6 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Returning home from a championship game, a busload of varsity basketball players, cheerleaders, and coaches become stranded on the infamous East 9 Highway in Poho County--only it's the cunning Creeper who has actually crippled their bus. As its 23 days of flesh-eating comes to an end, the Creeper has embarked on its final feeding frenzy.
Starring: Ray Wise, Jonathan Breck, Garikayi Mutambirwa, Eric Nenninger, Nicki AycoxHorror | 100% |
Thriller | 43% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.36:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 kbps)
French: Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 kbps)
English SDH, French, Spanish
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Whatever one's opinion of the 2001 Labor Day weekend hit, Jeepers Creepers —and I wasn't a fan—its box office success virtually guaranteed a sequel. It was executive producer Francis Ford Coppola who suggested the idea of setting the sequel in the days immediately following the first film, during the same 23-day feeding cycle of the film's titular monster. Originally, writer/director Victor Salva had envisioned that any follow-up would occur 23 years in the future, when the Creeper emerged to feed anew, which is reportedly the plot of the third film set to debut later this year. Coppola's idea was a good one. It allowed Salva to get his sequel up and running without wasting time on backstory. The crowds coming to see Jeepers Creepers 2 in 2003 didn't need any. They already knew who the Creeper was. This may be heresy, and it certainly isn't the prevailing view at Rotten Tomatoes, but I find Salva's sequel to be superior to the original. Neither film is a particularly scary creature feature, but the sequel has the advantage of more varied action, a larger cast and superior effects, particularly in the rendering of the Creeper himself. It also benefits from the presence of actor Ray Wise, whose distinctively off-kilter performances have elevated material as diverse as Twin Peaks, Rising Sun and Mad Men (although even he couldn't save Salva's 2011 clunker, Rosewood Lane). Wise's performance as an Ahab- like hunter of the Creeper, complete with harpoon, is one of the sequel's most memorable touches, and Salva exploits it to good advantage.
Cinematographer Don E. FauntLeRoy, who shot the original Jeepers Creepers, returned for the sequel, switching to the wider anamorphic Panavision frame to accommodate the film's larger cast and expanded scale, especially in scenes involving the bus and its occupants. Fox/MGM's 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray offers superior detail and clarity that is particularly noticeable in the the country fields and surroundings, even in the dim moonlight of the night scenes where most of the action occurs. The blacks that are essential to depicting the various shadings of the Creeper's face and figure are solid and well-delineated, and contrast is sufficient to provide depth without overwhelming fine detail. Bright colors like the yellow of the bus, and the similar yellow of the team jackets, are vivid and well-saturated, which underscores what a tempting target these players make for an airborne predator. The film's grain pattern is visible but never intrusive, and there are no signs of inappropriate digital tampering. Since the 104-minute film has been placed on a BD-25, it can't approach the splendidly high average bitrate of the original, but in the absence of extras (see below), it clocks in at 23.07 Mbps, which is sufficient to achieve a balance between the still scenes of tense waiting and the frenetic scenes of evading and battling the Creeper, without visible artifacts.
The score by composer Bernard Salvay once again plays a crucial role on the Blu-ray's lossless DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack, delivering an aggressive, fearful and fully amplified score that is as much a part of the film's adrenaline charge as the Creeper's predations. The surrounds are full of interesting of country activity (birds flying and calling, corn rustling, etc.) as well as mechanical sounds inside the bus (the blowouts are pretty impressive) and, of course, the Creeper's wings flapping as he darts back and forth. The loudness of the track is accentuated by the occasional moment when everything goes quiet for a few seconds, before the sonic assault resumes. Dynamic range is wide, and bass extension is deep. Dialogue, such as it is, is always clear.
The Blu-ray has no extras—which is shocking when one considers the excess of riches provided on MGM's 2003 DVD. Consider the following: two commentaries, one with Salva and cast members, the other with Jonathan Breck and several of the artists responsible for transforming him into the Creeper; a behind-the-scenes documentary entitled "A Day in Hell"; featurettes called (1) "Lights, Camera, Creeper"; (2) "Creeper Creation"; (3) "Digital Effects by the Orphanage"; (4) "Creeper Composer"; (5) "The Creeper's Lair"; and (6) "Creeper Ventriloquist"; storyboards for scenes not filmed; two photo galleries; and the original theatrical trailer. I've heard of dropping a few features, but this must be some kind of record. Giving credit where credit is due, however, this is the first MGM title from Fox that I have reviewed in a long time that provided a simple, user-friendly main menu.
Fox and MGM have presented Jeeper Creepers fans with a quandary. Most already own the original film on Blu-ray, and they now have to re-buy it just to get the sequel, although admittedly the price for this double feature is no more than what many individual catalog titles cost these days. For that kind of forced double-dipping, though, fans are entitled to expect that at least most of the extras from the sequel's DVD would be ported over to Blu-ray. The break point, I suspect, is that including the extras would have required expanding Jeeper Creepers 2 to a BD-50, and at this low price point, even a savings of a few cents per disc can spell the difference between profit and loss. I think the film is worth it, and the presentation is first-rate. Hold onto your DVD and find someone who would appreciate the gift of your old copy of the first Jeepers Creepers. Of course, if you're new to both films, this purchase is an easy call. Highly recommended.
(Still not reliable for this title)
2001
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