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JEEPERS CREEPERS
Reviewed January 18th, 2002 by Dan Jones

 

WhAT's EATing you?

First off, Jeepers Creepers is a very solid horror movie. The first part of the movie is flat out frightening in parts, leaving the viewer on the edge of their seats for about one-third of the movie before settling down to build some more plot. The movies start is truly exhilarating, yet, once this happens the viewers expectations will undoubtedly rise, and in Jeepers Creepers case, probably fall towards the end of the film. This is not to say the movie goes from good to bad, it just goes from great to pretty good in this viewer’s opinion.

Directed by Victor Salva (prior films including “Powder” and “Rites of Passage”), Jeepers Creepers revolves around a brother and sister pairing. We get Darius, or Darry, played by relative newcomer Justin Long (whom plays Warren Cheswick in my favorite show on television, Ed) and Patricia, or Trish, played by Gina Phillips. These two are returning from their freshman year at college when they are almost run off the road by some psycho in a truck. Shortly after this encounter, they see the man that tried to run them off the road dumping something down a pipe. After he leaves, they go to examine it... what they see is too horrific to comprehend.

From here, the chase begins. Our lead characters quickly find out what is happening around them, and begin their run for their lives. Classic horror, no?

Without delving any deeper into the plot, lets take a look at this pretty well packed DVD release from MGM. First off, this is a dual sided DVD release for those that hate flipper discs; I personally have no problem with it, one less disc to get out.

Presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen and 1.33:1 full frame (bleh), Jeepers Creepers sports a very solid transfer. This, like most horror films, is an overly dark, somewhat grainy transfer, but looks very good. Colors are solid, and contrast is good throughout. Some edge enhancement is noticeable, but besides that, the mastering job seems good; I noticed no major digital compression problems.

For audio, MGM has given Jeepers a fairly nice 5.1 Dolby Digital track that does a good job with ambient effects and imaging to the front of the viewer. For the most part, you probably will not notice your surrounds, except for the occasional strong action scenes. Yet, for an extremely low budget film in Hollywood terms, the resulting 5.1 track does a good job, although a bit more surround would have been nice. Also included are Spanish and French 2.0 tracks, and subtitles in English, Spanish and French.

As for extras, Jeepers Creepers provides us with some solid supplemental material. First off, we have an excellent audio commentary track from Victor Salva, the films writer and director. He gives us information overload on just about every aspect of filming and creation of the DVD as we would like. This track is truly informative and worth a listen if you liked the film; kudos for that.

Next, we have a generous set of deleted scenes, ten in all. Common to most deleted scenes we see on releases these days, it is clear to see why some of these did not make the cut; for their existence would not really have advanced the story at all, but just dragged the movie longer. Some are good though and could have been included.

The beefiest of Extras on Jeepers Creepers is definitely The Making of Jeepers Creepers, running near an hour in length this provides us with an excellent documentary on how this film was put to screen. Just about every aspect of the film is covered here, from the pre-production, to early conceptuals, to the ending of the film. Nicely enough this entire making of is presented in anamorphic widescreen. Overall this is the best feature on the disc, and should be required viewing for those that enjoyed the film; or just want to know how or why they did that.

Rounding out the extras, we have the standard theatrical trailer, production notes, cast filmographies, and a stills gallery. We are also given trailers for The Terminator, Silence of the Lambs, and Carrie.

Overall, Jeepers Creepers is a movie you are either going to love or hate. If you like horror movies then you should definitely check this one out. It is a fun ride, even if it has some holes and problems throughout. Moreover, the DVD provided here is very solid with a good transfer, commentary, and an excellent making of. If you liked the movie, this DVD is a no brainier. Recommended.

Oh, and one last thing, it seems Jeepers Creepers is getting the sequel treatment like many other horror films. Look out for Jeepers Creepers 2 in 2002... maybe.

 

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