Jeepers Creepers: Reborn (2022)

Say what you will, the original Jeeper's Creepers films, especially the first one, were master classes in budget horror. Everything that came after, hasn't lived up to the original. Jeepers Creepers Reborn, is, for my money, just another off the shelf, rather mediocre, knock off. The story largely overlooks the factors that made the original film, so compellingly chilling. The slowly building tension, the gradual realisation that the pursuer is something worse than a garden house variety serial killer. In other words, the film "creeps" up on you. This film plays more like a run of the mill slasher flick, without the jump scares. The results not frightening or even a little chilling. I'd describe everything else as "alright", from acting, sets through to horror effects. In summary, this one failed to resonate with me. I do not feel it came even close, to recapturing the essence of what made the original Creeper films disturbing cult icons of horror.

I must admit I was a bit excited when the names Jeepers Creepers popped up as a new movie because the memory of the first and second movie. This one started good enough and was doing fine until the end. The ending was so poorly written and performed that it ruined the whole enjoyment of the movie for me. Without spoiling it for those who want to be disappointed, the facial expressions lifting the toothpick and using dart physics shouldn't be the end product of professional writers.

**_Some missed opportunities, but it’s not THAT bad_** A young couple travel to a horror festival in the area of Louisiana that’s infamous for the legendary Creeper. When the actual creature awakens, all hell breaks loose. The Jeepers Creepers Intellectual Property (IP) had basically been 'cancelled' due to the sexual crimes of the mastermind of the franchise, which paved the way for this reboot, "Jeepers Creepers: Reborn" (2022). It was made by a small studio in England trying to make a quick buck off the IP. This resulted in the production company of the two previous installments filing a property fraud lawsuit. The best thing about the franchise is the Creeper, which is reminiscent of the chief gargoyle in "Gargoyles" (1972), just mixed with Jason Voorhees and Freddy Krueger. While people praise the first movie from 2001, it was hindered by its limited cast and Gina Philips was only serviceable on the feminine front. The second one from 2003 tried to make up for it with a whole busload of kids (plus three school employees), but it generally dropped the ball in the female department and, worse, focused a little too much on shirtless jocks, which can be explained by the writer/director's issues (get real). There was also zero depth beyond an evil winged creature attacking a busload of youths. The third film from 2017 was hampered by an unnecessarily convoluted opening and the Creeper now had an eye-rolling 'Mystery Machine' with built-in weapons and defenses. The latter took away from the sense of genuine horror, but it provided the opportunity for some slasher thrills. In addition, Gabrielle Haugh was the best heroine up to that point. So, here we are with this fourth installment, which is almost universally reviled. I agree that the story could be more compelling and the flick relies too much on CGI, but it has several highlights: Sydney Craven is easily the top heroine so far; there’s exposition on the demonic creature being reborn as a little Creeper; the Horror Hound Festival is a great milieu in the second act; the idea of occultic people worshipping the creature, as well as supplying victims, is interesting; and the story basically ends up being a cabin-in-the-woods flick. Unfortunately, it doesn’t take full advantage of its positives. Sydney Craven could’ve been utilized even better (not tawkin’ ’bout nudity or sleaze) and the horror festival setting could’ve been milked for more entertainment. Still, there’s enough good here to make it my favorite of the tetralogy. It runs 1 hour, 28 minutes, and was shot at Black Hangar Studios in Lasham, which is a little over an hour’s drive southwest of London. GRADE: B-/B