Jeepers Creepers / Jeepers Creepers 2 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

Jeepers Creepers / Jeepers Creepers 2 Blu-ray Movie Review

23 Days of the Creeper

Reviewed by Michael Reuben September 19, 2013

Just in time for Halloween, not to mention the upcoming third film in the series, MGM and Fox are releasing Jeepers Creepers 2 in a two-disc Blu-ray double feature with the previously released Jeepers Creepers. The original film was reviewed when it was first released a year ago. The sequel is new to Blu-ray.

Screenshots are from Jeepers Creepers 2.

For discussion of Jeepers Creepers, please see the Jeepers Creepers Blu-ray review.

For discussion of Jeepers Creepers 2, please see the Jeepers Creepers 2 Blu-ray review.

Jeepers Creepers / Jeepers Creepers 2 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Jeepers Creepers (reviewed by Casey Broadwater; follow the link for screenshots):

Don't expect miracles, but for a horror movie from the early 2000s, Jeepers Creepers looks pretty good on Blu-ray, with a 1080p/AVC- encoded presentation that's true to source and a decent bump up from the long-outdated DVD. 20th Century Fox has left the film's 35mm image alone, and although grain is occasionally heavy and patchy, it at least hasn't been smoothed out unnaturally by digital noise reduction. There's no noticeable edge enhancement here either, and no significant compression concerns. (You will spot a few white and black specks, but no other print damage.) I wouldn't necessarily call the picture sharp—the combo of spherical lensing and a chunky film stock inherently affect the level of clarity—but there's never any doubt that you're seeing a newly minted high definition transfer. Compared to the DVD, everything is tighter and cleaner, with much finer detail in the areas where you tend to notice it. Although black levels are occasionally oppressive in the darkest scenes—you'll also notice some chroma noise in the shadows—color seems accurate, with balanced skin tones and sufficient density. The picture quality alone certainly doesn't warrant a blind buy, but the Blu-ray is certainly the best way to watch the film now. Whether or not it's worth the price of the upgrade, however, is up to you.


Jeepers Creepers 2 (follow the link for screenshots):

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.

Jeepers Creepers / Jeepers Creepers 2 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Jeepers Creepers (reviewed by Casey Broadwater):

Like a lot of horror movies, Jeepers Creepers is overly dependent on its sound design for spooks, but hey, at least that results in a beefy DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track. The multi-channel mix is fairly engaging, with a strong sense of ambience and the occasional cross-speaker effect. Crows caw all around you. Water drips ominously in the Creeper's subterranean cavern. Freaked out cats emit low, suspicious growls. And when the film devolves into a police station shoot-em-up, loud gunshots blast from every direction. All this is set to an almost ridiculously bombastic score by Bennett Salvay. (Who—for an odd bit of trivia—wrote the theme songs for most of ABC's TGIF comedy lineup, including Full House, Step By Step, Family Matters, and Perfect Strangers.) The music and effects have plenty of verve and clarity, with a kicky low end and clear highs. Dialogue is always easy to understand, and there are no hisses, thumps, clicks, or pops to be heard. For those that need or want them, the disc includes optional English SDH and Spanish subtitles, along with French and Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 dubs.


Jeepers Creepers 2:

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.

Jeepers Creepers / Jeepers Creepers 2 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Extras for Jeepers Creepers are listed in the Jeepers Creepers Blu-ray review.

Jeepers Creepers 2 has no extras.

Jeepers Creepers / Jeepers Creepers 2 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

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 the Blu-ray. The break point, I suspect, is the including the extras would have required expanding Jeeper Creepers 2 to a BD-50, and at these low price point, even a savings 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.