Jeepers Creepers 2

Jeepers Creepers 2
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Victor Salva
Produced by	Francis Ford Coppola
Written by	Victor Salva
Starring	Justin Russell
Music by	Bennett Salvay
Cinematography	Don E. FauntLeRoy
Editing by	Ed Marx
Studio	Capitol Films Myriad Pictures American Zoetrope
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date(s)	August 29, 2003 (2003-08-29)
Running time	104 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$17 million
Box office	$63,102,666

Jeepers Creepers 2 is a 2003 horror film written and directed by Victor Salva, produced by American Zoetrope, Capitol Films, Myriad Pictures and distributed by United Artists, a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer division. The film is a sequel to the 2001 horror film Jeepers Creepers.

Plot

The story begins 4 days after the events of the first film, the 22nd day of the Creeper's 23-day cycle. A farmer, Jack Taggart, Sr. (Ray Wise) is trying to put up fence poles while his son, Jack Jr. (Luke Edwards) is working on the car. While his brother and father are busy, Billy Taggert (Shaun Fleming), sets up scarecrows through the farm's cornfield. One of the scarecrows in the field suddenly moves its head, startling the crows and alerting Billy. Billy goes to look at it and sees it has talons on its feet, which then move. Frightened, Billy runs to get his brother. However, the "scarecrow" comes to life and pounces on Billy. Both Jacks hear Billy's screams and carry a shotgun out into the field to find the attacker. They chase after Billy and his captor until the "scarecrow" sprouts wings and disappears into the sky with Billy, leaving Billy's family horrified and stunned.

Returning home from a championship game, a group of high school basketball players, their coaches and cheerleaders become stranded on East 9 Highway in Kissel County when their bus breaks down driven by the loud and bossy Bus Driver Betty (Diane Delano). The trapped students and their coaches soon discover a makeshift shuriken has slashed their tires. As night approaches, one of the girls, Minxie (Nicki Aycox) starts having a mysterious dream about Darry (Justin Long) from the 1st film about every 23rd spring that the Creeper likes to eat people. When another makeshift shuriken blows up the remaining back tire, they see the Creeper (Jonathan Breck), a monster that resurfaces every 23 years to feed. The Creeper first kills the chaperones on the bus then targets the teenagers. Meanwhile, Jack and his son arm themselves and set out on a personal mission to hunt the Creeper down and to rescue some of the surviving teenagers.

Back on the bus, it becomes evident to the teens that the creature is much stronger than they imagined; when the Creeper's head is severely damaged by one of the students on the bus, it kills a different student by decapitating him, then consumes his head. Afterward, the Creeper decapitates itself and then we see a new head appear in the form of its victim. When complete, the head transforms into the shape of the original head the Creeper had before the damage. The teens leave the bus to head for a nearby farm, believing that the Creeper is gone, however the Creeper is merely waiting for them. The Creeper chases the scared teens into a wide field, killing two of them. One of the teens, Bucky, returns to the bus with two others. Just as the Creeper attempts to grab him, the Taggarts, having tracked down the abandoned bus, arrive and flash their car lights at the Creeper, forcing him to drop Bucky and as Jack, Sr. shines the light on the Creeper, the Creeper releases his wings as intimidation.

Jack, Sr. fires the harpoon through the Creeper, and the Creeper grabs the harpoon after it hits. The Creeper starts to pull the truck (as the harpoon is connected to the machine by a rope) until it throws the harpoon back at the Taggarts, who narrowly dodge the weapon. The Creeper then tries to fly through the bus, but Jack, Sr. places another harpoon in the machine and shoots the Creeper again. But the Creeper survives (shedding its disguise), and pulls the truck so hard that it flips over, although both Taggarts escape at the last moment.

Three teens, Izzy (Travis Schiffner), Rhonda (Marieh Delfino), and Double D (Garikayi Mutambirwa), the Creeper's target, find an abandoned truck sitting in the middle of the field, while its driver becomes another victim of the Creeper. The Creeper approaches as the three teens hijack the truck. As the Creeper chases the truck, Izzy pushes Rhonda out of the truck and tries to outmanoeuver the Creeper, but the truck flips in the process. Izzy manages to survive and crawls away from the wreckage before the truck explodes. The Creeper loses its wings, right arm, and left leg but still pursues Double D, who is severely injured. As The Creeper is about to eat Double D, Jack, Sr., who managed to repair the harpoon machine, shoots the Creeper straight in the head. Severely injured, the Creeper is unable to defend himself as Jack, Sr. proceeds to use a spare harpoon to stab the Creeper continuously through the chest until he runs out of breath. At the same time, the Creeper apparently succumbs to his wounds as its face wings close around its head. Minxie tells Jack, Sr. that the Creeper is not dead, but has gone into hibernation for another 23 years and will be back afterwards.

23 years later, kids have heard about the creature the farmer has killed and desire to see it. They pay their $5 to see the "attraction" called "Bat Out of Hell". The teens look up to find the Creeper, with his body parts sewn back together, crucified to the wall as a tourist attraction. An elderly Jack, Sr. is seated by the harpoon gun, which is loaded and aimed directly at the beast's heart. One of the teenagers asks if he is waiting for something, and Jack, Sr. responds, "about three more days... give or take a day or two".

The film ends with a closeup of the Creeper.

Cast

• Ray Wise as Jack Taggart, Sr.
• Eric Nenninger as Scott Braddock
• Garikayi Mutambirwa as Deaundre "Double D" Davis
• Nicki Aycox as Minxie Hayes
• Marieh Delfino as Rhonda Truitt
• Diane Delano as Bus Driver Betty
• Thom Gossom, Jr. as Coach Charlie Hanna
• Billy Aaron Brown as Andy "Bucky" Buck
• Lena Cardwell as Chelsea Farmer
• Al Santos as Dante Belasco
• Travis Schiffner as Izzy Bohen
• Kasan Butcher as Kimball "Big K" Ward
• Josh Hammond as Jake Spencer
• Tom Tarantini as Coach Dwayne Barnes
• Drew Tyler Bell as Jonny Young
• Luke Edwards as Jack Taggart, Jr.
• Justin Long as Darius "Darry" Jenner (cameo)
• Jonathan Breck as The Creeper
• Shaun Fleming as Billy Taggart

Reception

Box office

Jeepers Creepers 2 opened in 3,124 theaters and had a U.S. domestic gross of US$ 35,667,218. Other international takings were $27,435,448, the worldwide gross being $63,102,666, slightly higher than the original.

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a 23% rating with an average score of 4.2 out of 10, Top Critics Gave a lower rating of a 15% average score of a 3.9/10. They state the film: "is competently made, but it doesn't have the scares of the original."

Awards

• Nomination - Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films
• Nomination - Saturn Award Best Horror Film
• Nomination - Motion Picture Sound Editors: Golden Reel Award Best Sound Editing in a Feature Film (David Bondelevitch and Victor Salva)

Sequel

In March 2006, Jeepers Creepers 3: Cathedral was announced. Cathedral is set 23 years after the events in the first film. Trish Jenner is the mother of a teenage son, Darry, named after the brother she lost 23 years ago. Trish has a recurring nightmare where her son suffers the same fate as her brother did, killed by the Creeper. Determined to prevent this from happening, Trish, who is now a rich and powerful woman, sets out on a final quest with Jack Taggart Sr. and Jr. to end the Creeper's reign of terror once and for all.

On February 9, 2011, Salva spoke to Fangoria about the film. Salva hinted that the script may lead into a television series instead of a third film as originally planned. When Fangoria asked, "With MGM out of bankruptcy, do you see Jeepers Creepers 3 on the horizon?" Salva replied, "Though I have been beating this drum for so long that people have started not to believe me, I am told they are very close to closing a financing deal for the third film in the trilogy. So I want to say yes, but let’s not jinx it by saying any more. My script for the film, which was written some time ago, sets up a TV series that features Poho County and The Creeper. The script has been ready to shoot for a while now."

External links

• Official website
• Jeepers Creepers 2 at the Internet Movie Database
• Jeepers Creepers 2 at AllRovi
• Jeepers Creepers 2 at Box Office Mojo
• Jeepers Creepers 2 at Rotten Tomatoes