The Jeepers Creepers films occupy a weird place in horror movie history. They’ve been reliably scary and have had solid box office, but they’ve also been dogged by writer-director Victor Salva’s troubled past, which includes convictions for sex crimes against children.
Looking at them another way, though, you could say maybe it’s appropriate that a certified creep makes movies about a hat-wearing, ax-wielding, leather-winged serial killer/demon.
And truth is, these movies are often chilling in an original way. There’s something about the inexplicable monster and his emerging every 23 years to gather body parts and scare the shit out of everyone in general that sticks with you.
Sure, the creature’s periodic return smacks a little of Stephen King’s IT, but past that, Salva’s managed to create something rides the line between monster flicks like IT and serial killer horror like the Saw franchise.
With this third film, the distributors have taken the strange tack of electing to premiere it for just one day in theaters across the US.
That could mean this story—this time it’s about a task force assembled to try and put an end to the Creeper’s rampages—isn’t expected to grab audiences.
If the trailer is any indication, it will probably have the same effect as the previous films and likely live a decently profitable life via on-demand and DVD sales.
We’ll see what the verdict is when Jeepers Creepers 3 flaps silently into theaters on September 26.
h/t MovieWeb