Despite the mountains of controversy that follow the series, there is a new Jeepers Creepers film set to be released this month. The new director and studio have really tried to reassure people that the film's previous problematic director won't be involved or financially benefit at all, meaning people are a little more open to this reboot. However, is this truly the right decision? Many think it isn't.
The original Jeepers Creepers film was released in 2001. It starred Justin Long and Gina Philips as siblings who, while on a road trip, begin to be stalked by a killer creature known as The Creeper. The title of the film is reminiscent of the 1938 song of the same name, and it does play at different moments throughout the movie. Jeepers Creepers wasn't a massive hit with critics, but audiences really enjoyed it and it was a big box office success. Two sequels, one in 2003 and one in 2017, were made as well with the second film performing even better than the first.
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Based on the films alone, it makes complete sense for a Jeepers Creepers reboot to be made. However, these movies are completely shrouded in controversy due to their director Victor Salva. Salva has served as writer and director for all three Jeepers Creepers films until now, but before these films even existed he served prison time for horrible things. Despite studios saying he won't be involved at all in Jeepers Creepers: Reborn, it's unlikely that he won't benefit in an indirect way and he frankly just does not deserve it.
In 1988, Salva was convicted of sexual misconduct with a child. This child was an actor in one of his films, Clownhouse, which was released the next year and was produced by Francis Ford Coppola. For this crime, he was sentenced to three years in state prison. Ultimately, he only served 15 months before completing parole in 1992. Somehow, he was able to make a very popular movie only a couple of years later in the Disney-distributed movie Powder. It was during the production of this film that his past crimes were made public, after the survivor of his crimes came forward, and there were many protests at the set.
Knowing this, it's hard to believe the original Jeepers Creepers and its sequels were ever made, and it's even more surprising that they became so popular. This was thirteen years after his conviction, and six years after they were made public. However, times were different then. #MeToo did not exist until a couple of years ago and there wasn't social media or the same kind of Internet presence so it was easier to sweep things under the rug. So despite everything, Jeepers Creepers ended up being a massive hit and will be a nostalgic film for millennial horror fans to this day. Most have sworn off rewatching the films as these convictions became known and the third film was a complete flop, but some are actually very excited about the upcoming reboot because Salva isn't involved.
While Salva isn't listed in any capacity as a director, writer, or producer of the new Jeepers Creepers film, he will benefit from its release. It's a continuation of his story and will draw attention to the original films. In a perfect world, everyone would take on this new movie and completely ignore the ones he does make money from, but that just won't happen. Many people will simply not know about what he did, and others won't really care and will decide to check them out. It's also entirely possible that he will indirectly benefit as the original writer of this IP, or that he could be given money under the table. Rumors have stated that the studio owns the IP, taking away practically all ownership from Salva, but that hasn't been confirmed.
One of the other big deterrents people have from seeing this film is that the survivor of Salva's crimes hasn't made a statement on it. This film shouldn't have been made without his public support. Despite Salva not being directly involved, seeing what made him a household name in the world of horror becoming popular again can be extremely triggering to not only him but any survivors of similar crimes. He also had come out just a couple of years ago when the third Jeepers Creepers film was getting a rerelease and made a statement which made it clear he was very unhappy with this. This might lead one to believe, that he would not be okay with a fourth film and that is something that should be very important to fans.
There is certainly something appealing in the idea of taking work that people love away from a disgraced creator and making them irrelevant. This strategy can sometimes work and result in a powerful movement. However, there is too much grey area in this situation and the crimes were too severe for many to be comfortable with supporting this project. All around, it just seems unnecessary and the fact that it's putting Salva back into the public eye is probably not for the best.