The original Jeepers Creepers was relatively successful in America (grossing $37m) but few saw it when it was released in Australia in January 2002.  It opened weakly in 8^th spot on the charts and was swept away by a range of Oscar flicks, family pictures and other summer blockbusters.  I did catch it though on its opening weekend and was thoroughly surprised.  I called it an “an invigorating shot in the arm for the teen horror genre.”  So I was very much looking forward to this sequel but most everyone else I spoke to was saying “but I haven’t even seen the first Jeepers Creepers!”

Now, in hindsight, I can make an authoritative recommendation.  Pull $4 out of your wallet, head to the nearest video store and rent Jeepers Creepers.  Then, once you’ve enjoyed its original thrills and chills, take it back to the store and do no more.  There’s no need to queue up at the local multiplex for the sequel.  It simply isn’t worth seeing.

The story revolves around a rather grizzly looking creature (played by Jonathan Breck).  For 23 years it sleeps.  For 23 days it eats.  And this cycle has continued for over a thousand years.  We have reached day 23 in its latest feast and the creepers eyes are firmly fixed on a bus filled with school kids.  It fires a sharp object at the bus’s back wheel, disables it and then waits for nightfall.  It just so happens that all mobile phones are out of range and no one is picking up on the CB radio so they’re pretty much helpless.

There’s little much else to tell from here because you already know what to expect.  Some will be eaten and some will escape.  You wouldn’t think it but both films have been written by the same person – Victor Salva.  Jeepers Creepers seemed so new and inventive whereas Jeepers Creepers 2 seems so stale and clichéd.  Anyone know what went wrong?