Friday, October 19, 2012

Favorite Scene Friday! Jeepers Creepers: Wrapped and Roped in a Sheet

Jeepers Creepers disturbed me. I knew little to nothing about the film before I sat down to watch it 11 years ago, it's filled with scares, and the ending is twisted and chilling.

Wikipedia
If you're unfamiliar with the film, it follows siblings Trish (Gina Phillips) and Darry (Justin Long), driving home together during a college break. Soon into the film, the pair has a run-in with a mystery motorist in a run-down (but souped-up) truck. Before passing the siblings and leaving them in his dust, the driver gets on their tail and maniacally swerves around the road behind them, all while blaring his deafening horn.

This week's scene happens after the truck driver (dubbed "BEATNGU" since it's his license plate number) passes the siblings. Lazily driving and chatting after their encounter with BEATNGU, Trish and Darry suddenly come across his truck, parked next to a boarded-up, dilapidated building. The mystery driver is throwing something down a pipe...wrapped and roped in a sheet. Just a note before you watch the clip - it should be set to start around 9:20 and it ends around the 13:00 minute mark, so feel free to wander off after that point.

The creepiest part of this scene for me - and the movie as a whole - is the fact that it was filmed in and around Ocala, Florida, which is less than an hour and a half from where I grew up. So that shadowy, rickety building BEATNGU's dumping something under? Those twisted, tangled trees and vines that mask his dirty deeds? I drove by stuff like that all the time. Sometimes I wonder how close I've come to that exact spot. And sometimes - and this is the most disturbing thought of all  - I wonder if I might happen upon it some lazy afternoon while visiting home. Maybe that building still exists, despite what happens in the film. Maybe that pipe is real.

This scene proves that terrifying moments aren't reserved for the darkness. Happy Halloween, friends. And happy driving...

7 comments:

  1. This is in my Top 10 scary movies. I'd love to watch it again, maybe out in an open field in Ocala. Great pick!

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    1. Pat - It's definitely in my top 10 as well. I'm up for the Ocala viewing. Maybe we could project it on a big bloody sheet??

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  2. I didn't really like it as a whole but it had some really great moments. I actually liked Jeepers Creepers 2 quite a lot too. Is that wrong?

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    1. Pete - No worries - JC2 was pretty good although I like the original a lot more. The sequel kind of followed that typical sequel formula - pit the monster up against a big group of kids. Kind of reminds me of Jaws 2.

      They're supposed to be doing a third one - any interest?

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  3. Oh creepy scene, for sure!

    Do you know the back story of this film's director, Victor Salva? How he videotaped himself raping a 12 year old boy, went to jail, then continued making films? Shit is nuts.

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