falls into the pipe and discovers what he estimates to be thousands of bodies. He escapes from the abandoned church, and the two set out to find help. They arrive at a local diner.
The duo receives a phone call from a psychic (Jezelle Gay Hartman played by Patricia Belcher) who refers to herself as, "A crazy old lady." She believes that TC is hunting the pair, and either Darry or Trish will become its victim. She warns them of a song, "Jeepers Creepers," and believes that one of the pair will perish when the song is playing.
An aside: "Jeepers Creepers" was and is a popular jazz song from 1938.
At the diner, our stars call the police, but their story is unbelievable. While Darry is speaking with the police, TC breaks into the couple's car. Witnesses tell Trish and Darry that a man broke into their car and sniffed some of their laundry. He seemed to like it, the pair are told.
The police take Trish and Darry back to the old church. The church has been set on fire by TC, to destroy evidence. TC appears and slays the police. Trish and Darry flee, stopping at a home in the hopes that they can find a phone. TC appears and kills the homeowner. It reveals itself to Trish and Darry. Trish, driving, runs over TC multiple times, but fails to kill it. They then observe the thing's frightening bat-like wings.
The pair arrive at a police station, and they are met there by the psychic, Jezelle. She warns them about TC and gives information about the monster that will be of importance in all Jeepers Creepers movies. The creature is centuries old. It feeds on humans for 23 days, every 23rd spring. It consumes people and takes their body parts and organs in order to replenish itself. TC chooses its victims by smelling their fear. Finally, it has determined that either Trish or Darry has something it wants.
A wounded creeper arrives at the police station. It consumes prisoners to heal itself. The police cannot stop it.
Trish and Darry are in an interrogation room. TC arrives and sniffs them. It casts Trish aside and grabs Darry and flies away with him.
The next day, Trish's parents arrive to pick her up. Jezelle returns home. The scene changes to an abandoned factory. TC seems to have set up a new base of operations. The next shot shows Darry, deceased. The Creeper has taken his eyes. In the background, the song, "Jeepers Creepers," is playing.
Attribution: Fair Use, http://www.impawards.com/2001/jeepers_creepers.html
