Jeepers Creepers

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

Salva's view of the universe is bleak, but he communicates it with scary sincerity.

Portland Oregonian Kim Morgan

Balancing homage with creativity, the picture is tight, stylishly filmed, clever and, importantly, scary.

Slate David Edelstein

The movie is good enough to put a chill into the late-summer air. Salva has nasty surprises in the grim, minor-key last third, during which the feeling dawns on you that sleep for the next few nights won't come easily.

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

It may stir you, it may make you laugh. I am of the stirred variety. I do not want to meet this guy in the dark, though I've been meeting him in my dreams for years. We all have.

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

As stylish as it is grisly, Jeepers Creepers has cult film written all over it, and it's not for nothing that Francis Ford Coppola has been a staunch Victor Salva mentor.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

The story (what there is of it) doesn't make much sense, but this is a very scary horror thriller that should keep you either on the edge of your seat or halfway under it.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

Salva spins a backwoods serial killer setup into something really scary.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

If "The Others" is this year's paean to “quiet” horror, then Jeepers Creepers is its down 'n' dirty, punk rock, rip-your-throat-out-and-feed-it-to-you bastard child.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

Horror fans will still find it worthwhile. The ending is also a nice twist on the slasher genre.

Mr. Showbiz Michael Atkinson

It's a shame that Jeepers Creepers cops out -- as American genre movies have been doing for years -- and plays it safe with an F/X-heavy creature that no one would believe in a thousand years.

TV Guide Ken Fox

Good, ghoulish fun.

New York Post Jonathan Foreman

The first half-hour of Jeepers Creepers is so frightening that it's almost a relief when the movie subsequently collapses into silliness.

San Francisco Chronicle Bob Graham

The first half-hour of this movie is sensational, creating an atmosphere of dread that any horror master would envy.

USA Today Mike Clark

It does survive its 40-minute test drive before turning into a lemon.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Turns into a grab-bag freak show as desperate as it is arbitrary.

LA Weekly Paul Malcolm

Salva falls back on dull, jumbled action and an awkward subplot as he lurches toward a sequel.

The New York Times Stephen Holden

Works up a reasonably delicious tingle.

Variety Scott Foundas

Emerges as the most conventional and least imaginative of the recent crop of high-class fright movies that includes "The Others," "Session 9" and "Wendigo."

Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir

Gets off to a great start and then simply shuts down, like an awesome vintage car on an ambitious road trip.

Boston Globe Loren King

The limp script actually has the characters spout ''Let's get outta here!'' more than once. Or maybe that's just a wise member of the audience talking.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

After introducing a provocative opening, the movie settles in for some pretty cheap scare effects, as well as by-the-numbers computer graphic imagery for the actual marauder.

Philadelphia Inquirer Desmond Ryan

A standard-issue, ineptly executed serving of the genre's staples, from skeptical cops to an all-knowing psychic.

Chicago Tribune Robert K. Elder

Plays like an amateur debut effort written over a weekend during which its writer wasn't entirely sober.

New Times (L.A.) Gregory Weinkauf

This tripe, however, isn't worth your time or our ink.