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Jeepers Creepers 2 is a 2003 horror film directed and written by Victor Salva. The film stars Ray Wise, Johnathon Breck, and Eric Nenninger. It is a sequel to Jeepers Creepers (2001) and is the second installment in the Jeepers Creepers franchise. The film also gained an interquel, Jeepers Creepers 3 in 2017.

It's never indicated in the first movie when during the Creeper's 23 day feeding cycle is taking place, but the sequel occurs on the last day.

Plot[]

DAY 22: 3 days after the events of the first film.

Farmer Jack Taggart Sr. is trying get his post-puncher working, but fails. He blames his younger son, Billy, but he denies any wrongdoing. He then asks his elder son, Jack Jr. if he has been messing with it. Having been busy fixing their car, "Jackie" is annoyed that his brother won't "rat himself out". While making sure the scarecrows are fastened tight to their poles, he sees crows be attracted to one not too far from him; "A lot of good they are doing." Suddenly, Billy sees it turn its head to look at him. Curious, he walks over, examining the scarecrow as he does. Their dog, Mac, begins barking frantically in the direction of this "scarecrow". Billy examines the scarecrow and becomes frightened to see feet with talons on the end of it; the toes twitch slightly, making Billy begin running in fear. As soon as he does, the "scarecrow" jumps  off its post; it's the Creeper.

Jack Taggart watching in horror as Billy is taken

jack watches in horror

Billy yells for his brother to help him as the Creeper leaps over Billy several times to smell his fear; before it pounces on him to keep him quiet. Both Jacks, having heard Billy's yells, run out into the cornfield with a shotgun. They see Billy being taken away by a figure in black, who checks behind him to see how close their getting. At wits end, the Creeper simply jumps into the air with BIlly and flies away. Both Jacks are left stunned and horrified as they watch the Creeper fade into the distance with Billy's screams.

DAY 23:

Returning home from a Championship game, the Bannon Bantam basketball players, their coaches and cheerleaders become stranded on East 9 Highway in Kissel County when their bus breaks down. The adults discover a makeshift shuriken in the tire, making them wonder how it could have pierced it as the rubber the tire is made of is very thick. Teens Izzy and Bucky hear an update for Poho County, which reports of the excavation of an abandoned church that burned down four days ago; the authorities have found the Creeper's old lair, which houses over 500 bodies  The coroners have explained that no body is complete (obviously), with each missing a limb or organ. The adults try radioing for help, while the teens take bathroom break, or relax on the roof of the bus for a tan. The Creeper flies over a Kimball, scaring him, but does not take him; possibly, the Creeper prefers to dine at night. Possibly due to a sunspot (the only reasonable explanation), they are unable to use their cell phones. As there is still another tire on the rim the shuriken hit, they can limp home on a slow pace.

Elsewhere, Jack Jr. has found a dagger dropped by the Creeper; his father examines it, only for the dagger to fly into a leather lampshade. They decide to go after the monster that killed Billy; Jr. welds a homemade harpoon gun to their truck, while Sr. uses the dagger to make a harpoon since it naturally seeks out flesh to pierce. He makes one on his own, but becomes frustrated that he cannot melt it into the proper shape.

Nighttime  

On the bus, cheerleader Minxie is dreaming. She sees Darry Jenner and Billy Taggert, who frantically point to the cornfield. She looks out and sees a dark figure running through the corn, tossing something at the bus. At that moment, the other tire bursts and the bus screeches to a halt. Minxie is left disturbed as her "dream" could have been clairvoyance. The teens are lead off the road by Coach Barnes, while Driver Betty finds another shuriken in the tire; this time, it has Darry's tattoo on it. Luckily a car pulls up and Coach Hanna asks them to inform the Highway Authorities about their plight; he then begins setting flares to alert incoming cars that there's a broken down automobile. Betty shows Barnes the shuriken, telling him to get the kids back on the bus as there is something going on that she doesn't like. However, right as Hanna is far away enough to set a fourth flare, the Creeper pounces from above and takes his "in-flight meal" with him. 

Betty orders the kids back on the bus; she and Barnes call out for Hanna, while Bucky radios for help. Right as Betty sets a fourth flare, the Creeper pounces on her; the teens see he quickly pulled into the air as Barnes hears her scream. The teens are left scared, letting Barnes inside. Barnes asks what they saw; "she flew away". However, things start turning sour when Scotty, who thinks he was purposely not allowed to play more than a few minutes in the game, argues with Barnes. However, as soon as Barnes (who is part-way out of the bus) tells him to sit down, the Creeper grabs him with its feet and tries pulling him away. Unfortunately, the Creeper had to work for this meal as a chain of kids tried holding onto him; in the end, the Creeper's strength proved superior of the teens'. They scramble back into the bus and shut the doors. When Scotty is questioned as to what the Creeper looked like, all he can say is "It had wings..."

Elsewhere, Jack Sr. is listening to the radio for any stories that might lead him to the Creeper. Upon hearing Kissel County had stories that may lead him to his prey Jack takes off with his son to conduct his vendetta.

Back on the bus, everyone tries radioing for help, but find no-one is responding to them; Rhonda, girlfriend to Scotty, is left confused as to how their cell phones can still not be working. Minxie notices something by the doors and backs away in horror. The others look at the doors to see the Creeper smelling their fear. They quickly hide below the seats as the Creeper jumps onto the roof, Scotty suggests that Bucky move the bus, but is told that on the bare rims, the bus would only move a few feet away. The Creeper then looks at them from the emergency exit, smiling as he smells them. He then picks out Dante, Scotty, Jake, Minxie, Bucky and "D" as the courses for this meal; he makes gestures to confirm his choices. Upon smelling something he wants in "D", the Creeper shivers in pleasure at his scent. He then shakes the bus, making Scotty prepare to fire a flare if it comes inside. However, the Creeper climbs back onto the roof and flies away.

Minxie faints, falling into another dream. Darry's spirit appears before her, showing the Creeper as a scarecrow in a cornfield. Though he speaks rapidly, everything he says about it is absorbed by Minxie. He then gives the most important warning: "Every 23rd Spring, for 23 days, it gets to eat." When Minxie questions what, Darry appears without his eyes, saying "Eat us." The Creeper prouts its wings, shocking her awake. Some teens wonder if the Creeper is still around, but Scotty is convinced it won't come back. However, Minxie explains it was picking people out; "a dead boy told me" that "this thing has been around for hundreds of years and nothing has been able to kill it." She then explains the Creeper picks which parts of people it wants to it by smelling their fear. Scotty thinks Minxie is suffering from a drug usage, but Rhonda tells him to shut up. Minxie then adds none of those it chose will be safe anywhere until Midnight that night, as that's when the Creeper will go back into dormancy until 23 years later, when it awakens again for 23 more days in an endless cycle. Bucky begins radioing for help once again, hoping someone with guns, or better armaments, will respond.

In the meantime, the Taggerts come across then car that passed the bus earlier. The Creeper likely attacked them to keep his prey isolated. While Jack Sr. examines the empty remains of the wreck (which ironically has a bumper-sticker saying "I'm not a complete idiot; some parts are missing"), Jack Jr. receives Bucky's distress call. They learn that the Creeper is trying to attack and eat them, and that they won't be safe unless they get armed help; unfortunately, the Taggerts are still far away. Jack Sr. informs them that he'll inform the police, but turns off the radio; the Creeper is HIS prey and no matter how many die, he's avenging Billy.

Back on the bus, everyone is cheering for now they have hope of escaping the Creeper. However, unseen by them, the Creeper rises into view of the Emergency Exit and removes his stetson before jumping out of view. As Bucky cheers about getting rescued, the Creeper pierces the roof and grabs his head. However, Rhonda uses a javelin to impale the monster through its shoulder, annoying it. On a second try, she spears it through its left eye, forcing the Creeper to let go of Bucky and pull the javelin through the roof. The Creeper tries removing the spear from either end, but finds that he cannot. He then rips it off, along with the left side of his upper head. "D" sees this through the hole the Creeper made and watches as it flies off into the sky. However, they then hear a rumbling growing closer; it's the Creeper, who crashes into the roof of the bus, shattering the windows. No-one can believe this; the monster is DEAD!?

Scotty doesn't care if it's dead or not, but it's time to get the doors open and run for their lives. However, they discover none of the exits will open. Izzy realizes the Creeper was smarter than they thought;as "He jammed it. We thought it trying to come in, but this freakin' thing was making sure we couldn't get out!" The Creeper's wing falls through a dent in the roof, shocking everyone; they begin moving over to the front of the bus. Dante plays with the wing, awaking the Creeper, who promptly traps him in it. The other teens try holding him down, but the Creeper bites off Dante's head and leaves the body to flail around until collapsing dead. Frightened by hearing the Creeper eat, everyone backs to the ends of the bus. "D" takes the flares and flare gun from Dante's corpse. After getting no answers from Minx about what the Creeper is up to, Rhonda looks through the hole to see the Creeper rip its head off; she ducks back down into the bus in, stating the obvious. The claw hood of the Creeper reaches down into it's chest, pulling Dante's head out. As soon as the head connects to the neck and begins breathing, it transforms into a new Creeper head. The Creeper flies off into the sky.

Though some think that the Taggerts' help is coming, Scotty points out that the 9 is long and they could be going in the wrong direction. He then points out that there are two classes of people now; Bucky retorts "What? The Will Be Eaten and the Won't Be Eaten?" Scotty points out everyone, but Minxie (as she's their source of information on the monster) and himself, that the Creeper picked and asks them to leave for the safety of everyone else on the bus. However, D pins him and challenges him to stay in the bus, while he leads everyone else in search of help. Johnny decides to stay in the bus, shutting the doors after the rest of the group leave. Izzy looks up at the moon, seeing the Creeper watching them; he points up, telling them. They run back to the bus, but Johnny refuses to open the door.

The Creeper heads down, forcing the teens to abandon the bus and run into a wide field. Scotty tries to save himself by telling the teens to scatter, but they don't listen. The Creeper throws a shuriken, which implants itself in the back of Jake's head, killing him. The Creeper closes in on D, but D trips as the Creeper nears, angering the beast that it missed. Scotty breaks away from the group, resting at a tree; however, the Creeper pins his arm to it with a knife. The Creeper then flies into the herd of teens, for a quick bite. Izzy, Rhonda and D try saving Scotty, but the moment they get him loose, the Creeper grabs him and flies off into the sky. Rhonda is left screaming in anguish as Izzy and D try consoling her..

In the meantime, the Taggerts come across Minxie, who has managed to escape the Creepers' pursuit. Jack Sr. demands to be taken to the bus, telling Minxie to stay down until the fight with the Creeper is over. However, Minxie snaps at him, explaining that there's no-one on the bus, and that the Creeper cannot be killed by conventional means and that it will return every 23rd spring. Not caring, Jack Sr. demands to be taken to the bus so he can attack it to avenge his son. Minxie gets into the truck cabin with Jack Jr. and the dog.

On the bus, two of "Won't be eaten" confirm they are alone, just as Bucky returns. Bucky explains that he ran over 10 miles over the valley, explaining that there is NO farm. They beg him to leave as the Creeper isn't interested in them, keeping their distance; at that moment the bus creaks, signaling the beast is back. Just as the Creeper attempts to grab Bucky, the Taggarts arrive and flash their car lights at the Creeper, forcing him to drop Bucky. The Creeper faces them and releases his wings as a show of power, initiating a stare-down between him and Jack Sr. Both wait for the other to make the first move, not taking their eyes of each other. Jack, Sr. fires the harpoon through the Creeper, knocking it off center into the sky. The Creeper starts to pull the truck (as the harpoon is connected to the machine by a rope), flying back and forth to try dislodging it.

Jack Sr. tries reeling it in, having no success at first, but soon find he's getting the rope to come back. It's not what he thinks; the Creeper pulled out the harpoon and tossed it back at them. Jack Jr. cannot get out as his door is blocked by the bus; he ducks before the harpoon breaks through the windshield. It pins his jacket to the seat, which hinders him in getting up. The Creeper then tries flying through the bus, but Jack, Sr. places another harpoon in the machine and shoots the Creeper through the bus windows. This knocks the beast into the fields; however, the Creeper recovers and flies back into the sky, discarding its disguise. It flies with all its might, knocking over the bus and pulling the rope through the vehicale. Jack Sr. tries to dislodge the rope, but finds it's stuck; Jackie tells his dad to get out of the truck, which is pulled into a flip the moment he does. Jackie then tends to his dad, to see if he's okay.

Izzy, Rhonda and Double D (the Creeper's target) argue about Minxie's warning, but ultimately decide that no psychic dream will decide their fates. Izzy then shows them an abandoned exterminator truck that passed them this morning, crashed into a tree with a hole in the roof; the Creeper must have attacked it after disabling the bus the first time. Izzy explains he knows how to hot-wire a truck, being the reason he got into a bar fight - he was trying to steal a car. Obviously, the keys are still in a crashed car, much to the dimwits' surprise. However, a shadow passes over them - "It's not birds!" However, only Rhonda and Izzy manage to get in the truck as the passenger-side door handle breaks off, forcing D to sit in the back of the truck without anything between him and the Creeper. Izzy drives the truck off at top speed, but the Creeper is somehow able to reach the speed of over 100 MPH. D fires a flare into the Creeper's face, knocking it off-balance and away temporarily

Izzy drives into the field, knocking Rhonda out of the car as he yells for D to stay down. Izzy slams on the breaks just as the Creeper is looming over D. The creature flies through the window and D is thrown off the truck as it flips over. Izzy crawls out of the truck as D awakens a short distance away; his leg is injured to the point of being unable to walk. He moves to find the Creeper's wing by itself. Suddenly the truck explodes, awakening the Creeper, who is next to it. He quickly catches D's scent. However, when he attempts to go after him, the Creeper finds that he is missing a leg and arm as well. D finds the flare gun and two flares to defend himself with. He watches the blaze as the Creeper leaps briefly and lands. D begins fleeing, but the Creeper manages to close the distance despite his injured state. When the distance from D is one hop away, the Creeper takes a flare to the chest and pins D to the ground; however, D strangles the monster, keeping him away. The Creeper opens his face-wings to scare D into letting go; however, D's will to live is stronger than his fear.

However, the sound of barking distracts the Creeper, as a harpoon is fired into his forehead, knocking him down; he proceeds to flip off his attacker. D looks behind himself to see the Taggerts and what remains of the teens. Jack Sr. takes a spare harpoon with him as he watches the Creeper attempt to remove the weapon from its head. This prompts him to continually stab the Creeper until he runs out of breath; the total number of stabs is 35 at least. The Creeper wails in agony and closes its eyes, seemingly dying. However, its eyes pop back open; he glares at Taggert as its face-wings close over its entire head.

Jack Jr, Jonny, Chelsea and Bucky

Everyone breathes a sigh of relief, but Minxie explains the Creeper didn't die; it's time for being awake has simply ran out. However, Taggert stabs it again, blunting stating that it "Looks dead to me." Jack Jr is left shocked by his father's actions. As Taggert catches his breath, the teens watch over the Creeper; they are left wondering what to say to the authorities and to the families of those who lost their lives to the Creeper .

The Future:

Years later, three teens arrive on the Taggert farm, where an adult Jack Jr greets them; they ask to see "it". Jackie tells them it's $5 to see the "Bat Out of Hell"; a photo is $10. They ask where it came from, but Jack Jr. only says it was killed by his dad; he tells them to ask his father for themselves if they want to know how it was killed. The teens into the barn, where they find the Creeper, with his body parts sewed back together, crucified to the wall as a tourist attraction; as years have passed, the Creeper has shriveled to flesh and bone and is very dry. One attempts to touch the Creeper, but a voice says they don't touch it. They teens look behind them to find an elderly Jack Sr. sitting next to his harpoon gun, which is loaded and aimed directly at the beast's heart. They ask him how he killed the Creeper, and he tells them he stabbed through the heart with a homemade harpoon. A teen asks when, it's revealed to be nearly 23 years ago, meaning the Bat Out of Hell will be waking soon. Noticing how prepared Jack Sr. is for a fight, one of the teenagers asks if he is waiting for something, and Jack, Sr. responds, "about three more days... give or take a day or two".

The movie ends with the teens looking up at the Creeper a the camera pulls in to its face and the screen goes black.

For a Victor Salva original script, visit www.horrorlair.com/scripts/jeepers2.pdf

Cast[]

Trivia[]

  • The adults on the bus wait several hours before deciding to limp home on the remaining tire. One would think the reasonable thing to do would to immediately try this if no-one was responding after an hour.
  • The Creeper disappears after killing the adults. He likely went after the station wagon right after, since the couple would alert others to the location of his prey.
  • According to the Commentary, the line "Coach?" right after Hanna is taken by the Creeper gets the most laughs of the movie because it's ridiculous to the audience, who know what happened to him.
  • There is only one cheat of reality; when the Creeper falls on the bus and breaks the windows, the back and front glass of the bus remain intact when they wouldn't in real life. Victor Salva explained in the Commentary that this was to avoid making easy for the teens to escape through the broken windshield
  • When shown on television, there is a poor cut to remove strong language. When Bucky asks Scotty about classing everyone as Will or Won't Be Eaten, it's obvious a line is missing because the momentum of the question and Scotty's name right after do not match.
  • The Creeper's skewering through his eye and the removing of his head are removed from the televised version of the movie, as it was too violent and gory.
  • It remains unknown if Izzy managed to avoid being killed when the truck caught fire.
  • The Creeper is confirmed to be able to fly over 100 MPH.
  • In both Commentaries, it's explained that there were ideas to show the Creeper waking right before the credits. In Salva's commentary, he said the idea was for the Creeper's face to open, in Breck's commentary, the idea was for the camera to pull into the face wings and show eyes opening.
  • There are over 100 more digital shots in this movie than in the original.
  • Behind the scenes revealed Dante's actor had to play the headless corpse (by holding his breath) due to the dummy originally meant for the scene being given upper body clothing despite Victor Salva's direct orders not to.

Goofs[]

  • When Rhonda stabs the creeper in the head with the javelin the eyeball is pointing the wrong way.
  • When Coach Barnes reaches for the shuriken he reaches for it with his left hand, but grabs it with his right.
  • Bucky could be seen on the hood of the bus, but when the students were running away he was seen with them almost in the lead, but it would be impossible for him to have gotten there that quickly.
  • When Bucky was grabbed by the Creeper, the crack on the roof expands to make it easier for Johnathon Breck to be seen.
  • When the Creeper threw his head off, it falls on the bus front, then onto the ground, but you don't hear any sound of the head hitting the pavement.
  • After Dante is decapitated, the body running around is bleeding, but on the floor, there are no traces of blood to be seen.

Reception[]

Box office[]

Jeepers Creepers 2 opened in 3,124 theaters and had a U.S. domestic gross of US$ 35,667,218. Other international takings were $27,435,448, the worldwide gross being $63,102,666, slightly higher than the original.

Critics[]

Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a 22% rating with an average rating of 4.1 out of 10. They state: "Jeepers Creepers 2 is competently made, but it doesn't have the scares of the original."

Awards[]

  • Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA
    • Nominee: Best Horror Film
  • Fangoria Chainsaw Awards
    • Nominee: Best Supporting Actor (Ray Wise)
    • Nominee: Best Makeup/Creature FX (Brian Penikas)
    • Nominee: Worst Film
  • Motion Picture Sound Editors, USA
    • Nominee: Best Sound Editing in a Feature - Music - Feature Film (David Bondelevitch & Victor Salva)
  • Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards
    • Nominee: Best Genre Film (Victor Salva)

External Links[]

  • Jeepers Creepers 2 on IMDb
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