SCREEN IT! PARENTAL REVIEW: JEEPERS CREEPERS

"JEEPERS CREEPERS"
(2001) (Gina Philips, Justin Long) (R)

Alcohol/ Drugs	Blood/Gore	Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude	Frightening/ Tense Scenes	Guns/ Weapons
None	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Heavy

Imitative Behavior	Jump Scenes	Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Profanity
Mild	Moderate	Extreme	None	Extreme

Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
Heavy	None	Minor	Mild	Extreme

QUICK TAKE:: Horror: On their way home from college and out in the middle of nowhere, a brother and sister have repeated run-ins with what seems like a homicidal maniac, only to discover that he's something far worse.

PLOT:

Trish (GINA PHILIPS) and Darry Jenner (JUSTIN LONG) are normal siblings who are driving home from college through the middle of nowhere. For a while, their trip is unremarkable, but that changes when an unidentifiable madman tries to drive them off the road in his old, souped up truck. Narrowly avoiding being killed, the two regain their composure and return to their trip, only to pass the madman apparently dumping bodies - tied up in bloody sheets - down some large pipe in the ground.

After another perilous encounter with the truck driver, Darry convinces Trish that they must go back to the pipe just in case what they saw was real and any of the victims might still be alive. She reluctantly agrees, and so they return to the pipe on the grounds of an old and dilapidated church. After hearing what he believes to be a voice at the bottom of the darkened pipe, Darry has Trish lower him part of the way into it for a better look, but a surprise causes her to let go and he slides down inside it.

There, he finds scores of bodies with wounds that have been crudely stitched together and, after a few tense moments, escapes and heads off with his sister to look for help. As they try to get the police to believe their story and the two receive an odd phone call from a local psychic, Jezelle Gay Hartman (PATRICIA BELCHER), as well as have a creepy encounter with an old woman (EILEEN BRENNAN) with many cats, Trish and Darry try to avoid The Creeper (JONATHAN BRECK) who takes on more supernatural characteristics as he continues to pursue them.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: If they're into horror/bogeyman films, they just might, but older teens seem the most likely audience among kids.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R: For terror violence/gore, language and brief nudity.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:: GINA PHILIPS plays a college student who's driving back home with her brother when they encounter the Creeper. Accordingly, she does what she can to get away from and/or kill him, and uses some strong profanity in the process.
JUSTIN LONG plays her brother who pretty much reacts the same way, also using profanity.
JONATHAN BRECK plays the supernatural killer who kills many people and continues to pursue the two siblings.
PATRICIA BELCHER plays a local psychic who tries to come to the siblings' aid with knowledge of what will occur based on her psychic dreams.; JUSTIN LONG plays her brother who pretty much reacts the same way, also using profanity.
JONATHAN BRECK plays the supernatural killer who kills many people and continues to pursue the two siblings.
PATRICIA BELCHER plays a local psychic who tries to come to the siblings' aid with knowledge of what will occur based on her psychic dreams.; JONATHAN BRECK plays the supernatural killer who kills many people and continues to pursue the two siblings.
PATRICIA BELCHER plays a local psychic who tries to come to the siblings' aid with knowledge of what will occur based on her psychic dreams.; PATRICIA BELCHER plays a local psychic who tries to come to the siblings' aid with knowledge of what will occur based on her psychic dreams.

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit?
Then read OUR TAKE of this film.

(Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below).

OUR WORD TO PARENTS:

The following is a quick look at the content found in this R-rated horror film. Violence is listed as extreme due to the lethal and very bloody/gory actions of the killer/monster and those who try to stop him. Various people are killed by the creature (including by decapitation) and we see the results of the monster's past violence in the form of many dead and/or mutilated bodies with large, stitched up incisions on them. Various people shoot at the creature and a woman repeatedly drives over it with her car.

Such sights and much of the film's cat and mouse moments will likely be unsettling, suspenseful and/or frightening to some viewers, especially younger ones or those with low tolerance levels for such material. One of those aforementioned bodies shows brief female full frontal nudity, while we briefly see a woman in her small panties as she pulls up her pants after relieving herself (we also see her brother's urine stream).

Meanwhile, profanity consists of at least 11 "f" words, while various other expletives and colorful phrases are also present. If you're still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone in your family, you many want to take a closer look at our detailed content listings for more specific examples of what's present in the film.

ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE: None.

BLOOD/GORE: As he stands with his back to the camera, we see Darry's urine stream as he relieves himself out in a field. We then see Trish stand up and pull up her pants, indicating she was doing the same.
Trish and Darry spot the Creeper dumping tied up bodies - wrapped in slightly bloody sheets - down a pipe.
Darry finds a victim with a large and poorly stitched up incision on his chest and belly. He then discovers scores of dead bodies everywhere, all with similar wounds and stitching on different parts of their partially discolored bodies.
Darry has some blood on his palm from a cut and some blood on his arm.
A severed head lands on a car and is later seen on a highway (and Darry finds some blood on the top of their car). The Creeper then picks up the head, sniffs it, and then seems to kiss it, but is actually pulling out the head's tongue with his teeth (seen in graphic detail).
Trish hits the Creeper with her car and then repeatedly drives back and forth over his body (until we see several squashed and smoking parts on the road).
A cop comes across the Creeper, in devilish form, squatting over a man's body that it's feeding on (and we hear related feeding sounds). Accordingly, we see some brief shots of blood on the body and bloody body parts.
We see blood on a man's face as the Creeper grabs him from above and behind, and we then see a large, see-through hole in the man's chest.
We hear someone screaming in the distance and then see a dead person (with bloody scrape marks on the chest) whose eyes and back of the head are completely missing (creating a bloody mask look - seen from the front).

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE: The killer obviously has both types of attitudes for killing people, and repeatedly tries to do just that to Trish and Darry.
Some criminals in a police station briefly have both toward various officers.

FRIGHTENING SCENES: Scenes listed "Violence" and "Blood/Gore" may also be unsettling, suspenseful or scary to viewers.
The Creeper (still unseen) drives his large truck right up to Trish and Darry's car, swerving all around them and blowing his horn.
Trish and Darry spot the Creeper dumping tied up bodies - wrapped in slightly bloody sheets - down a pipe. The Creeper spots them and then sets out after them in his truck. He then repeatedly rams his truck into the back of their car until they eventually run off the road and through a fence.
Trish and Darry return to the pipe and he then gets her to lower him part of the way down it for a better look. After a bunch of rats surprise them, she lets go and he falls down the pipe into the darkened room where he eventually finds a tied up body wrapped in a sheet. That lone survivor (with a stitched up chest/belly wound) suddenly grabs him. Darry then slowly makes his way through this darkened cave/basement and discovers many other dead bodies everywhere (including on the ceiling), many also sporting such stitches/wounds.
Tracy spots a truck approaching and frantically tries to drive off in her car that, of course, won't go into gear.
Two cops suddenly hear something on the top of their car as they drive down the highway. The woman then rolls down the window, takes a peak and is suddenly yanked out of the car. The Creeper then pulls the driver's head through the roof and uses a large blade to decapitate him (we see the head land on Trish and Darry's car).
Trish slowly approaches a car that we know contains the killer.
Trish and Darry slowly approach a house at night and encounter the occupant that they can barely see and who acts rather strangely. The lights then go out and the woman's cats all start acting up. She then comes out with a shotgun, noting that a scarecrow on the grounds is not hers. She fires at it and the Creeper then leaps into her house. She goes in and we hear several more shots until he walks out, carrying her (with her gasping for air).
Once we see the Creeper's devilish face and then form, his appearance may be unsettling or scary for some viewers.
Trish repeatedly tries to run over the Creeper in her car, both forwards and backwards (but he leaps/runs over the top both times). She eventually hits him (his body breaks their windshield), however, and then repeatedly drives back and forth over his body with related squishing sounds (until we see several squashed and smoking parts of the body on the road). Some devil-like wings then come out of the body and flap around a bit before stopping.
A long sequence has Trish and Darry trapped in a police station with locked exits and the Creeper killing others while it tries to get to them. During it, we see the Creeper killing people, scampering along the side of a wall and then menacingly grabbing and "examining" several people. We also see it and Trish just inches away from each other on either sides of a two-way mirror.

GUNS/WEAPONS: Large blade: Used by the Creeper to decapitate a man.
Shotguns/Handguns: Used by various people to shoot or shoot at the Creeper in various scenes.

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR: Phrases: "Let him f*cking pass you," "Are you out of your f*cking mind?" "F*ck you, lady," "Bum f*ck," "I'll blow your f*cking head off," "F*cker," "You f*cking let him go," "Oh, sh*t," "Bullsh*t," "You're scaring the sh*t out of me," "Holy sh*t," "You've got taste for sh*t," "She doesn't know sh*t," "Idiot," "What the hell /is his problem/are you doing/was he doing/did you bring into my house/is that thing/is wrong with you/are you talking about?" "Nuts" (crazy), "My ass," "Bitch" (playfully said by Darry to Trish), "Ass kisser," "You suck," "Shut up," "How the hell are you going to get out of there?" "Who the hell is this?" "I don't know what the hell you're talking about," "Let's get the hell out of here," "Don't be such a snot" and "Go to hell."
We see that Darry has a small tattoo on his stomach.
A prisoner gives "the finger" to a cop.

JUMP SCENES: A bunch of rats suddenly surprise Darry.
A hand suddenly grabs Darry's leg.
The sudden sound of a crow in a quiet scene may startle some viewers.
A person suddenly appears at a car window.
The sudden sound of a telephone ringing might startle some viewers.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE): An extreme amount of ominous, suspenseful and scary music plays throughout the film.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE): None.

PROFANITY: At least 11 "f" words, 12 "s" words, 1 possible slang term using male genitals ("d*ck"), 27 hells, 8 asses (2 used with "hole"), 4 damns, 3 S.O.B.s, 6 uses of "G-damn," 4 of "Jesus," 2 each of "Christ" and "God" and 1 use each of "For Christ's sakes," "Jesus Christ," "Oh God," "Oh Jesus" and "Oh my God" as exclamations.

SEX/NUDITY: Darry sees a license plate that he thinks reads "Gay Forever," but Trish points out that it really reads "Sexy Forever" (due to him misreading the letters and numbers).
As Trish stands up and pulls up her pants after relieving herself in a field, we briefly see her small, bikini-style black underwear (from the front).
Darry finds various nude bodies mounted on the ceiling and walls of a cave/basement, with one showing female full frontal nudity.
Trish jokes that a cop looks like he's from a strip-o-gram (good looking with a good body).

SMOKING: None.

TENSE FAMILY SCENES: Darry and Trish worry about each other at times and once discuss their mother not being happy.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT: Exactly what the Creeper might have been.
Psychics, their visions of criminal matters and how the police use and/or react to them.
What to do if confronted by a deranged driver on the road.

VIOLENCE: Trish and Darry spot the Creeper dumping tied up bodies - wrapped in slightly bloody sheets - down a pipe. The Creeper spots them and then sets out after them in his truck. He then repeatedly rams his truck into the back of their car until they eventually run off the road and through a fence.
Darry falls down a pipe and lands hard on the floor/ground below, momentarily knocking him unconscious.
Darry finds many dead bodies, thus suggesting the lethal violence that occurred to them.
Trish pushes Darry back against a wall while trying to get him to keep it together.
Two cops suddenly hear something on the top of their car as they drive down the highway. The woman then rolls down the window, takes a peak and is suddenly yanked out of the car. The Creeper then pulls the driver's head through the roof and uses a large blade to decapitate him (we see the head land on Trish and Darry's car).
After hitting Darry in the crotch, an older woman shoots her shotgun several times at the creeper (one seen, we hear the others). We then see him carrying her to the front door (with her gasping for air) where he then tosses her aside.
Trish repeatedly tries to run over the Creeper in her car, both forwards and backwards (but he leaps/runs over the top both times). She eventually hits him (his body breaks their windshield), however, and then repeatedly drives back and forth over his body with related squishing sounds (until we see several squashed and smoking parts of the body on the road). She then drives over it one more time before they leave.
A cop comes across the Creeper, in devilish form, squatting over a man's body that it's feeding on (and we hear related feeding sounds). The cop then opens fire on the Creeper who grabs and presumably kills him.
We then hear sounds of others shooting at the Creeper.
We see blood on a man's face as the Creeper grabs him from above and behind, and we then see a large, see-through hole in the man's chest.
The police then riddle the stairwell above them with gunfire, hoping to hit the Creeper.
We hear more sounds of gunfire coming from other parts of a police station.
The Creeper grabs a woman and menacingly inspects her.
The Creeper bursts through a large two-way mirror and grabs two people by the throats, menacingly inspecting each (smelling and licking). It then throws one of them aside and flies out through a window (smashing it), carrying the other person.
We hear someone screaming in the distance and then see a dead person whose eyes and back of the head are completely missing (creating a bloody mask look - seen from the front).

Reviewed August 27, 2001 / Posted August 31, 2001

Other new and recent reviews include:

Privacy Statement and Terms of Use and Disclaimer
By entering this site you acknowledge to having read and agreed to the above conditions.