JEEPERS CREEPERS REBORN (2022)

DIRECTED BY Timo Vuorensola 

SCREENPLAY BY Jake Seal & Sean-Michael Argo

STARRING  - Sydney Craven as Laine,  Imran Adams as Chase, Dee Walace as Marie,  Gary Graham as Ronald,  Pete Brooke as Stu,  Ocean Navarro as Carrie,  Matt Barkley as Jamie,  Alexander Halsall as Michael,  Jodie McMullen as Madane Carnage,  Georgia Goodman as Lady Manilla, Jarreau Benjamin as the Creeper.

PLOT - A young couple Laine and Chase are travelling to a horror convention in rural Louisiana. Chase is obsessed with a local urban legend about a creature called The Creeper who returns to life every 23 years to go on a killing spree.

As the pair enter the convention, Laine begins to have disturbing visions about the Creeper.

Very soon it becomes apparent that the legendary Creeper is more than a mere legend. He's all too real...The Creeper is back and he's hungry...

PERFORMANCES  - Before we even begin to talk about this movie we need to talk about the character of the Creeper himself and the thundercloud that hangs over him. In the original three films the Creeper was played by Jonathan Breck who pretty much made the role his own. The Creeper was a brilliant new monster, arguably the first truly iconic horror villain of the new millennium. The first two movies did well at the box office. The Jeepers Creepers movies grew a solid fan base. The future looked bright for the body part assimilating demon freak...and then his place in the horror pantheon was severely rocked by the revelation that the Creeper's creator - writer/director Victor Salva who helmed the original two movies - was a convicted paedophile.

A third film (again directed by Salva) was released in 2017. However the revelations about Salva's kiddie fiddling past where enough to put most people off going to see it. Protestors picketed cinemas showing the movie. Needless to say Jeepers Creepers 3 was NOT the success that it's older siblings where. After the initial outrage the film quietly died at the box office and was unceremoniously shuffled out onto DVD and Blu-Ray. The Creeper's reputation was in tatters. His reign of terror was over. Or was it?

Well...No, it wasn't because we have this "reboot" that was released a couple of years later. Unsurprisingly Salva was not invited back to revive his creation. The producers hired a new creative team in an attempt to distance the franchise and it's monster star from the dubious reputation of thier progenitor.

A "scorched Earth/wipe the slate clean" policy was adopted. Salva's original planned storyline for the fourth installment was completely junked. Even the Creeper himself was recast (the role going to Jarreau Benjamin). Furthermore in an attempt to distance themselves from Salva the writers decided to set this film in an entirely new continuity - the conceit being that the original three movies where just that - movies. Salva's Creeper was "fictional", what we're now seeing is the "true" story based on the original urban legend. Get ready to meet the "real" Creeper and not some "knock-off" created by a sexual predator. It's a bold conceit, but does it work ?

Well, No. Not really. If anything fans hated this entry even more than Jeepers Creepers 3 (This must have been quite upsetting for the new creative team, it's a bit of an insult when audiences and critics actually seem to prefer a series of films directed by a nonce to the film they'd just made). Personally I don't think it's actually that bad (but then as regular readers will know I do have a high tolerance for utter shite). So where does Jeepers Creepers Reborn drop the ball ?

Recasting the Creeper I think was a big mistake. Benjamin does a decent enough job in conveying the Creeper's personality (such as it is) but he's the wrong physical build for the character. The original Creeper was tall, broad shouldered and physically intimidating. He looked like he could realistically tear you in half with his bare hands. Benjamin's Creeper is too short, too skinny, too weedy looking. I know they where actively seeking something different but this is a step too far in the opposite direction.

Also they really screwed up the character's design/make up - the original looked realistic and horrifying, this new version looks a lot cheaper and more rubbery looking. The poor old Creeper looks malnourished and like he's been having a hard time of it (art imitating life perhaps ?). At least he still gets some decent kills in under his belt, so that's something I suppose.

Then there's the rest of the cast. For some reason a lot of fans didn't seem to rate either of the two leads - Sydney Craven as Laine and Imran Adams as Chase - personally I thought they where both OK. They're not the most three-dimensional of characters but then this IS a teen slasher movie, a genre not heavily noted for it's complex characters. They're at least likeable enough in thier roles that you want to see the characters get away in the end. Also I was surprised to find that both actors are actually English (it doesn't show - thier American accents sound pretty spot on to me). So I can't really see why they where singled out for so much criticism.

The supporting characters all work well enough, once again they're nothing particularly out of the ordinary or exciting but they fill thier purpose (mainly to up the body count) adequately enough. We also get a nice cameo from Dee Walace that subverts our knowledge of the original film's storyline. Again, its nothing groundbreaking but its perfectly serviceable.

VIOLENCE  - No complaints on this score either. The Creeper may not look as scary this time round but he still knows how to hit 'em where it hurts. He beats, slashes and gouges his victims to death leaving behind a trail of bloodied corpses.

Perhaps the best moment is when the Creeper peels a victim's skull back and eats her brain. Its a great moment, easily on a par with some of the classic kills in the first two movies.

The Creeper gets a good death scene too, he's hurled off a building's roof and gets his head impaled by a spike that goes through his mouth and comes out the back of his head.

He doesn't stay dead for long though and gets a suitably nonsensical resurrection scene in the film's closing moments which is sure to leave you scratching your head and wondering what bizarre and twisted form of anti-logic the scriptwriters are operating under (or at least what types of drugs they've been taking).

SFX - I think the effects are probably one of the major bugbears of this film for most people. As I mentioned above the Creeper himself looks a lot cheaper and tackier this time round but he still works well enough under the right lighting. Its when he's overlit that you begin to see the joins, unfortunately he spends much of his screen time being overlit which is a problem.

The main bone of contention though is the overuse of some pretty dodgy CGI. This is especially apparent when we see the computer generated backgrounds and scenery that the characters all walk about in. It looks like what it is - actors working in front of a green screen. 

They look like they're living inside a late 90's console game. Its a weird creative choice to be sure and just looks cheap and shoddy. The CGI crows are pretty bloody awful too.

RATING  - All in all this isn't as bad as people would have you believe but its certainly no classic. I quite liked the setting of the horror film convention and seeing all the cosplayers and tacky looking stalls and fairground rides as I'm quite into that sort of thing. It at least gave the film a nice Halloweeny vibe if nothing else.

Overall though this is a pretty average film. I enjoyed it more than Jeepers Creepers 3 but its certainly not as good as the first two films where. Its let down heavily by a miscast Creeper, a crappy inconclusive ending and some very ropey CGI. Not a total disaster then but nothing special either. 3 and a half truck driving hellspawn out of 5. Maybe next time the Creeper should be allowed to just stay dead...

ART -