Jeepers Creepers II (2003)

Director: Victor Salva

Cast: Ray Wise as Jack Taggart, Sr., Jonathan Breck as The Creeper, Garikayi Mutambirwa as Deaundre 'Double D' Davis, Eric Nenninger as Scott 'Scotty' Braddock, Nicki Aycox as Minxie Hayes, Marieh Delfino as Rhonda Truitt, Diane Delano as Bus Driver Betty Borman, Thom Gossom Jr. as Coach Charlie Hanna, Billy Aaron Brown as Andy 'Bucky' Buck, Lena Cardwell as Chelsea Farmer, Al Santos as Dante Belasco, Travis Schiffner as Izzy Bohen, Kasan Butcher as Kimball 'Big K' Ward, Josh Hammond as Jake Spencer, Tom Tarantini as Coach Dwayne Barnes

I recently re-watched the first Jeepers Creepers and I don't really get
why so many people seem to hate it. Sure, it had quite a disappointing
climax and Victor Salva is an infamous figure in Hollywood but his
visions did lead to one of the best horror films in the post-Scream
era. And the same goes for part two! If you leave logic behind, this is
quite an intense and well-elaborated scary movie. Opposite to most
directors nowadays, Salva perfectly knows how to create suspenseful
situations and emotional devastation. The Creeper (portrayed once again
by Jonathan Breck) is a far-fetched new horror icon but it does bring
terror in the most isolated outlands of America. This sequel takes
place a few days after the original (of which the happenings can be
heard on radio-broadcasts all the time) and features a bus full of high
school jocks and cheerleaders terrorized by the Creeper. Judging by
their fear's smell, he picks out victims to devour and to re-furnish
his rotting corpse.

Victor Salva makes great use of the 'surprise element'. All the
characters in Jeepers Creepers are equally meaningless so you never
really know who will get killed next. Even the most popular jock, the
most innocent child or the cutest girl can die at any time and this
results in an exiting drop-out race of which you don't want to miss a
second. The film is not as gore as you might think and the stress is
more laid on tension. Salva and his crew use the remote location to the
fullest and the film contains eerie shots of wide cornfields and roads
with no chance for shelter. The cast of young and inexperienced kids do
a fairly good job. The only familiar face in Jeepers Creepers 2 is Ray
Wise (from the cult series 'Twin Peaks'). This film will never be a
classic but at least its entertaining horror without much pretension.