Third time’s the charm?
That’s the tentative message of hope attached to Jeepers Creepers 3, Victor Salva’s long-brewing horror threequel that is beginning to emerge from a troubled spell in development. Shackled by false starts and numerous setbacks, for years, it looked certain that The Creeper had been banished for good – expelled from the horror scene through inactivity, rather than an unlikely group of on-screen heroes.
But just as Victor Salva’s creation lies dormant for generations before beginning a new harvest, Jeepers Creepers 3 is ready to take flight. Truth be told, the sequel known as Ravenous faces another uphill battle if it’s to really attract an audience in three weeks’ time, mostly due to Salva’s heinous crime, for which he served 15 months in state prison. His victim, Nathan Forrest Winters, has since issued a statement to say that it’s really up to the audience whether they want to see JC3 on the big, big screen.
Winters is also cobbling together money for a documentary that hopes to “raise awareness, educate, and provide information and tools to stop sexual child abuse at all levels.” It’s entirely unrelated to the Jeepers Creepers series, but if you’re curious, we’ve included a link to his fundraising page.
Salva, on the other hand, will surely prove to be the biggest point of contention when Jeepers Creepers 3 lights up theaters. The controversial director had previously expressed his desire to engineer a fourth film in the cult horror series, though it’s unclear if those plans ever materialize.
Once scheduled for a back-to-back screening at LA’s TCL theater before a vocal minority said otherwise, Jeepers Creepers 3 will now take flight via Regal Cinemas on Tuesday, September 26th. It remains to be seen whether other theaters will follow suit and host Salva’s contentious threequel, but with the promise of “never-before-seen bonus footage” from the JC franchise as well as an interview with Jonathan Breck (AKA The Creeper), Regal’s one-night-only screening is not to be missed.