16/09/2022
VICTOR SALVA: THE REAL LIFE MONSTER BEHIND JEEPERS CREEPERS
‘Jeepers Creepers: Reborn’ is coming to theaters this week as a soft reboot of the popular horror franchise originally created by director/writer Victor Salva. Not only is the film bringing the Creeper back, but ‘Reborn’ is also reportedly the first chapter in a brand new ‘Jeepers Creepers’ franchise. There’s a lot of money being invested into bringing the Creeper back, with a new cast and crew taking over the franchise and staying as far away as they can from Salva, a convicted pe*****le who many people think didn’t get the appropriate conviction for his abhorrent crimes. All this leads us to ask: does the ‘Jeepers Creepers’ film franchise really need to continue now that Salva has been booted from the property? Or should we just let the Creeper die? After all, even if Salva is not involved in any way with the new films, the buzz surrounding ‘Reborn’ will definitely lead more people to watch the original trilogy, which inevitably benefits the original filmmaker.
But should we really keep condemning Salva for his crimes, even after he confessed to them, was judged, and served part of his sentence? Shouldn’t we separate the artist from the art and judge the ‘Jeepers Creepers’ franchise for what it does without thinking about Salva’s history? The matter is more complicated than it sounds, as Salva’s cinematic creation, unfortunately, has a thematic relation with his crimes, which makes it harder to forget his actions.
Let’s get this nasty business out of the way. In 1988, Salva was convicted for s*xually abusing a 12-year-old boy who starred in the filmmaker’s feature debut, ‘Clownhouse’. Salva was in a position of power as an adult, the "boss" of the young boy, and a close friend to the boy’s family. To add insult to injury, Salva not only r***d the child star but recorded all the acts he did to the young boy. After the boy spoke to his family about the abuses he suffered at the hands of the filmmaker, Salva was apprehended, and the police found a huge stash of child po*******hy at his home. So I guess it’s fair to say Salva is far from being a decent citizen.
Salva pleaded guilty to lewd and lascivious conduct, oral s*x with a person under 14, and procuring a child for po*******hy. For his crimes, the filmmaker was convicted to three years in state prison, a sentence he only served eighteen months of. Let’s be honest, that doesn't sound like a proportionate sentence for Salva’s crimes. Even worse since his victim testified the abuse had first started when he was only six-years-old and had continued for six years before the boy gathered the courage to look for help. So, while Salva was convicted for his crimes in a court, under the rule of law, and officially paid for his crimes, some of us find it difficult to support the filmmaker.
Don’t get me wrong. The entire justice system is founded on the belief criminals can be rehabilitated, and ex-convicts should have a second chance to become a functional part of society. But in Salva’s case, his history didn’t prevent him from signing a deal with Disney to direct ‘Powder’ only five years after getting released from incarceration. ‘Powder’, just to underline the seriousness of the issue, is a movie about an outcast child. So, while Salva had the right to build a life for himself after fulfilling his sentence, it seems weird, to say the least, to put him in charge of a movie featuring a child star.
By the time ‘Powder’ was released, Salva’s crimes were made public when his victim decided to step forward and ask people to boycott the film. However, the filmmaker’s past remained mostly hidden from the audience until 2017, when Salva released ‘Jeepers Creepers 3’. Thanks to social media, Salva’s history reached millions of unaware fans. By that time, the Creeper was already a horror icon. And while many watched the ‘Jeepers Creepers’ movies as uncompromising horror fun – myself included – it was no longer possible to dissociate the ‘Jeepers Creepers’ films from their creator. And that’s because, even if we choose to believe in redemption and second chances, the whole issue becomes more complicated with art, a human domain that works with the creation and distribution of ideas. And once the cat was out of the bag, and everyone learned about Salva’s past, watching the ‘Jeepers Creepers’ movies became a difficult task.
Every ‘Jeepers Creepers’ movie follows an ancient creature that feeds on humans to stay alive. The Creeper eats the organs of its victims and claims them as their own, an interesting concept at first glance, which explains why the first chapter of Salva’s trilogy was so popular. There’s also an aura of mysticism around the Creeper, as he follows some very strict rules that are never explained. The Creeper hibernates for 23 years, and after his long slumber, he hunts for 23 days before falling asleep again. The three ‘Jeepers Creepers ‘ films written and directed by Salva take place in the same 23-day cycle.
From the very first film, it’s easy to find some of the Creeper’s behaviors uncomfortable. The creature takes pleasure in making his victims afraid, and likes to sniff dirty underwear to check if his potential victim is tasty enough. And while the Creeper can eat people of all ages, and will kill anyone who gets on his path, it’s easy to realize the monster prefers young victims. In the first film, Justin Long plays the role of the Creeper’s main target, a college student who still takes his dirty laundry for his mom to wash. The second movie’s first victim is a child, no older than Salva’s real-life victim. And for the rest of the movie, the Creeper will hunt down a bus filled with teenagers. The third movie tries to diversify the Creeper’s menu, but the main targets are still teenagers. Knowing Salva’s history, how can we watch these movies without wondering where the filmmaker got the inspiration for his very s*xualized predator?
‘Jeepers Creepers: Reborn’ crew knows of the issues surrounding Salva and the Creeper itself. So much so that they have been constantly trying to get some distance from the franchise’s creator. On Twitter, Reborn’s director Timo Vuorensola was quick to let fans know that Salva “is in no way associated with this production and not benefiting from it in any way.” Vuorensola also underlined how “the Creeper and the script are completely new creations” for the reboot. They are even bringing a new actor to play the creature, as Jarreau Benjamin takes over the role from Jonathan Raymond Breck. But if they use the same name, lore, and look to bring the Creeper back, how distant is the reboot from the original trilogy?
If the goal was to create something completely different, Reborn would not be a reboot, but the start of a brand-new franchise. Instead, the new ‘Jeepers Creepers’ is trying to bank on the original movie’s success to convince the audience they can enjoy this horror universe without feeling guilty. In short, ‘Reborn’ wants to have its cake and eat it too. Which begs the question: if everyone involved is so ashamed of the Salva connection, why are they still moving forward with the project? The ‘Jeepers Creepers’ franchise might have a nice-looking creature, but there’s too much real-life subtext to the Creeper itself for it to ever surpass its disturbing creator’s history. So, maybe, the best would be to let this franchise die.
Not an easy subject or a simple one. And there are a lot of differing opinions on this. What do you think? Let us know in the comments.
