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Jeepers Creepers 2: Collector’s Edition [Blu-Ray] (2003)

JCreepers2With the follow up to the criminally overlooked “Jeepers Creepers,” director Victor Salva completely loses all sight of the potential for his first film and embraces the B movie roots of the Creeper. That’s not to say that’s a bad thing, but “Jeepers Creepers 2” ends up being a brutally silly movie that offers a solid diversion, even in spite of its massive flaws and lapses in logic. To add to the unusual experience, the follow up to the original is filled with so much homoeroticism and subtle sexual overtones, you’ll feel just as uncomfortable as the characters do while they’re being stalked by the Creeper.

Perhaps it’s the lower budget or lack of resources, but part two starts off pretty well and ends up being such a schlock fest saved only by Ray Wise. Set three days after the first film, The Creeper has inexplicably ditched his bitchin’ death truck, and now has the ability to run at high speeds. He also is now a ninja demon monster with throwing stars made of human flesh. Why he never uses them on Trish and Darry. After stalking and kidnapping a young farm boy in the middle of a field (the uncomfortable sexual overtones begin immediately), The Creeper is preparing for one last hunt before hibernating for two decades. For some reason a local high school basketball team are driving home from a championship victory and are riding on the back roads.

After popping their tire on the side of the road, the group of basket ballers, cheerleaders, and obligatory nerds find themselves at the mercy of the Creeper, who is picking off the teens one by one. His plan is to consume parts of them for his hibernation period. Thus begins a brutally annoying series of events, where nothing really makes sense and Salva forces conflict on a group of vaguely defined characters. For some reason cheerleader Minxie is stricken with premonitions of the past victims of the Creeper warning her of his inevitable entrance. This serves no purpose except to add exposition to a character we already know a lot about. From that point on, director Salva is so on the nose with sexual overtones it’s surreal.

The Creeper flies over a lot of bare chested young men, there are long scenes of the male players sunbathing, as well as peeing in a field side by side, and making remarks about one another’s penises. The Creeper also only seems to have a taste for young men in this follow up, licking a window when he sees his intended male victim, and tearing the shirt off of one of his prey when he rips his head off. The sequel itself is so poorly written and defined, you’ll spend a lot of time waiting for characters to die, rather than stay invested in the narrative.

Seriously, if you have the Creeper trapped in hibernation mode, why prop him up in a barn with a feeble old man watching him with a rusty hook? Why not encase him in a large shell of concrete, cement, and steel for all eternity and drop it in to the deepest abandoned mine you can find? In spite of that, “Jeepers Creepers 2” is a mediocre follow up that writes itself in to a corner time and time again but is redeemed by Jonathan Breck. He owns the character of The Creeper, adding a new definition of horror and pure terror to his prosthetics and make up.

Featured on the packed two disc set from Scream Factory is an audio commentary with writer and director Victor Salva, along with the cast members of the movie. There’s also a creeper commentary with Jonathan Breck who plays the Creeper, along with Brad Parker and Brian Penikas. For Disc Two, there’s “Jeepers Creepers 2: Then and Now” a twenty two minute look at the production of the sequel that interviews Salva, director of photography Don FauntLeRoy, and editor Ed Marx, to name a few. In it, Salva teases the third film, reveals who originally was cast as the dad in the film, and a funny explanation that Salva drew inspiration from “Lifeboat” for the premise of the film. Both films could not be more different.

“A Father’s Revenge” is a fifteen minute interview with Ray Wise, who plays the vengeful dad in the film. The actor discusses his love for Dracula, and horror, and his future work with Salva. “Don’t Get Off the Bus” is a twenty minute look at the recollection of the production with actors Tom Tarantini, Thom Gossom Jr, and Diane Delano. Finally, there are features ported over from the original DVD release, six total. There’s A Day In Hell: A Look at the Filming of Jeepers Creepers 2, Lights, Camera, Creeper: The Making of Jeepers Creepers 2, Creeper Creation, The Orphanage Visual Effects Reel, Creeper Composer, and Storyboards. There is a fifteen minute Deleted Scenes reel, photo galleries of the Cast and the Crew, and Behind the Scenes, along with the original theatrical trailer.