Jeepers Creepers 2 looks to up the budget and put the Creeper on screen more, but a dash of terrible CGI and a story that doesn’t go all out really hurts the film. Still, that doesn’t stop Scream Factory from going out with another wonderful Blu-ray Collector’s Edition, which carries over the theme from the Jeepers Creepers CE Blu-ray in that it provides all the special features of past releases, plus a couple new interviews. That’s the quick and dirty opinion for the Blu, but if you want to know more, read on…
Product Information
DISCS: 2
RUN-TIME: 104 min
ASPECT RATIO: 2.35:1
RESOLUTION: 1080p
AUDIO: English 5.1 DTS-HD MA, English 2.0 DTS-HD MA
LANGUAGE: English
SUBTITLES: English
REGION: A/1
RATING: R
PRODUCTION DATE: 2003
RELEASE DATE: June 14, 2016
Plot Summary
When their bus is crippled on the side of a deserted road, a team of high school athletes discover an opponent they cannot defeat – and may not survive. Staring hungrily at them through the school bus windows, the “Creeper” returns again and again. But when the teammates discover that it’s selective about whom it attacks, it will test their ability to stick together – as the insatiable menace tries to tear them apart!
Movie Review
Jeepers Creepers 2 picks up a few days after the first one, with the Creepers days of hunting winding down to his long sleep. A group of students and their teachers end up broken down on the side of the road in Creeper country and they all have a little something the Creeper wants. Meanwhile, distraught father, Jack Taggart Sr. (Ray Wise), whose son was taken by the Creeper, vows to get revenge and works on bringing the beast down for good. Cue lots of weird Creeper creepiness and a shit ton of shirtless dudes.
Something just feels off with Jeepers Creepers 2. It lacks the scares and thrills of the first one and in all honesty, the Creeper is on screen way too often. Plus, the added use of some laughable CGI really hurts the flick. However, I do still enjoy the movie for some odd reason. The Creeper is a pretty cool character and it was neat to see some more of his weapons that he has crafted out of human bone and flesh. Jonathan Breck once again does a wonderful job.
Some people will probably be put off with the humour that has been introduced into Jeepers Creepers 2. One scene in particular involving the Creeper sniffing out his victims plays out like a sketch comedy. It isn’t scary in the least bit, but just all around creepy instead. None of that really bothered me much compared to the unnecessary incorporation of the character Minxie Hayes (Nicki Aycox), who has for some reason the ability to dream about past and future events involving the Creeper and Darry (Justin Long returns for a short, needless role). Minxie is incredibly unnecessary and is clearly written as a tool to explain to the other characters what is going on. We as an audience already know everything she has to say, so why bother explaining it all over again? This character was a waste of screentime.
In the end, Jeepers Creepers 2 needed more horror, not more chuckles. Oh and a heck of a lot less shirtless dudes.
Blu-ray Opinion
Scream Factory has done well by fans of Jeepers Creepers 2. The special features are packed full with all the goodies of past releases on two discs. Plus, we get to check out some new interviews with director Victor Salva, DP Don FauntLeRoy, Tom Tarantini, Ray Wise and others. How cool is that? As for the video and audio, much like the first release, I found the contrast to be a bit high, but overall everything was a-ok in my book. I’ll let the screengrabs do most of the talking for me. (What? I’m lazy, okay.)
Special Features
Disc 1:
Audio Commentary By Writer/Director Victor Salva And Cast Members
Audio Commentary By Jonathan Breck (The Creeper), Brad Parker (Production Illustrator) And Brian Penikas (Special Effects Makeup)
Disc 2:
NEW Jeepers Creepers 2: Then And Now Featuring New Interviews With Writer/Director Victor Salva, Director Of Photography Don FauntLeRoy, Editor Ed Marx And Actor Tom Tarantini
NEW A Father’s Revenge – An Interview With Actor Ray Wise
NEW Don’t Get Off The Bus – Interviews With Actors Tom Tarantini, Thom Gossom Jr. And Diane Delano
A Day In Hell – A Look At The Filming Of Jeepers Creepers 2
Lights, Camera, Creeper: The Making Of Jeepers Creepers 2 Featuring Writer/Director Victor Salva, Actors Travis Schiffner, Josh Hammond, Billy Aaron Brown, Eric Nenninger, Nicki Aycox, Director Of Photography Don FauntLeRoy And More…
Creeper Creation Featuring Interviews With Production Illustrator Brad Parker, Special Make-up Effects Artist Brian Penikas And Jonathan Breck
The Orphanage Visual Effects Reel
Creeper Composer – An Interview With Composer Bennett Salvay And Writer/Director Victor Salva
Storyboard Renditions Of Scenes Not Filmed – “The Creeper’s Lair” And “Ventriloquist Creeper”
Deleted Scenes
Photo Gallery
Theatrical Trailer
Verdict
Much like other sequels that think more is better, Jeepers Creepers 2 ends up injecting too much unnecessary humour and pointless characters into the movie. If they would have dialed back the goofiness and put some more horror into the mix, it might have done a lot better. However, the flick we did get is still worth checking out and of course, the Blu-ray from Scream Factory is the best way of seeing it.