Jeepers Creepers 2: (Bennett Salvay) In the genre of cheap,
teenage slasher flicks with limited intelligence and an abundance of fallacies of
logic, this series at least sports a premise that is a little more unusual than
those of its competitors. The first
Jeepers Creepers film accumulated a cult
audience in 2001, raising the idea that a flying, flesh-eating "Creeper" monster
arises in a pastoral setting once every 23 years to kill and maim as part of his
senselessly voracious feast. Despite continuously poor critical results (and even a
backlash against the series from devoted slasher genre fans), the same production
team resurrected the creature in 2003 and set its story just a few days after the
previous one, with the target now being a stranded group of varsity basketball
players, cheerleaders (how unoriginal but tasty!), and coaches traveling on a bus
in the same rural area. The concept obviously requires a conveyor belt of
attractive meat products to survive. Director Victor Salva once again leads the
film, strangely causing continued protests over his conviction for child
molestation a dozen years prior (the victim was a child actor in one of his films,
well before concerns were raised about his filming of teens in
Powder and
the
Jeepers Creepers films). Salva had worked with composer Bennett Salvay
for the first film in the series (the similarity of their names is just a
coincidence), and
Jeepers Creepers 2 would be their fourth collaboration.
Salvay already had a long, but sparse career as a television composer, occasionally
venturing into a feature film project. The original
Jeepers Creepers
production had remained his first major assignment in several years, and he once
again was inactive in between that project and
Jeepers Creepers 2. Salva has
stated that he was comfortable working with Salvay's style of atmospheric scoring,
but wanted something more meaty for
Jeepers Creepers 2. Just as the
"Creeper" flies through the skies in pursuit of its victims, an "airborne"
score is what Salva wanted in the music's pacing and instrumentation. Several textural
aspects of the work define its character, digging at the primordial nature of the
villain without making much attempt to address the hunted protagonists with any
clear identity of their own. That alone says volumes about the level of character
development in the story.
Whereas the original
Jeepers Creepers score by Salvay was
mostly atmospheric, with a thematic presence and occasional burst of energy,
Jeepers Creepers 2 mostly pulls the plug on that approach and injects the
series with bombastic, nonstop action music. Even the moments of ambient
environment in the sequel score exhibit a heightened sense of tension, with the
entire work tearing at a considerable pace and throwing substantial blasts of
orchestral mayhem into the mix. Salvay makes references to his
Jeepers
Creepers theme in the opening and at the climax, expanding upon the idea in
several of the frenetic action cues. Absent, however, is any significantly powerful
and clear performance of that theme, potentially leaving listeners of only the
second score wondering exactly where that theme exactly is. The score groans and
pounds with orchestral despair, sometimes utilizing African drums or electronic
strings to accentuate the fright level. The electronic violin for the monster's
weaponry is the only truly interesting textural application in the work. Salvay
accomplishes his goal of bombast by throwing cliches from the horror genre at you
with excessive force, hoping that aggression can suffice where creativity is
lacking. Such is the failure of this score, unfortunately, for the stereotypical
strikes, rhythms, and instrumentation are all too recognizable to be accepted as a
worthy, stand-alone entry in the horror genre. Don't let the constant pace of the
action fool you;
Jeepers Creepers 2 is one, bland stock action cue after
another, pulling famous horror techniques from several other soundtracks and
doubling their power through mixing or orchestration. The massive confrontation in
the latter half of the score, "The Big Battle," begins to form a unique personality
for the film, offering steady action rhythms and interesting low brass motifs over
a longer period of development. In the end, though, Salvay's effort dissolves once
again into a mess of stereotypical orchestral hits, even going so far as to push
five more minutes of the same jumbled material at the listener in the end credits
recording. This score was released by the same label concurrently to Graeme
Revell's
Freddy vs. Jason, which much more creatively twists tested genre
sounds into an arguably more refreshing package. The original
Jeepers
Creepers score album is completely out of print, leaving this louder, but less
inspired alternative for fans of the series to digest.
**
The insert includes a note about the score by director Victor Salva, as
well as a list of performers.
