Jeepers Creepers 2 (2003)

Jeepers Creepers 2: Directed by Victor Salva. With Ray Wise, Jonathan Breck, Garikayi Mutambirwa, Eric Nenninger. Set a few days after the original, a championship basketball team’s bus is attacked by The Creeper, the winged, flesh-eating terror, on the last day of his 23-day feeding frenzy.

“2 years after the surprising success of u0026quot;Jeepers Creepersu0026quot;, Victor Salva returns with a sequel that continues where the original left. Although at first reluctant to making a sequel, Salva crafts a competent horror film that continues exploring the formula of the supernatural hunter in the desolated rural setting. Despite having the obvious flaws of a minor sequel, u0026quot;Jeepers Creepers IIu0026quot; is a worthy follow up that has its own share of tricks to keep the fans happy.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe plot of the film follows a school bus of a local high school that just won the championship and are on their way back home. To their misfortune, the Creeper (Jonathan Breck) is one the loose as he is on the final day of his 23 days eating cycle, so this ruthless hunter will do whatever is necessary to find food before his time runs out. But the Creeper has another problem, he is being hunted down by Jack Taggart (Ray Wise) the father of one of his victims who is looking for revenge.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhile it lacks the originality of the first one, u0026quot;Jeepers creepers IIu0026quot; has a more focused and consistent plot due to the fact that the Creeper is now an identifiable villain. Victor Salvau0026#39;s new tale of rural horror is now a full-fledged supernatural horror in the vein of Wes Cravenu0026#39;s u0026quot;A Nightmare on Elm Streetu0026quot;, where typical elements of Americana become sources of horror. Having most of the movie set inside of the school bus with the castu0026#39;s fears and personalities clashing makes a good source for classic suspense and tension between characters.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eVisually, the film is a step forward and showcases that deep down the obvious commercial intentions of this film, Salva is still an artist that has a great eye for visual compositions. His camera-work does miracles both in and out of the school bus (the movieu0026#39;s main location) and he captures the lovely and scary things about rural North America. The visual effects of the film are not as good as in the first one, but they are still effective and the CGI is not that dominant.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe young cast does a fine job and the overall performance is not as poor as one could expect. However, they are nothing spectacular and some seem to had been chosen based more on looks rather than talent. The two veterans of the movie are where talent is. Jonathan Breck and Ray Wise give the film soul as the opposite forces who are destined to clash. Breck is quite good as the Creeper and looks more comfortable in the role now; Wise on the other hand, is a scene stealer and he owns the film every time he is on screen.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;Jeepers Creepers IIu0026quot; has a lot of whatu0026#39;s good about modern horror movies, but sadly, it carries also some of the worst. The fast packed action at times gets distracting and contrasts badly with Salvau0026#39;s honest attempts to create suspense and atmosphere. There is an apparent effort in developing characters and while in some cases it works, in others it terribly fails (due mostly to the actoru0026#39;s lack of talent). also, it is fair to point out that the movie lacks the scares of the first one as it has more in common with the final part of it. It is great fun and entertainment, but if scares are what you are looking, better look elsewhere.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eTo summarize, the film is an entertaining and very well-directed scary movie that makes a worthy sequel to the original one. Victor Salvau0026#39;s second part of the series is a good addition if you liked the first one, otherwise it will be just another teen horror movie. Personally I liked it, but it would be wiser to rent it first. 6.5/10”