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JEEPERS
CREEPERS
8/10
USA
2001 : Victor Salva : approx 90 mins
transcript
of e-mail sent Sunday, 10th June, 2001:
Dear
Harry Knowles and all at Ain’t It Cool News
I have sent a few scoops to AICN in the past but I'm not aware of
any of them getting printed. I am a freelance movie reviewer based in
the UK, and I have been posting my reviews at Jigsaw Lounge (www.jigsawlounge.co.uk)
for over a year, with over 200 now on line - I am not connected with any
movie studio.
This
week I saw Jeepers Creepers, and I remembered how positive early
word on Pitch Black
helped that project gain word-of-mouth. I believe that Jeepers Creepers
deserves to do as well, if not better, but it could so easily end
up a sleeper cult hit - not a bad fate, of course, but I think the best
US horror movie of the last 10 years deserves to be seen by as wide a
viewership as possible.
Though
it was co-produced by Coppola, and is written and directed by Victor Salva,
who did Powder back in '95, it doesn't have any big-name stars,
and the concept will be tricky to get over in posters and trailers. It
starts off somewhat Texas Chainsaw Massacre-ish, with a brother
and sister driving through a rural American backwater, and stumbling across
a horrific secret.
The
less you know about this picture in advance, the better: I knew nothing
at all apart from the title, but this was a massive advantage, as the
movie is wonderfully unpredictable. It is also extremely simple: a small
number of locations and characters, and it all happens in a single day
- pretty strict observation of the Classical Unities, if you like.
I
was gripped by the movie while watching it, waiting for the director to
put a foot wrong and spoil things: this never happened. It's a short movie
(80-95 would be my guess) and the ending comes at just the right time.
The more I think about it, the better it gets: think HH Munro (Saki)'s
early c20th tales of the macabre, think Twilight Zone.
I
saw it as part of a 4-day 16-movie screening along with much more high
profile pics such as Amelie, Shrek, Swordfish and Moulin
Rouge. I liked plenty of these, but Jeepers Creepers was comfortably
the best. Apparently it's only just been completed - US release end of
August, out over here for Halloween - and I am very keen to hear other
viewers' reactions. This film does not deserve to be dismissed as just
another little fright pic - I'm hoping it might build and find its audience,
like Final Destination
did, through word of mouth. I'm hoping that process starts here and
now, with this e-mail.
For
an exclusive interview with director Victor Salva click
here
11th
June, 2001
by Neil
Young
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