(beyond a) Quick Look: Jeepers Creeper II (2003)

Taking place just a few days after the first story - and seemingly in the same area.  The Creeper attacks a farm house and then school bus carrying a high school basketball team and cheerleaders.  The film is written and directed by Victor Salva, the creator of the first film.  'R' rating is violence, and language.
**spoiler alert** 
The first Jeepers Creepers film relied on building tension by using visuals, atmosphere, music and a slow mysterious reveal to the antagonist, the Creeper.  The result was a successful horror / monster movie with some good scares and a great ending. 
This film, unfortunately, sunk into horror movie cliche with a weak story, borderline characters, and very few scares.  The film opens with the Creeper attacking and carrying off a child out of a corn field, while his dad, Jack Taggart, Sr. (Ray Wise) and older brother Jack Jr., can only look on in horror.  Jack Sr. seems to "lose it" and quickly begins constructing an impromptu harpoon cannon out of a piece of farm equipment that he and Jack Jr. mount to the back of their pick up truck, in order to hunt down the Creeper.

Next we see the school bus out on a 2 lane country road, possibly the same road as the first film.  The Creeper disables the bus by blowing out a few of the tires, and then proceeds grabbing the adults (the driver and coaches) one at a time.  There is little the high school kids can do to fend off the Creeper's attacks, and when they do finally wound him, he heals himself by consuming another victim to regenerate his damaged body (like we witnessed in the first film).  Using the CB radio on the bus, the remaining kids are able to contact the Taggarts who head towards the bus to assist.  The fight ensues with the home-made weapons to try to stop the Creeper once and for all.
What I liked: I thought the opening sequence in the Taggart's cornfield was very well done.  It was scary, and the look and feel of a scene that could have led into an even better movie.
I liked that Salva had the kids turn on each other on the school bus, especially because these were basketball "teammates".  It really portrayed the elitist, even racist attitudes that people have - and when it was crisis time, it was very much an "every man for himself" attitude, rather than a "let's all work together".
Overall, I felt that most of the actors did a reasonable job with the high school aged characters.  I think Eric Nenninger who played Scott, stood out as the "bad guy" among the victims rather well.  And by "bad guy" he was the most racist, self-centered character in the film.  
I also enjoyed the ending; basically we are meant to think the Creeper had not been killed, he was just going into hibernation until the next spree.
What was lame: The reveals and insight into the Creeper mythology were, once again, given to us by a psychic - this time one of the cheerleaders named Minxie was having visions (which we are led to believe she has on a semi-frequent basis).  Darry (Justin Long), from the first film, informs her in one of these visions, that the Creeper feeds for 23 days every 23 years.
First, the whole psychic angle was already used.  I do understand there would have been no way to make a reveal without it, but I feel like maybe Salva should have left the psychic angle out, and just let the mystery of the Creeper hang on the characters' own interpretations.  Second, and I don't know why, but that element of the 23/23 did not seem congruent to me with what we had seen of the Creeper.  He appeared, in my mind, as a humanoid-like monster who used stalking and stealth techniques to collect prey, very much like serial killer, and not like a brainless eating machine.  It also seemed to me like the Creeper never "took a break", like 23 years off.  And that is based on the hundreds of victims' bodies which he had preserved in the basement of the church, witnessed in the prior installment.
I thought Ray Wise's performance was just a little too nutty.  He was obviously hell bent on revenge for the death of his son, which I get, but then he seemed like a crazed lunatic at the wrong moments, based on the action going on around him.  There should/could have been a better balance of the aggressive but calculating versus the out of control emotions.  
Final Thought: Like many sequels I consider Jeepers Creepers II just a garden variety horror movie, with failed expectations.  The elements and the potential were all there (great opening, great first film to build on, very good actor in Ray Wise, returning director), but the execution, and the final on screen product left me for wanting.

Extras:
- Jeepers Creepers 3 was slated for 2013 release, although I have seen no updated information indicating that it is still in production