Last week brought us a very poor attempt at a horror film. To me, Freddy vs Jason has abandoned what had made its predecessors so good. The one ingredient that makes a bad horror movie good: SUSPENSE. As the summer movie season draws to a close, it's good to see that the makers of Jeepers Creepers 2 not only believe in the word, but follow it.

For those unfamiliar, every 23 years, and then for only 23 days, our friend the Creeper visits our backwoods and farms, picking out those who interest him. Oh yeah, and then he eats them. Smartly picking up at the end of the 23 day period began in the first film, the film opens up with young Billy helping his father (Wise) hang up scarecrows in the family corn field. Suddenly, like Ray Bolger in The Wizard of Oz, one of the straw men bounds off of his pole and pounces on poor Billy. Hearing the boy scream, dad and older brother head out into the corn, only to see young Billy head skyward, clutched in the grip of the Creeper. Of course, like most fathers who have just seen their youngest son fly away in the talons of a hideous creature, dad decides not to call the authorities. Instead, he begins to plot a way how to kill it.

The next day (#23 we are told) we come across a school bus carrying the state basketball champions home. Among the players is the very moody star, Scotty. I hope you see a pattern here. Apparently every child in this town has a name that ends in "y." Not only do we have Billy and Scotty, but we soon meet up with Andy, Charly, Izzy and, my favorite, talented cheerleader Minxy! After a series of blowouts, caused by a pair of mysterious pointy objects, the kids, their coaches and the bus driver are left on the deserted highway as darkness approaches. Of course, it's not too long before the adults are picked off by the airborne Creeper, leaving the kids to fend for themselves. This brings us back to Minxy, who somehow has become a conduit between the Creepers last victim in the first film and present day. Unfortunately, grouchy Scotty is having none of this, saying, "this morning you were shaking pom poms and now you're the psychic hotline?!" Of course, as is the case in all good horror films, those that deserve bad things get them in spades.

Kudos to director Salva (who also wrote the film) for relying on imagination when dealing with the Creeper. Seen mostly as a quick shadow, or heard only as a "swoosh" overhead, there are plenty of moments to make you jump. Mixed with very subtle humor, the story is well told. A "have to see to believe" battle between Wise and the Creeper brought to mind an odd combination of Robert Shaw's Quint in JAWS dueling the Black Knight from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

On a scale of zero to four stars, I give Jeepers Creepers 2