The campy 2001 horror movieJeepers Creepersintroduced horror fans to The Creeper, a sinister-looking monster who eats people every 23 years and who enjoys stalking his prey. The 2003 sequelJeepers Creepers 2continues the memorable story and focuses on new characters. In the first movie, Justin Long and Gina Philips play siblings Darry and Trish Jenner who banter while they drive home from college for spring break and then encounter The Creeper.
The surprisingly dark ending ofJeepers Creepersleads intoJeepers Creepers 2, which tells a fresh tale that is just as creepy as the original movie. What happens at the end ofJeepers Creepers 2and how does the movie stack up against the first one?
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What Is Jeepers Creepers 2 About?
After theending ofJeepers Creepers, Darry is dead and Trish is devastated.Jeepers Creepers 2starts three days after that ordeal. The Creeper takes and kills Billy Taggart (Shaun Fleming), which is sad and terrifying for his father Jack Taggart (Ray Wise), and his sibling Jack Jr. (Luke Edwards). The sequel then follows a basketball team and their coach Dwayne Barnes (Tom Tarantini) who is driving on a nearby highway. They encounter the Creeper, who terrorizes them for a long time, killing some of them one by one.
There are some moments of humor as the villain stands on top of the bus and seems to be everywhere at the same time. These lighter story beats makeJeepers Creepers 2stand out against so many other horror movies and they are always welcome. And these funny scenes are ultimately what make this sequel more eerie than scary. There’s no denying how terrible The Creeper looks or how brutally he can kill someone, but this is far from a completely terrifying tale that is hard to watch with all the lights off.
Minxie Hayes (Nicki Aycox) is the character who connectsJeepers Creepersto the sequelJeepers Creepers 2. She sees Darry Jenner and Billy Taggart and they try to say that The Creeper is coming. While somehorror villains have complex backgrounds, that isn’t true of The Creeper. He has a straightforward story that is explained in each movie: he feeds for 23 days every 23rd spring. Since it’s easy for audiences to understand exactly what he’s about, that makesJeepers CreepersandJeepers Creepers 2fun guilty pleasure films.
WhileJeepers Creepers: Rebornisn’t a great reboot,Jeepers Creepers 2is an alright sequel. It might not reinvent the wheel in terms of horror movies. And it doesn’t have any particularly memorable and smart characters. But it’s still an entertaining story about a horror villain who feels captivating in some moments and silly yet fun in others.
Jeepers Creepers 2delivers more scares than the first movie. This could be because horror fans are used to The Creeper by now and his sinister face and desire to kill aren’t such big surprises.Jeepers Creepers 2leans into its campy tone, but it works.
How Does Jeepers Creepers 2 End?
TheJeepers Creepers 2ending sees Jack trying to kill The Creeper. He is able to stab the monster, which is satisfying to watch. The Creeper then hibernates instead of dying. While somehorror movie villains are mysterious, The Creeper definitely isn’t. It seems clear that he isn’t able to die and that he might come back in 23 years. Still, the fact that Jack is able to settle the monster down and stop him from hurting more people is important.
The last scene is set 23 years in the future, which is in keeping with The Creeper’s backstory of feeding every 23 springs. Three high school students visit the farm owned by the Taggart family. Jack Jr. is older now and he has been showing off The Creeper and calling him “A Bat Out Of Hell.” People can come by and pay to see the monster who has haunted this town for decades. Jack Sr. alludes to The Creeper waking up in “About three more days, give or take a day or two.”
Similar toAri Aster’s scary horror movies,Jeepers CreepersandJeepers Creepers 2have emotional cores. While the movies are definitely about an evil monster, they show two families who have been torn apart by his killing spree. That makes characters like Trish and Jack Jr. more relatable and gives the movies some extra layers and depth.
There are someoverrated 2000s horror movies. ButJeepers Creepers 2is a fun story about a monster who has been terrorizing a small town for several decades. The Taggart family feels cursed by him, just like Trish does. And theJeepers Creepers 2ending proves that there is no escaping this truly evil monster.
