I first came across Justin Long as Warren Cheswick in the short lived, early 2000s TV show Ed. Warren Cheswick, Ed's assistant at the bowling alley, was the epitome of the boyish man-child character that would define Long's career.
Unbeknownst to me as a youth in the 2001, Long had already starred in Jeepers Creepers and Jeepers Creepers II by the time the episodes of Ed with the Warren Cheswick character hit the airwaves. Long's juvenile-looking face and goofy mannerisms made him perfect for the Warren Cheswick role, but how could this character actor do as the lead in a horror film?
I recently re-watched Victor Salva's Jeepers Creepers (2001) and Sam Raimi's Drag Me to Hell (2009), both starring Justin Long.
It has been a long while since I had seen Jeepers Creepers and I honestly didn't remember a lot about it. It surprised me at how well it held my attention. It is an entertaining adventure-type horror film with comedic and over-the-top elements. In fact, both films in this post can be considered that type of film. Perhaps that is why Long does so well as the lead in both. His boyish goofiness is probably what caused Salva to cast him.
Jeepers Creepers follows brother and sister, Darry and Trish, as they attempt to go visit their parents, but are stalked by some kind of demonic monster on the way. Rather than a horror-comedy, I would describe it more as a film that has moments where chuckles are appropriate, yet still retains its dark, creepy ambiance. The only negative thing I would say about it is that the end does drag on a bit and the monster is shown way too much for the film to retain the uncanny suspense built around the monster in the beginning.
Rating: 7/10
The other film is drag me to hell and Long is actually a supporting actor to Alison Lohman's excellent lead performance as a savvy yet innocent professional woman who is cursed by an apparenetly Roma witch. The film examines many elements of occult magic including Jungian psychoanalysis, Voodoo trance states, Santeria seance rituals and tarot reading. It is also perhaps an homage to the classic horror films of the 1970s and 80s. Thus, the over-the-top elements in the film (*possible spoiler* one scene in particular that takes place at a wake is not exactly gory, but is quite disgusting and disturbing *possible spoiler*) look to be a recycling of classic horror tropes that probably terrified audiences in the heyday of 70s and 80s gorefest, but come across as more comedic to audiences in the early 21st century.
Again, this is another of those adventure type horror films like From Dusk Till Dawn or El Dia De Bestia. Definitely worth a watch if you're down for some light entertainment, but don't expect any kind of profound analysis of the relevance of pagan occultism in an increasingly modernized society or a lament about the struggle of the Roma diaspora.
Rating: 7/10
Unbeknownst to me as a youth in the 2001, Long had already starred in Jeepers Creepers and Jeepers Creepers II by the time the episodes of Ed with the Warren Cheswick character hit the airwaves. Long's juvenile-looking face and goofy mannerisms made him perfect for the Warren Cheswick role, but how could this character actor do as the lead in a horror film?
I recently re-watched Victor Salva's Jeepers Creepers (2001) and Sam Raimi's Drag Me to Hell (2009), both starring Justin Long.
It has been a long while since I had seen Jeepers Creepers and I honestly didn't remember a lot about it. It surprised me at how well it held my attention. It is an entertaining adventure-type horror film with comedic and over-the-top elements. In fact, both films in this post can be considered that type of film. Perhaps that is why Long does so well as the lead in both. His boyish goofiness is probably what caused Salva to cast him.
Jeepers Creepers follows brother and sister, Darry and Trish, as they attempt to go visit their parents, but are stalked by some kind of demonic monster on the way. Rather than a horror-comedy, I would describe it more as a film that has moments where chuckles are appropriate, yet still retains its dark, creepy ambiance. The only negative thing I would say about it is that the end does drag on a bit and the monster is shown way too much for the film to retain the uncanny suspense built around the monster in the beginning.
Rating: 7/10
The other film is drag me to hell and Long is actually a supporting actor to Alison Lohman's excellent lead performance as a savvy yet innocent professional woman who is cursed by an apparenetly Roma witch. The film examines many elements of occult magic including Jungian psychoanalysis, Voodoo trance states, Santeria seance rituals and tarot reading. It is also perhaps an homage to the classic horror films of the 1970s and 80s. Thus, the over-the-top elements in the film (*possible spoiler* one scene in particular that takes place at a wake is not exactly gory, but is quite disgusting and disturbing *possible spoiler*) look to be a recycling of classic horror tropes that probably terrified audiences in the heyday of 70s and 80s gorefest, but come across as more comedic to audiences in the early 21st century.
Again, this is another of those adventure type horror films like From Dusk Till Dawn or El Dia De Bestia. Definitely worth a watch if you're down for some light entertainment, but don't expect any kind of profound analysis of the relevance of pagan occultism in an increasingly modernized society or a lament about the struggle of the Roma diaspora.
Rating: 7/10
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