"Jeepers Creepers Reborn": Needless Lore, No Creep Factor
- Vega
- Sep 22, 2022
- 4 min read
Updated: Nov 13, 2022
Release Date: September 19, 2022
Platform: In Theaters/Limited Genre: Horror
Nearly 21 years after first gracing the silver screen with his devilish driving and minacious demeanor, the creature known simply as the Creeper finds himself on a new hunt in Jeepers Creepers Reborn (2022). Awoken from his narratively told 23 year slumber by director Timo Vuorensola, this soft reboot is expected to establish a new trilogy for the Creeper character. In an epilogue to the movie, Vuorensola addressed audiences with his excitement for the opportunity to revive the Jeepers Creepers franchise and framed himself as a fan. Unfortunately, rather than infusing an effective reboot with his fandom, the end result was reminiscent of a low budget fan film.
As another 23 years have passed, the Creeper awakens for its 23 day feeding concurrently with the debut of the Horror Hound festival in the same town. Traveling to the festival are Laine (Sydney Craven) and Chase (Imran Adams), with the former carrying the secret that she is pregnant. A seemingly trivial detail becomes a core focus of the story after a chance encounter with a medium leaves Laine with mysterious visions indicating the threat the Creeper poses to her unborn child. After winning a contest rigged in their favor, the pair travel with a production crew to an escape room created in a house steeped in the lore of the local legend of the Creeper. Dire to escape the ominous fate hinted in her premonitions, Laine and the others fight to escape the house while being hunted by the Creeper. Fighting for their lives comes with the additional unraveling of the deep history between the Creeper and the town it inhabits.
Tackling a new incarnation of the Creeper, Vuorensola appeared burdened with the task of finding a new angle to set this story apart from the original trilogy. The “Reborn” aspect of the narrative has less to do with the titular character of the Creeper and more with building a new lore surrounding the creature. Similar to “Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers,” this movie introduces a cult-focused narrative to help explain the Creeper’s history and sustainability. At the core of this narrative is the importance of Laine’s baby for the Creeper to regain his strength and the mysterious agencies of the town supporting the creature’s habits. Rather than building a tone of suspense or taking its time with tension-building, the movie relies on the town’s connection with the creature and the mysterious cult in Laine’s visions to build intrigue. These plot details are poorly explained and never expanded on, leaving more questions between these intermittent scraps of information. Regardless of the opinion that the lore feels entirely needless, there is no connective tissue capture the concepts the movie hopes to establish. There are details discovered throughout the story that are treated as payoffs, but there is no interest generated to build up to these moments. Leading to frequently flat tones, the story beats create a dulled experience that is devoid of any emotional tone.
The story keeps a quick pace as it attempts to jump from one piece of jumbled information to the next. There is very little time built in to sit in any real sense of horror, though it is highly doubtful that this iteration of the Creeper would elicit anything of the sort. In an attempt to differentiate this version of the Creeper from its predecessor, the result is a watered down monster that feels more action star than creature of the night. Along with pulling back the veil on the Creepers preparation, there are mannerisms emphasized by the creature that feel misplaced. Just when the swag walk away from an exploding internet tower is not enough, he arises from his underground lair with a dramatic arms out, rock pose as he glances into the night. There is no shock, no satisfying climaxes, and no sense of dread. There is not even any creativity behind the very few kills witnessed. There were many opportunities for this film to turn up its horror elements, such as a horror festival with potential victims, though, COVID restrictions left the festival feeling very bare. The ongoing focus on Laine’s connection to the Creeper prevented the story from expanding beyond that particular character. This further lent to the overall feel of the movie as a violent joke, none of which is helped by its amateur cast.
After removing the poorly structured narrative, the lack of scares, and its diluted version of the Creeper, this movie is still left with an uninspiring acting crew and minimal production value. There was an odd flow to the dialogue from most of the cast, not in an awkward campy manner, but in the forced delivery and phoning it in kind of way. There were particular moments when b both Adams' and Craven's accents would leak through and further add to the detachment from the story. There was rarely a sense of the characters feeling threatened or in dismay, but beyond that, all the characters lacked differentiation and blended into one other. It did not help the actors cause that they had to compete with low quality CGI and uninspiring camerawork. Even with some of the film being shot on site, it never pushed past feeling like a cheaply constructed haunted attraction. This overarching combination of subpar elements would have been understandable as a serviceable amateur film, but as a feature film with studio backing, there is nothing offered here but disappointment.
For fans of the original trilogy, or just the original film, Vuorensola’s reboot will leave you revisiting the Creeper of the past to wash the taste of this movie from your mouth. Void of any the actual creepiness hinted at in the title, Jeepers Creepers Reborn focuses more on delivering random fragments of lore than on creating a coherent horror experience. There was little audience reaction outside of the one jump scare spoiled in the trailer and the rush to the exit door when the credits hit. More disheartening than the movie’s mundane theater experience is the prospect of the Jeepers Creepers franchise lying dormant for another 20+ years. Positioned as one of the most anticipated new horror releases for the year, this is an entry destined for nothing greater than the discount DVD bin.
Comments