Jeepers Creepers (2001 film)

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Jeepers Creepers
Jeepers Creepers film.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Victor Salva
Produced by Tom Luse
Barry Opper
Francis Ford Coppola
Written by Victor Salva
Starring Gina Philips
Justin Long
Jonathan Breck
Music by Bennett Salvay
Cinematography Don E. FauntLeRoy
Edited by Ed Marx
Myriad Pictures
American Zoetrope
Capitol Films
Distributed by United Artists (USA)
Lions Gate Entertainment (UK)
Release date(s) August 31, 2001 (2001-08-31)
Running time 91 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $10 million
Box office $59,217,789

Jeepers Creepers is a 2001 American horror film written and directed by Victor Salva. The movie takes its name from the 1938 song "Jeepers Creepers" which is featured in the film.


Two siblings, Trish (Gina Philips) and her brother Darry Jenner (Justin Long) are on their way back home from college for spring break. As they drive through the Florida countryside, an old and rusty truck tries to run them off the road. The vehicle eventually passes them, and they later see the same truck parked next to an old abandoned church with a man sliding what appears to be a body wrapped in blood stained sheets into a large pipe sticking out of the ground.

The driver notices Darry and Trish watching him, and attempts to run them off the road a second time. After barely escaping, Darry convinces Trish to go back to the church and investigate. When Darry hears something coming from within the pipe, he proceeds to crawl inside with Trish holding on to his feet, but she loses her grip as he starts kicking and screaming about rats. At the bottom, he finds a dying man with stitches running down his stomach and hundreds of bodies sewn together covering the basements walls and ceiling. Darry finally finds a way out, and He and Trish flee the scene and stop at a gas station to contact the police. They are phoned by a strange woman who warns them that they are in terrible danger, but confused and frightened, they ignore her warning. Trish and Darry leave the gas station with two police officers providing a security escort. As they travel, the police learn that the old church has gone up in flames, and all evidence of any bodies has been destroyed, they are then attacked and killed by the mysterious driver, who loads the policemen's bodies into his truck.

Fleeing once again, Trish and Darry stop at a reclusive old woman's house, begging her to call the police. The woman complies, until she notices the driver hiding in her yard. She tries to kill him with a shotgun, but the driver kills her and pursues Trish and Darry once again. Trish manages to hit the mysterious driver with their car, running him over several times, and seemingly killing him. However, they are horrified to see a giant wing tear through his trenchcoat and flap frantically in the air. They drive to the local police station to wait for their parents, when they are approached by psychic Jezelle Gay Hartman. She reveals herself as the woman who called them at the diner, and tells them the true nature of their pursuer: it is an ancient creature known as 'The Creeper' which hunts every 23rd spring for 23 days to feast on human body parts which, upon consumption, form parts of its own body. She also tells them that it seeks out its victims through fear, and that by smelling the fear from Trish and Darry it has found something it likes, but she does not know what.

The wounded Creeper attacks the police station and gains entrance to the cells, and after feasting on prisoners to heal, he is swarmed by police. Meanwhile, Jezelle, Trish and Darry attempt to escape but find themselves trapped. Jezelle warns that one of them will die a horrible death, while the song "Jeepers Creepers" plays on a phonograph in the background. Darry demands to know who, and she looks at Trish. The three are then discovered by the Creeper, and are separated. The Creeper heads towards Jezelle and sniffs her intently, but lets her go, and heads off to find Trish and Darry.

After a lengthy chase, the Creeper corners both Trish and Darry in an upstairs inteerrogation room. After sniffing, and tasting them, the Creeper throws Trish aside and chooses Darry. The police burst in and take aim, and Trish tries to reason with it, offering to give her life for her brothers, however, the Creeper escapes out the window, flying away with Darry. The next day, Trish, contemplating Darry's fate, is picked up by her parents, and Jezelle returns home in regret.

The final scene shows the Creeper in its new hideout, an abandoned factory, where the audience can hear Darry's screams echoing in the background, and finally learns what the Creeper wanted: by ripping out the back of Darry's head, it has taken his eyes, leaving his body an eyeless corpse. The film ends with The Creeper leering at the audience, through Darry's empty eye socket, while "Jeepers Creepers" plays in the background.



The film received mixed reviews from critics. It currently holds a 35% "rotten" rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Box office[edit]

Jeepers Creepers opened in 2,944 theaters and took in a domestic gross of $37,904,175; it later made $21,313,614 internationally, making a total of $59,217,789 worldwide.[1]

It broke the record for the highest ever Labor Day opening weekend gross. The record for Labor Day weekend four-day gross is now held by Halloween (2007). Jeepers Creepers now holds the #5 spot and the #3 spot goes to its successor, Jeepers Creepers 2.[2]



Jeepers Creepers 2[edit]

Main article: Jeepers Creepers 2


Jeepers Creepers 3: Cathedral[edit]

MGM has announced a third installment, Jeepers Creepers 3: Cathedral. The film will continue the story of the original film with Trish (Gina Philips) who now has a son named Darry, after her late brother (Justin Long) who was killed by the Creeper in the first film. Trish suffers from a recurring nightmare that her son will suffer the same fate. Trish, who is now rich and powerful sets out with Jack Taggart, Sr, and Jack Taggart, Jr on a mission to end the Creeper's reign of terror once and for all. The film will also feature the infamous Creeper truck.

See also[edit]


External links[edit]

Preceded by
American Pie 2
Box office number-one films of 2001 (USA)
September 2
Succeeded by
The Musketeer