Jeepers Creepers (2001) Dir: Victor Salva

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There are a few cult classic horrors that I've had my eye on in recent years, but one that had tempted me more than most was this 2001 creature feature, directed by Victor Salva, who I later found out has done some very horrible things, which was obviously extremely disappointing and upsetting to find out. With that said, I didn't know that before I watched the film, which was probably for the best.

I really liked the practical aspects of the film, particularly in the first act. The presentation of the tunnel, and what was inside it, was extremely unnerving and creepy. I actually felt pretty spooked during those scenes, which is fairly rare for me, as someone who watches a lot of horror. The film did have a few issues surrounding its effects - the one that irritated me the most was, in all honesty, the foley for the cats, which was extremely annoying.

The story was a bit of a mixed bag. After a slightly slow start, the suspense began to build very nicely, and the initial reveal was very well done. However, the second half of the film never quite lived up to that of the first, unfortunately, but I still enjoyed it a fair bit. Part of the problem was that the film got less and less scary as it progressed. The climactic scene of the film was creepy, but I felt like from the midpoint until that moment saw the film lose almost all of its momentum, which was such a shame, considering the promising start.

Gina Philips gave a decent performance in one of the film's two major roles. I thought the way she delivered some of her dialogue was pretty believable, and made it very easy to believe that she and her co-star had a close sibling relationship. Her performance lost a little consistency in the second half of the film, which I think wasn't helped by the issues that the story had, but, all things considered, I thought she did a pretty decent job.

Justin Long has had a number of popular cult roles, particularly in films from the early-to-mid noughties, and this is easily one of his most popular. I think what made him so likable during this time was how earnest he always felt in these roles, this one included. He always managed to give his characters a sense of realism that made them so much more likable than they perhaps would've been otherwise. I really enjoyed his performance in this film for that reason - he felt like a steady base for the film to build off.

Jonathon Breck looked cracking in his costume - the prosthetics looked wonderfully disturbing - but I wasn't all that fussed by his acting. It was fine, just not as big or even as unsettling as I'd have hoped it would be. I'll also give a quick mention to Patricia Belcher, whose role was not at all substantial, but was fairly memorable, in spite of that, because of her dramatic, and admittedly slightly over-the-top, acting.

Overall, I thought this was an okay horror film. It started off so strong, but fell away towards the end, which made everything feel a bit anticlimactic. Even so, I enjoyed watching the film, and I found the two sibling protagonists easy to route for, particularly Justin Long's character. I will admit, I'm not too fussed about watching any of the sequels, but perhaps one day I'll be a little more taken by the prospect.