After many many years of anticipation for the 3rd installment in the Jeepers Creepers franchise, it seemed to cause more damage than good. There is no question that there is a fanbase out there for this horror icon, The Creeper. The ancient monster from God knows where has a following and when the news broke out for another sequel, fans were excited. Unfortunately, due to the making of this movie, the horrible news arose that the director of the previous 2 films, Victor Salva, was caught up in a bit of controversy. This lead to a delay in release, funding, advertising, boycotting, and questioning if this movie was going to even be released on the big screen. It dredges up a lot of questioning and moral obligation on whether fans were supporting the behavior of the director by going to see this movie thus putting more money in Salva’s pocket and to some people supporting his crime.
Jeepers Creepers 3 finally received a release date but it’s not what you think. For one night only in theatres across the world, most people had only 2 showings, maybe 3 to catch this feature on Sept. 26th 2017, before it was never seen again on the big screen. A lot of people rushed to the chance to catch this monumental event out of curiosity. I happened to be one of those few that took the opportunity. Since this movie now just announced that it will also air one night on the SYFY channel. I thought it was my duty to tell you what to expect if you missed your chance at the movies but want to check it out on TV.
picture via maxim.com
The movie is not up to par to what you would expect. This latest installment is a prequel/sequel of sorts; taking place between Jeepers Creepers 1 & 2 in the timeline. In fact, it starts right where it left off in the first one. Derry and his sister Trish has just had their showdown with The Creeper and now the Sgt. Tubbs is on the case to figure out what it is that just attacked the two victims and killed a lot of his men. In comes a man Sheriff Tashtego, played by Stan Shaw (Monster Squad) with a group of people who has had their run in with The Creeper themselves. They are either survivors of the attacks or they have lost someone to The Creeper. They join the Sheriff in attempting to take down The Creeper once and for all. Meanwhile the movie focuses on a girl who is living with her Grandmother who is dealing with the loss of her son. The movie basically focuses on the granddaughter Addison, played by Gabrielle Haugh, as the Creeper has chosen her as his new victim. The Creeper is very specific that way.
The movie added a lot of elements that wasn’t present in the first two movies. The Creeper is rocking a red sweater to stand out but taking away the creeper factor he exhibited in the other films. Day nor night is off limits for The Creeper. You will see attacks happening throughout the film. The Creeper also comes with some extra mystical firepower. We know he is some kind of demon or monster that can fly. It has incredible strength, stealth, agility, etc. This time around he has weaponry that can pretty much levitate towards him like Thor to his hammer. Not much of a hint to that kind of ability from the previous ones so when you are watching this you are going to be introduced to a bunch of other skills you didn’t know he had which may come off as a cheat to you but for others you may not care and just enjoy the new features.
picture via dailymotion.com
Another skill that comes to mind it has in common with another superhero is Batman. Apparently, the creepy van with that terrifying annoying horn to draw out the fear in you comes with skills of its own. Basically, it’s like the batmobile. You can say the vehicle is its own character in a way. Those scenes were very entertaining. Again, nothing that you knew from the previous so hopefully that doesn’t bother you.
READ about Victor Salva’s controversal past and why many are boycotting the film provided by moviepilot.
As far as the writing in this film, Salva decided to finally give us just a drop of hint as to what it is and also showing the viewers that the people in the film are just one step forward into figuring out what it is and how to kill it. The story does explain how they find out and thank God it wasn’t some library with microfilm of old newspapers telling them how to do it. It is a new element to take in that you didn’t see in the other films so Salva is trying to give us more of a mythology and not just have The Creeper kill for 90 minutes just for the thrill. Some of the dialogue just seemed a bit lazy. Some characters and scenes written in sort of eluded to Salva’s dark present he is associated with today which may not bode well to most people. There is something that is said that is in poor taste and just given what we know about Salva now, that bit just didn’t really need to be in the movie.
picture via IGN.com
The acting was okay. Some background characters and extras definitely did their part in playing the helpless and scared potential victims of the monster but most of the cast was just over the top in their anger and determination to stop this beast. No chemistry at all between the characters either in my opinion. Legendary actress Meg Foster, was given enough screen time but most of it was just her sobbing over the loss of her son and talking to herself so after the first 15 minutes of it, it gets pretty repetitive and somewhat frustrating.
Given what we know about the support of this movie being made, we should all take into account ahead of time that this movie probably didn’t have a big budget to work with. Having said that, get ready for some CGI mess that didn’t even look finished in post-production. Salva did what he could I guess but get ready for a bit of cheesy cinematography and special effects. The Creepers make up doesn’t quite look the same as it did before and sadly I think it pays for it. I will say that the cinematography is great. Well lit scenic country imagry. It was shot well.
picture via variety.com
The scares and the kills were decent as well. I will not lie and say I was on the edge of my seat with some of the scenes. The kills were a little creative. The Creeper provided a little bit of tension but now we know of him to be a character more than just a mystery. Even without saying a word except for a few yells and loud screeches here and there, the winged menace still managed to say a lot with his expressions which are not a bit comical rather than scary. Which the creep factor is pulled off very well in the previous films so it’s sad it wasn’t replicated in this one.
Overall, this movie unfortunately wasn’t worth the drama. I was entertained through the feature. For its kills and little suspense I sat through the whole thing. They left the movie open for more storytelling so if Salva finds a way to get more of these films made, we may see another movie or two down the pipeline. It would be in Salva’s best interest if he doesn’t want his character to obliterate into thin air is to pass the directing baton to someone else and let someone else handle the character. Between the poor acting, unbalanced writing, and weak production. Trying to so hard to get a theatrical release was just a waste of time and too much negative exposure. Since this movie is to be played on SYFY on Oct. 28th. It might as well just have been a SYFY original movie. This movie wasn’t made to be a theatrical big screen release but anyone who is curious what the big fuss is about, check it out. I think hard core fans will find little things they like about it but overall it doesn’t measure up to the other two we have seen in the early 2000’s.
2 out of 5Real Talk, I don’t support the actions of Victor Salva and my only task here was to provide info regarding the movie because I love movies, especially horror movies, so I continue to talk about them by giving you one of many opinions. Thanks for reading my post and following the blog all together and I will see you at the movies.
Comment your thoughts. Will you be watching the film?
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