Jeepers Creepers is a 2001 horror film written and directed by Victor Salva. It stars Gina Philips and Justin Long as Trish and Darry Jenner, two siblings in college who are pursued by a violent truck driver portrayed by Jonathan Breck. The film takes its name from the 1938 song of the same name, which is featured in the film under a version by Paul Whiteman. [[Patricia Belcher] and Eileen Brennan also appear in supporting roles, with Salva making a cameo appearance.
Produced by American Zoetrope and the German companies Cinerenta-Cinebeta and Cinerenta Medienbeteiligungs KG, Jeepers Creepers began production in August 2000 after Salva convinced the studios to cast Philips and Long with the help of executive producer Francis Ford Coppola. Due to severe budget cuts, Salva rewrote the entire third act during production. Filming took place for two months in Florida in Ocala, Dunnellon, Reddick and Lake Panasoffkee. The film was theatrically released by United Artists and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on August 31, 2001. It was a commercial success, despite mixed reviews, and grossed $59 million on a $10 million budget. The film also spawned a media franchise which includes two sequels and a reboot.
Plot[]
Trish Jenner and her brother Darry are traveling home from college for spring break. As they drive through the Florida countryside, an old truck threateningly tailgates them but eventually passes. They later stumble on the same truck mysteriously parked next to an abandoned church with the driver dumping what appears to be bodies wrapped in blood-stained sheets into a large pipe sticking out of the ground. Having noticed their car pass by, the driver pursues and runs them off the road.
After the truck drives off, Darry convinces Trish to go back to the church. Upon investigation, Darry hears noises coming from within the pipe and crawls inside with Trish holding on to his feet. Trish accidentally drops Darry, and he falls to the bottom of the pipe. Inside, he finds a dying man with stitches running down his stomach and hundreds of corpses sewn to the basement's walls and ceiling, including the bodies of a prom couple that had gone missing twenty-three years prior. Darry eventually finds his way out of the pipe, and he and Trish flee the scene and attempt to contact the police at a diner. At the diner, they are phoned by a strange woman who tells them they are in danger. She then plays the song "Jeepers Creepers" on a record player, telling them one of them will die screaming while hearing the song. Confused, they ignore her warning and leave with two police officers providing a security escort. As they travel, the police learn that the church has caught fire and any potential evidence has been destroyed. The police are then mauled and killed by the driver, who loads their bodies into the truck. Witnessing the aftermath, Trish and Darry drive off in terror.
The pair stop at the house of a reclusive, elderly woman, begging her to call the police. The woman complies until she notices the driver hiding in her yard, who kills her before revealing its inhuman face to Trish and Darry. Trish repeatedly runs the driver over with her car but is left horrified as she sees a giant wing tear through its trench coat and flap in the air. The pair leave and drive to a local police station, where they are approached by psychic Jezelle Gay Hartman, the woman who called them at the diner. She tells them the true nature of their pursuer: It is an ancient creature, known as "the Creeper," which awakens every 23rd spring for twenty-three days to feast on human body parts, which then form parts of its own body. She also tells them that it seeks out its victims through fear, and by smelling the fear from Trish and Darry, it has found something it likes.
The wounded Creeper arrives at the police station, cuts off the power, and devours several prisoners to heal. The Creeper is swarmed by police but it kills a number of them and evades capture. Trapped, Jezelle warns Trish and Darry that one of them is doomed to die a horrible death. Darry demands to know who, and Jezelle looks at Trish. The Creeper finds them but spares Jezelle before cornering Trish and Darry in an upstairs interrogation room. After sniffing them, the Creeper throws Trish aside and chooses Darry. Trish offers her life for her brother's, but the Creeper escapes out of a window and flies away with Darry. The next day, Trish is picked up by her parents, and Jezelle returns home in regret. In an abandoned factory, it is revealed that the Creeper has removed the back of Darry's head and taken his eyes, all the while "Jeepers Creepers" plays on the Creeper's record player.