Jeepers Creepers: The opening scene of the horror movie was inspired by a true story

Despite its supernatural elements, the horror film Jeepers Creepers (2001) is indeed inspired by reality and, above all, by a crime involving a certain Dennis DePuy, who disposes of his wife’s body and begins a manhunt as the plot of the film.

Indeed, in April 1990, siblings Ray and Marie Thornton were driving down a rural road in southern Michigan one week. On the way, they played a little game commenting on the license plates they saw to pass the time, until a van suddenly sped past them.

When Marie saw that the first letters of the license plate read “GZ”, she joked: “Geez, he’s in a hurry!“(“Damn, he’s in a hurry!“). Moments later, however, the laughter turned to horror when they saw the same van parked next to an abandoned school with the driver holding what looked like a bundle of bloody papers.

The brothers didn’t know what to think and continued on their way, but then the same van appeared in their rear-view mirror and screeched bumper-to-bumper before giving chase. When the car suddenly changed direction, Ray decided to turn around and try to get its full license plate. But when they drove by the parked van, the Thorntons saw that the interior of the vehicle was completely covered in blood. It was this story that helped inspire me Jeepers Creepers – and its opening scene in particular will be rediscovered below.

The film, written and directed by Victor Salva and produced by Francis Ford Coppola, stars Justin Long and Gina Phillips as sibling duo Darry and Trish Jenner, who become targets of a demonic entity known as “The Creeper” after seeing a monster. Loading the bodies into the truck. Then they are chased by a terrible creature that hunts every 23 years and takes different parts of the victim’s body.

The Jenners’ chance encounter with The Creeper drew parallels to Dennis DePuy’s crimes. The disposition of his wife’s body, along with the long manhunt that followed, had an obvious impact on the history of the story. Jeepers Creepers.

Despite its modest budget, the film was a surprise hit at the box office, a success that led to two sequels and a reboot in 2022.

Another crime related to the saga

And no, Dennis DePuy’s crime isn’t the only shocking part of the film’s history since the director, Victor SalvaHe committed his own crime.

In 1988, a former early childhood educator who gained attention Francis Ford Coppola with his short film Something in the basementwas found guilty of sexual assault in a case involving 12-year-old Nathan Forrest Winters, one of the stars of his Clownhouse movie, produced by Coppola – and who also starred Something in the basement. Although he filmed his crime, the director pleaded guilty and admitted that he had other contact with the children. He was then sentenced to 3 years in prison and paroled after 15 months in prison. When he was free, he continued to make films.

In 1995, his past briefly surfaced when his victim spoke out and called for a boycott of the Disney-produced film Powder. And yet, despite this, he understood in 2001 Jeepers CreepersProduced once again by Coppola, which was accordingly a huge success and was followed by Jeepers Creepers 2 in 2003.

It wasn’t until 2015 when Jeepers Creepers 3 was announced that the controversy surrounding the director started again and the casting was put on hold… until it was renewed and the film was released in 2017! And to add to the unsavory nature of the whole story, the third installment also includes a character making a joke about child abuse, a moment made all the more disturbing given that the film was written by Salva himself. Although Jeepers Creepers Reborn attempted to reboot the franchise without the latter’s involvement, the saga’s reputation remains highly tarnished.

Jeepers Creepers, The Devil’s Song is available on VOD.