Jeepers Creepers 2 (2003)★★★★☆

I definitely like the first movie better, but this is a pretty entertaining movie overall. As a sequel it has some problems, but as something to keep you entertained for just over an hour and a half it’s above average. This is mainly because the Creeper is still incredibly creepy, but also because the setting (a broken-down bus on a highway on a road that doesn’t seem to have many other cars) is an interesting one.

Oh. And also because of Ray Wise. Who doesn’t love Ray Wise? Even “old” Ray Wise at the end of the movie is pretty bad ass.

But enough about the good stuff. Let’s talk about some of the problems. As a sequel, this didn’t really add anything to the story. You gain a **little **more insight into the Creeper’s background, but just barely. The high schoolers are petty, boring teenagers, and their coaches aren’t any more interesting. The Taggart family (with, of course, Ray Wise) were the most interesting characters in the film but they were seriously underutilized until the end.

Also, the dialogue was awful. I mentioned that the realistic dialogue was one of the things I liked best about the first movie, so I’m unclear what went wrong here. The tough part was watching the actors, who weren’t all that bad, reciting this awful dialogue and acting like they mean it. And what was up with the weird racism side plot? Just a need to add even more ridiculous dialogue to the film?

But the movie is paced pretty well, the music is evocative and well placed, and it’s got Ray Wise. So overall, if you’re a fan of the first movie, this is worth a watch – but don’t expect to be quite as scared, or quite as attached to any of the characters (though it was nice to see Darry, however briefly!).