Day 153: Jeepers Creepers

You have to hand it to a movie that tries to add something new to the horror genre. It would be so easy to just do werewolves or vampires or zombies but to try to make a new monster is pretty bold. This isn't the smartest, shiniest or best written horror movie but it is solid and ambitious.

Gina Philips and Justin Long play a brother and sister driving back home from college to their hometown. While a couple of horror movies (like Halloween or Texas Chainsaw Massacre) have dabbled in sibling horror, this is one of the purest examples I can think of. The dynamic is just different when there are two adult siblings being stalked rather than lovers or would-be lovers or even parents and children. Long and Philips get curious about a weird car that passes them and eventually find an old church where the car parks. Inside, all sorts of horror awaits and that kicks off the chase portion of the movie.

The creature, who, sure, I'll call Jeepers Creepers, is a weird sort of patchwork demon who regenerates his body by taking body parts from living people. That he drives an old car and dresses like a cowboy seems to be incidental. In the sequel, they would explore his extra abilities like flight, but here, they stick to his gruesome habit of collecting prey.

Will the siblings escape with all their body parts? You'll have to watch to see. There are worse ways to spend a weekend afternoon but this isn't a modern classic.