Okay, let’s get this out of the way: Victor Salva is a creepy scuzzball and the crimes that he committed are deplorable and indefensible and should never be forgotten. He also seems to be incapable of separating that ickiness from most of his feature work, casting elements from films like Powder and Jeepers Creepers II in a very uncomfortable light. Point is, I don’t like the guy and neither should you. Fuck him.
With all that said, Jeepers Creepers is one of my absolute favorite horror movies and one of the last great monster flicks we’ve ever gotten.
The film was a surprise hit and was given an unnecessary (but pretty fun) sequel, and there have been constant rumblings of a third entry for years. According to Bloody Disgusting, that third entry will finally get underway at the start of next year. Jonathan Breck is slated to return as the titular monster.
And this is all a terrible idea.
A lot of what makes Jeepers Creepers work is its simplicity and its mystery. The pacing of what we learn about the Creeper is ingenious and only leads to more and more insanity. Ultimately, we end the movie with as many questions about the monster as we got answers, and that’s a brilliant place to leave the audience. It doesn’t hurt that the Creeper is wonderfully designed both physically and in terms of its mythology. The more we see and learn about the Creeper’s origins, the less special he’ll become.
And that’s what this third entry seems predicated around. The film will be set on the last day of the Creepers twenty-three day feast, and will eventually delve into the origins of the monster. No matter what story they come up with, it will be nearly impossible for it to be satisfying. As a concept, the Creeper thrives on a sense of unknowing and pulling the veil back on that can’t possibly make him more compelling or interesting. That was actually something I thoroughly enjoyed about the sequel; we didn’t learn next to anything about the Creeper’s history, but we did get to see more of how he acts as a character. Seeing the particular weapons he carved using pieces of his victims or learning just how resilient he was gave us the feeling of learning more without ever spoiling his mysterious nature. If this new film is going to do just that, I can’t see a single way on how to make that as riveting as his introduction and subsequent reveals in the first film.
No news on a release date for Jeepers Creepers 3 at this point or if it will get a wide-release or go straight to video. My money’s on the latter.
I’d rather the majority of the discussion this article brings up be about the Jeepers Creepers films as I try to focus on the art more than the artists, but if the comments go where I think they’re gonna go, I just don’t feel like contributing. I’d rather talk about movies and stories rather than the questionable and often reprehensible people who make them.
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