Martin K™

Movies I Like: Jeepers Creepers

Sunday, January 22, 2012 8:31:06 PM

Do you know this eye?

I am asking you, because you might have looked into this eye before. Sitting in the skull of somebody you met or even knew. Thing is, the guy who is peeping out from that picture chose this particular eye, because he liked it. Yes, this guy actually gets to pick which eyes he wants. Incidently this goes not only for eyes but just about any body part he needs replaced.

That is the nature of The Creeper.

When I first saw Victor Salva's Jeepers Creepers, I was actually shocked several times.

Now, I know you would claim that this is the point with horror films, and I know that, but I very rarely get shocked watching horror movies, because most of them are so very predictable. This doesn't stop me from watching them or enjoying them, because predictability is actually what I like most about the genre.

However, this film actually got me sitting on the edge of the seat, because I could not predict what would happen. It simply takes the classic horror film standard and pushes it quite a few inches forward.

For example: The Creeper will not die.

Yes, I know, you heard that one before: just as you think they finally got rid of the monster, it comes back - a stadard horror kliché. Only, The Creeper is different. There is something about him that you get to like, you actually come to sympathize with this man-eating, apparently invincible creature.

You want him to stay alive.

Because he is different. Not only from the human race, but from other horror film antagonists.

He is not a funny clown, like Freddy Kruger, or the village idiot, like Jason Voorhees, and he is not a superior, advanced species, like Predator or Alien. He is something else. The closest you come to a definition in the films is the legend on the wall of the Taggarts' barn in the final scenes of the sequel: Bat Out Of Hell.

And he is extremely cool.

So, if you don't have anything else to do one late night this Winter, go rent this modern classic, and, while you are at it, rent the sequel as well, because you will want to when you've seen the first.

Jeepers, creepers, where'd ya get those peepers,
jeepers, creepers, where'd ya get those eyes?
Gosh all, git up, how'd they get so lit up,
gosh all, git up, how'd they get that size?

How I Spent My Winter Holidays IEvolutional Back Slap

Comments

Spaggyj # Sunday, January 22, 2012 10:43:24 PM

Heh, I like this film too. It's a bit stupid, but all horrors are. And better than most horror nasties. My favourite has to be The Thing. For its' day it was AMAZING. And it still looks pretty good.

Martin K™Aqualion # Monday, January 23, 2012 8:46:05 AM

Yeah, most horror films are actually quite stupid, I agree. I think, it's because most of them have this theme with teenagers, and for some reason these teenagers are always portraied as absolutely obnoxious American (no offense) stereotypes, mostly overprivileged middleclass kids, and they are so annoying that you can't wait to see them get killed. The monsters just act according to their nature, so they are not really bad guys, they're just monsters.

Jeppers Creepers (the first one) is different, because the two kids are not overprivileged rich kids, so you don't get to hate them from scene one. They are actually 'good kids' - seen from a parent's point of view.

The sequel is more like an average horror film: a bus full of idiot teenagers on a deserted countrey road, each representing an American stereotype: the bully, the nerd, the intellectual, the psychic, the cheerleader, etc.

And The Creeper has his fun with them, and you find yourself going 'Go for them!', actually cheering at him, and almost feeling sad when he is on the ground, with arms and legs (and even at one point his head) missing, but you know he will get up again.

In my opinion these movies are classics. I take them out once in a while and watch them. My wife thinks they are gross, but then again, she's an adult.

Darkogdare # Monday, January 23, 2012 5:20:07 PM

Never saw this one

I don't like horrors because, in general, they all end up as blood and gore type of movies. Except few, like Ringu that really creep me out

But the one I am looking for to watch is The Woman in Black that is expected in Canada at the beginning of February

Martin K™Aqualion # Monday, January 23, 2012 7:13:57 PM

I go through snot and fire every day. Need no monsters. However, I do like a good monster movie at times.

Suntana # Monday, January 23, 2012 8:03:56 PM

Alrighty then, now you're gonna force me to watch it.
Well, at least you piqued my curiosity.
You see ... I've actually had the VHS Tape of Jeepers Creepers sitting there on a shelf since 2 Christmases ago. My younger brother gave me a bunch of his old VHS Tapes since he's pretty much now converted to DVDs.

I was into the genre way back then in the heyday of Friday the 13th, Halloween, Etc. But, then I drifted away from it. Movies like that haven't piqued my curiosity in ages. But, I'll see if one of these days I'll slap it into the VCR.

Suntana # Monday, January 23, 2012 8:05:42 PM

What about John Carpenter's Vampires and The Grudge? Are those any good? I also have those 2 sitting there on the shelf.

Gavin Tripp-Sheedygarlingmatthews # Tuesday, January 24, 2012 6:46:58 PM

Sounds like the kind of film that would make me lose sleeo.

The Vampires was okay. It was very John Carpenter.

Martin K™Aqualion # Tuesday, January 24, 2012 7:09:00 PM

I'm not much for vampire films myself. Too weird with bloodsuckers, immortals and that stuff. Too unrealistic. Give me a good oldfashioned demon or a devil (I suspect The Creeper is of that particular creed) or just a ghost. Or, by chance, a really big monster, like Godzilla or Cloverfield. The 'romantic' thing with vampires... it just doesn't strike my chord, if you know what I mean... Too freaky...

Carpenter's 'The Fog' was nice. I like it with weird places down the coast. Lighthouses and such.

Suntana # Tuesday, January 24, 2012 8:04:43 PM

Well, the Creeper better not be cheap, fake looking.
Is it high quality CGI? Or some dude in a suit?

Ooooooo, The Fog ... from way back in the Drive-In days.
I remember that one.

Carlo GrassiniCarloFon # Tuesday, January 24, 2012 8:24:54 PM

These may not rank in the monster genre, however, I still get a good chill with these:
Apocalypse Now (1979) is still one of my favorites, the ending is spine chilling, deeply dark with mystery, the worst of all bad dreams for me.
Pulp Fiction is another one I can watch over and over. This may not be about monsters but it is as close to real people revealing their monster personalities as one can get.

Martin K™Aqualion # Tuesday, January 24, 2012 8:47:20 PM

@Suntana

I guess, it's both. The Creeper is antropomorph. His head is weird, and he has wings, but otherwise it's arms and legs, just like a man. Whoever played him (don't rember his name at the moment) became sort of a cult figure when the first film came out. But it is a man in a mask. As far as I can judge there is not much CGI in Jeepers Creepers. Basicly, it's oldschool stunt'n'FX.

Suntana # Tuesday, January 24, 2012 9:17:59 PM

It can still be made to look non-pathetic, non-cheesy with old school FX. As long as it's not outright - You got to be shit'n me - cheesy like that Dinosaur creature Captain Kirk fought in Star Trek. http://files.myopera.com/Tamil/Smilies/LOL.gif - I believe there was a similar creature in Lost in Space. And then there was the movie Rawhead Rex.

In other words, creatures whereby the mouth doesn't even move. Like it just looks like the head of a mascot from a University's Football team. http://files.myopera.com/Tamil/Smilies/LOL2.gif -

Martin K™Aqualion # Wednesday, January 25, 2012 9:10:19 AM

@Suntana

The Creeper is not like that. These films are not crappy at all when it comes to the FX part. He has facial movements. It's actually one of the things I like best about this film. It gives him personality. He has this smirky smile (incl. 2 inch, yellow fangs), that you get to know, and he also has a particular wink that he sends to those he has chosen, those whose body parts he likes. He even wears clothes and drives a car. Apart from that he is not at all human. I sense, you have high standards, but even so, I believe you'd like this one. Just put it on, when you have the time.

Bad WolfCois # Wednesday, January 25, 2012 12:06:36 PM

I love this flick!

but I do tend to go for a good

horror though these days it's just blood and gore so it puts one off..

Edward Piercyedwardpiercy # Wednesday, January 25, 2012 10:55:22 PM

I'll check it out if it comes to cable.

Saw We Are the Night the other night. Great script, good acting, very classy, and with more action than the normal vamp flick. IMO outstanding. Moves right up there among my favorite vampire flicks.

Dark FurieFurie # Thursday, January 26, 2012 5:12:47 PM

A great no-brainer there with a touch of class to it, perhaps through the use of the song, though the sequel also uses it but to much lesser effect. If I remember correctly (and I saw this when Kim and I first got together so I may not be) there's a scene in the police station at the end where you get to see the Creeper and see him move on the walls of the station. That was a great effect for its day and helped the film stand above traditional slasher films, even being the supposed herald of a new era for the genre at the time. A shame that the sequel went for more familiar territory in the slasher genre.

Martin K™Aqualion # Thursday, January 26, 2012 10:03:18 PM

You actually get a clear view of The Creeper from just about the start. There's a pretty long intro with just the kids, but there's no keeping the secret of what he looks like until the final scenes, like in many horrors, so there's breaking at least one rule. The song is a nice gimmick. It's one of the things that The Creeper likes. He plays it when he hangs around his home, decorating it by sowing dead bodies together and hanging them on the walls. This thing about The Creeper actually having taste - he doesn't just do random killing - is also something new, or at least was new ten years ago. He's got personality, and he is not a psycho killer - he is just acting according to his nature and his artistic sense.

Spaggyj # Friday, January 27, 2012 5:52:20 AM

Originally posted by gdare:

I don't like horrors because, in general, they all end up as blood and gore type of movies

Depends. Now, there are a lot of torture movies with very little plot other than "scary person wants to gross you all out by hurting everyone" but I'm fine with gore and stuff if it's creative and has a plot to it.
Loved Ringu by the way, Eastern horror tends to be really good. Creepy.

Originally posted by Aqualion: