#29 - Jeepers Creepers 3 (2017)

"Jeepers Creepers, where'd you get those peepers?  Jeepers Creepers, where'd you get those eyes?" was a popular kids' song back in the olden days of TV land, as I recall.  I often heard it sung in my youth, long before the first of the Jeepers Creepers movies was made.  Back then, it wasn't so creepy.  Nowadays, all I can think of when I hear that song, is Justin Long's eyeless face dangling from hooks in a dank, dark cave.  Poor Justin! :-(

Jeepers Creepers 3 (2017) picks up right where Jeepers Creepers (the first movie) left off, after the "Creeper" takes off with Justin Long's character at the end of that movie.  The Police are out in force, trying to figure out what the heck is going on, and there's suddenly a Creeper Task Force being led by someone who fought the Creeper the last time it was flitting around, 23 years back.  Between the Task force and the police, surely they can deal with one little old creeper, right?  They've already captured his truck, how hard can it be...?

I saw this movie on Syfy, but don't let that fool you.  This is definitely not one of those Syfy-channel horror-movie-of-the-week productions.  Meg Foster (Masters of the Universe, They Live, Leviathan, Blind Fury) plays Gaylen Brandon, an old farmer with a score to settle.  Stan Shaw (Rocky, Snake Eyes, The Monster Squad) plays Sheriff Tashtego, also with a score to settle with the Creeper.  Brandon Smith (Jeepers Creepers) plays Sgt. Tubbs, one of the few surviving police officers from the first movie, back to go another round or two with the Creeper (played by Jonathan Breck, who also played the Creeper in the first two movies).  This is a solid, good quality B-movie here, and it shows.

According to Creeper myth (set forth by these movies), the Creeper awakens every 23 years, and feeds for 23 days in the Spring, before hibernating for another 23 years.  From what I can tell, all three of the Jeepers Creepers movies revolve around a single appearance of the Creeper.  The first Jeepers Creepers movie details the Creeper's first encounter, this movie (the third) details what happened right after the first movie, and the second Jeepers Creepers movie actually details what happens at the end of the Creeper's 23-day Spring feeding.  To watch the movies in the correct order of events (according to the Creeper timeline), you'd have to watch the first one, the third one, and then go back and watch the second one.  The odd order makes things a little confusing, but this movie does give you a little more background about what happens just before the start of the second movie.

I'd expect another series of Jeepers Creepers movies around 2024, when the Creeper would supposedly awaken from his 23-year hibernation (23 years after the first movie came out in 2001), and get started feeding again.  Of course, there's still time to squeeze in a couple more Creeper movies before then, maybe a flashback to where the creeper first woke up in time to hunt Justin Long's character from the first movie, or even a flashack to where the Creeper went to ground the last time he was out hunting.  I wonder if they'll get Justin Long back for a cameo or something?  Come to think of it, they never did give a date for when the creeper was out hunting THIS time, so maybe he's already out hunting again, as we speak!  It is horror season!  Who knows what's going on around the dark and spooky back roads of America?  :-o

I liked this movie, mostly because it picks up right where the first movie left off, and continues with pretty much non-stop action almost until the end.  There's a lot more of the Creeper's hardware shown, including the completely-implausible semi-living magical truck filled with traps that the Creeper drives, and those little tooth-filled bone-stars he throws on occasion.  There's not as much flying around in this movie, and instead of just flitting around at night like he did in the second movie, the Creeper spends most of his time aground in daylight during this one.  There's a little bit of filler material introducing Addison Brandon (Gabrielle Haugh, the Creeper's latest target), but it's not too distracting from the rest of the film, and she's easy on the eyes.  I'd probably watch this movie again, certainly just before the next one comes out, just to refresh my memory as to what's going on in the story.

29 movies down, two left to go!  Looks like I'll be able to finish another round of my October Horror Movie Review-A-Thon, but I've been wrong before!  Can I do it?  31 horror movie reviews in 31 days?  We'll see!  In other news, Stranger Things (Season 2) is out on Netflix, and if you're not reading my blog, that's probably where you are right now, binge-watching the entire nine episodes of the second season.  Come to think of it, that's where I am going next, too.  See you there!  :-D