JEEPERS CREEPERS 2 (2003)

Sequels to horror films are always tricky. Scratch that, sequels to any film is a tricky balance...you do too much of the same thing, people will want more originality. You stray too far, and you might lose your core audience. Always that fine line between some familiarity treading new territory to pull back your original audience but with an engaging fresh story. JEEPERS CREEPERS 2 brings us our new favorite horror icon, The Creeper, back for more fun. However, I think this sequel was always doomed to not live up to the original. The greatness of the first film, like many firsts, is the mystery surrounding the core character and the audience not really knowing what’s going on. The first one was great at building up the suspense, tension, and took place at night for most of it...only showing glimpses of the creature. Here, we already know the backstory and a bus full of cliché jocks/cheerleaders isn’t as satisfying as our original heroes. Not saying every sequel suffers due to knowing the character’s backstory, but in this case when the first movie relied on gradual buildup and suspense with two siblings; this one we get a bus full of annoying jocks and we already know what’s going to happen to them. Their bus breaks down, courtesy of our Creeper, and mayhem ensues. A couple decent chase scenes happen as a result, but just feels too by-the-numbers. Not a terrible movie, but lacks a lot of suspense of the first. And the cameo by a certain someone almost makes you…’long’ for those characters to reappear in full capacity. Check it out if you’re a fan of the first...but temper expectations just a bit.

SLASH SCENE: Cornfield Dream

SLASH SCORE: 3/5