An amusing review, and although I agree with you, for some reason the film worked for me. Considering what it had to work with as a budget, it really manages to get under your skin. I spent some time thinking about the construction of the plot, and there are holes you could drive a truck through, and elements added to accomplish intractible narrative problems (the aforementioned 'psychic') as an example, who serves no other purpose than to explain the Creeper's history when we have no other way of finding out that information otherwise. With that said, the main purpose of a film like this is to scare you, and the success of the film with audiences lie therein. For the recent teen audience, JC and the somewhat better 'Final Destination' both occupy the place that Halloween, Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm stree occupied for those of use who are now older and wiser: that is, it's a date movie for the tweeners that allows them to huddle together in their seats while munching popcorn.
Any mention of Jeeper's Creepers really does require a mention of the director Victor Salva. There's no way to say this without being blunt: the man is a convicted child molester. The details of his crime, and his time in prison are easy enough to come by if you do a bit of googling. There are a couple ways of lookng at the situation.
On the pro VS side, one could argue that he paid his debt to society. If he's creative and talented enough to be able to write, direct and find backing for his work (Francis Coppola produced JC) then why shouldn't we as a society allow him to go on with his life.
Others seem to feel that his crime is one for which there is no fit punishment, and that he should never have been able to make a film let alone 3, as he has since he was released from prison.
The problem with Powder, and JC 1 & 2 is when you begin to look at the films knowing of Salvo's crime. Suddenly each of these films suddenly seems to have a deeper meaning. Once you consider Salvo's crime, the character of the Creeper, his predilictions and his remorseless unstoppable pursuit of their fulfillment doesn't seem quite such an arbitrary work of the imagination, and one can't help but think of the autobiographical connetions, whether concious or unconcious, to the writer director himself.
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