Even though it’s an accepted fact of the industry that every horror property with even the slightest hint of name recognition must continue to be mined until the well runs dry, Jeepers Creepers wasn’t exactly an IP with a glowing reputation that the masses were crying out to see more from.
The original trilogy had already suffered from the law of diminishing returns among critics and at the box office, before the constant backlash surrounding the well-documented and controversial past of creator and director Victor Salva left a black mark against the franchise’s name that a lot of people would understandably hold against it forevermore.
And yet, the decision was made to try and slap a fresh coat of paint on the mythology anyway, with Timo Vuorensola stepping in as director, while Salva’s name was kept as far away from anything to do with Jeepers Creepers: Reborn as possible. A reboot that attempt to reignite and reinvent a saga nobody was clamoring to see more from doesn’t sound like a great idea, and it wasn’t.
Reborn didn’t score a single positive review and currently sits on a big fat zero Rotten Tomatoes score, while fans have at least shown mercy in bumping it up to a 12 percent user rating. There was even a bout of copyright contention and litigation thrown into the mix ahead of release, but even legal issues and an absolute drubbing haven’t stopped the film from finding success on-demand.
Per FlixPatrol, Jeepers Creepers: Reborn has entered the Top 10 on Amazon, iTunes, and Vudu in the United States, even if the overwhelming consensus indicates even the staunchest of horror fans just want the series to vanish entirely.