Common Sense Media Review
By Brian Costello
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Cliched horror movie is violent and gory.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 16+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
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Jeepers Creepers
What's the Story?
In JEEPERS CREEPERS, Darry (Justin Long) and Trisha (Gina Philips) are a brother and sister driving home from college to visit their parents. They decide to take the backroads home, and while cracking jokes and playing the license plate game, they're nearly run off the road by a large and menacing truck. After recovering their composure, they get back on the road, but a few miles later, they see that same truck and a man carrying what appears to be wrapped-up bodies and dumping them through a sewer pipe. Far enough from the nearest town and with no cellphone service, Darry decides, after getting run off the road again by that same truck, that they should go investigate the pipe. Reluctantly, Trisha breaks down and agrees. It doesn't take long for Darry to find out what's at the bottom of the pipe, and now, Darry and Trisha must find a way to escape.
Is It Any Good?
This is a pretty standard horror movie from the early 2000s, hearkening back to a time when no cellular telephone service hadn't become a horror movie cliche. Jeepers Creepers still has some scares in it, even if it gets increasingly cheesy as the movie goes on. There's a menace to it that creates a lot of tension, and the direction makes all the right moves, but the proverbial "big reveal" makes the whole thing seem more than a little ridiculous.
There's an awareness of the tropes and cliches, such as the classic "young adults from the city driving through the unsettling rural area," the mystic local, skeptical cops, and how the bad decisions of said young adults lead to the scary consequences. But having the awareness of these cliches while still using them isn't great moviemaking. The acting is good, for a horror movie, and while it's not as dated as so many other movies from the late '90s and early 2000s, it's also not a classic of the genre.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about horror movies like Jeepers Creepers. How was it similar to and different from other horror movies you've seen?
What were some of the horror movie cliches in the movie? How did the movie try to play with those cliches to create plot twists?
How does the violence compare to that in other horror movies?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : August 31, 2001
- Cast : Gina Philips , Justin Long , Jonathan Breck
- Director : Victor Salva
- Inclusion Information : Female Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : United Artists
- Genre : Horror
- Run time : 90 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- MPAA explanation : Terror violence/gore, language and brief nudity.
- Last updated : October 31, 2022
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