Friday, September 21, 2012

Jeepers Creepers

Victor Salva – 2001 – USA 
 
Very fun monster movie that has as a brother and sister driving through the sticks and encountering a supernatural serial killer whose background remains smartly mysterious throughout.  It’s essentially a series of clevery executed suspense set-pieces, the best of which is up front as director Salva takes a page from Spielberg’s Duel (1971) as the heroes are menaced by an unseen driver in a fearsome-looking truck.  Maybe Justin Long hasn’t set the world on fire, but it’s very obvious why this film gave him as much of a jumpstart as it did.  His performance almost seems like a willfull repudiation of the portrayals of every dumb teenager in horror flicks.  The difference is that he throws himself into it 100%, without a trace of smugness, irony or self-consciousness.  He really sells the fear and hysteria like few actors I’ve seen in any similar movies.

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