Sommerleigh Pollonais, Horror Head Writer
Plot: Forced to travel with her boyfriend, Laine begins to experience premonitions associated with the urban myth of The Creeper. She believes that something supernatural has been summoned — and that she is at the centre of it all.
Review: Of all the “newer” monsters in horror that have come and gone, The Creeper has been the most intriguing. First introduced in 2001, this man-bat like creature gave fans of the slasher genre something we hadn’t seen in a long time — a monster that wasn’t just interested in taking out partying teens or hapless babysitters but instead wanted specific body parts to make his own, eating his fill before he would go into hibernation for 23 years. The first movie may have been flawed but it was entertaining and garnered enough interest to birth a sequel or three.
Unfortunately, the success of the series was hampered by director and creator Victor Salva’s real life monstrous behavior which led to the studio cutting ties and promising fans the story of The Creeper would continue and better than ever. Which brings us to this waste of film, Jeepers Creepers Reborn.
After a strong opening that proves Dee Wallace (Cujo, The Howling) will forever be a Scream Queen , she’s joined by another genre favourite Gary Graham (Alien Nation, Enterprise) and the two play a husband and wife who allegedly came across The Creeper years before. This leads to a horror festival in the present where fans of the creature and other infamous killers cosplay and party together in a small town. The Creeper awakens and a group of people are tricked into entering a house where the monster resides and have to figure out how to stop it and save themselves.
I can pinpoint exactly the moment I realised this movie wasn’t going to live up to my expectations. It was 14 minutes in and a character decided to walk into a creepy wooded area at least half a mile away from his car to relieve himself. Add to that his cringe worthy acting and over the top portrayal of a gay man and I was rolling my eyes so hard they almost stuck that way.
The acting and the story only gets worse from there. They even manage to screw up The Creeper by changing the look of his face. Not just that but they show his mug so much, you can’t help but notice how cheaply made the mask is. Looks like something you would go trick-or-treating in. I also missed Jonathan Breck who played The Creeper in Parts One to Three. Breck had a way he would move and emote that made The Creeper stand apart as more than just another mindless killer. Here he’s played by Jarreau Benjamin and while I’m not trying to be a jerk I would be lying if I said he was good here. Instead of a ruthless, almost cheeky killer, one who you can tell gets a kick out of hunting his victims, we get a kids birthday party performer’s version of The Creeper, overacting and with no discernable personality of his own.
Like most horror movies with the word “reborn” in the title, this Jeepers Creepers is, simply put, a terrible movie that wastes the opportunity of starting afresh with a cool character and instead delivers another by-the-numbers generic snore fest. Such a shame when you consider they had the perfect setup with that post credit scene we got at the end of Jeepers Creepers 3 where it was revealed the surviving sibling from Part One, Trish, had been patiently waiting for The Creeper to awaken so she could seek her revenge.
Here’s hoping we don’t have to wait 23 years to get a Jeepers Creepers movie worthy of our time.
Score: 3 out of 10
Are you a fan of the Jeepers Creepers franchise? Which is your favourite? And you can check out more monster movie reviews below:
Sommerleigh of the House Pollonais. First of Her Name. Sushi Lover, Queen of Horror Movies, Comic Books and Binge Watching Netflix. Mother of two beautiful black cats named Vader and Kylo. I think eating Popcorn at the movies should be mandatory, PS4 makes the best games ever, and I’ll be talking about movies until the zombie apocalypse comes.
Double Tap Baby!