AmateurMovieReviews.com

The Story: On the 23rd and final day of its feeding frenzy, a vengeful father prepares to destroy the demonic Creeper that abducted his son as it terrorizes a stranded busload of teenagers.

While it certainly got people talking, horror fans were divided in their reactions when controversial director Victor Salva's Jeepers Creepers first attacked theaters back in the summer of 2001. Whether or not you will enjoy this simple-minded sequel will primarily depend on how much you like The Creeper itself as it eschews the aura of mystery and dread prevalent in the first two-thirds of the original in favor of a straight forward monster-on-the-rampage approach.

In an atmospheric opening sequence, a scarecrow dismounts its post and abducts the young son of grizzled farmer, Jack Taggert (Ray Wise). After a harrowing chase through a cornfield, Taggert and his eldest son can only stare in horrified disbelief as the abductor amazingly takes flight, disappearing from sight with his boy. Cut to a busload of corn-fed basketball jocks and their cheerleader girlfriends on the way home from winning a big game. When one of the tires blow, the bus driver and coaches discover what can only be described as a custom made throwing star stuck in the rubber. As night begins to fall, the adults decide to try and "limp" back to school after failing to contact help using the bus radio. After losing another tire, it becomes apparent that something is terribly wrong as the adults are snatched up one by one, leaving the obnoxious kids to fend for themselves. With the bus under siege by a winged, regenerating horror, it's up to the vengeful farmer to stop the merciless onslaught of The Creeper (Jonathan Breck).

As with a lot of horror films, one can spend all day picking out the many flaws in Jeepers Creepers 2 (JC2), diminishing much of the fun in this undemanding monster mash, or you can check your brain at the door and try to enjoy it for what it is: a shallow, crowd-pleasing creature feature. With the exception of the impressive opening scene, the overwhelming sense of impending doom and mounting terror that drew me into the original is all but gone, relying instead on physical action to move things along. That's unfortunate, because that fear of the unknown is what made the original such a memorable, if not completely agreeable, experience.

The biggest problem plaguing JC2 is Salva's bewildering decision to center what little story there is on a large group of unlikable teens instead of Taggert's personal vendetta. Having an older sister, I could easily identify with the siblings in the original; whereas in the sequel, I had a hard time investing in any one of the many uncooperative, hot-headed numbskulls. As the team comes to realize the amount of danger they're in, they react with an understandable degree of confusion and fear; however, it's only a matter of time before they begin doing the most amazingly stupid things imaginable as exhibited by one girl who actually sticks her head through the same hole some jock just died under. You'll also be amazed by an extremely powerful cheerleader's deadly prowess with a javelin and the short amount of time in which a simple farmer can build an ingenious contraption to hunt the creature.

Since almost everyone who's going to see this already knows The Creeper's deal, one cheerleader's sudden psychic visions are useless as a plot device. However, if you're in the mood for a movie about a flesh-eating gargoyle terrorizing a bunch of disposable idiots, and I usually am, then this might be your thing as it's all about The Creeper in full-on demon mode. Another disappointing aspect is Salva's failure to expand on The Creeper's mythology. Although more than a few folks were turned off by the original's monstrous final third, I was sold on it. Seemingly drawing from every urban legend imaginable (thunderbirds, moth/birdmen, highway stalkers, organ thieves - I could go on), The Creeper was the ultimate incarnation of every fireside tale that ever scared you. Here, he's reduced to yet another unstoppable, malevolent force, stripped of the traits that made his character an instant horror icon: that intimidating truck, the briefly seen medieval arsenal, and his penchant for whistling a favorite tune. At least he appears to be enjoying himself as he scares the kids witless, taunting and glaring at them through the windows as he sniffs out his favorite parts.

Initially, I was fairly satisfied with the action-oriented approach when I saw it on opening night with a packed house of cheering lunatics, but after a second viewing with a more subdued crowd, I found my enthusiasm waning. While I haven't made this sound all that appealing, some well-staged attack sequences, an improved Creeper design, a few good laughs, and couple of nice gore-gags keep JC2 from being an utter waste of time. Judging from the excited responses at both showings I attended, for good or ill, we haven't heard the last of The Creeper.