Jeepers Creepers

EXT. LONELY COUNTRY ROAD. DAY.

An empty ribbon of asphalt. Winding through an endless

stretch of meadows and farmlands. For a long moment, silence.

Then, a distant speck. A car moving toward us.

A SOUND APPROACHING WITH IT NOW. A RADIO BLARING AND TWO

RAISED VOICES SINGING WITH IT.

TRISHA JAMES is a beautiful girl of twenty. Hair blowing in

the breeze of the open passenger window. She sings out,

banging the side of the car with her hand. Keeping the beat

of the boisterous rock song.

She sings with younger brother DARRY. Nineteen. Attractive

like his sister. Lighter hair. Softer looking. Striking eyes.

Voice raised as they speed along. Trying to swallow up the

road as quickly as possible.

The backseat has a couple of suitcases and a large basket

wrapped in a garbage bag. The song comes to an end as Darry

flies through an abandoned intersection.

TRISH:

That was a stop sign.

DARRY:

You're kidding, right?

TRISH:

In your car I'd be kidding.

DARRY:

You think we're actually gonna

run into anyone else on this

road? Relax!

(turns the radio louder,

shouts over it)

Enjoy the countryside!

The ANGRY MUSIC WAILING and the car blasting down the

tranquil road. We watch as it heads for what seems like

infinity.

EXT. LONELY COUNTRY ROAD. DAY. SOME TIME LATER.

DARRY:

Okay, here comes...

Trish and Darry slowing down now. Coming up on a

camper/trailer. Brother and sister stare at the license

plate:

JEEPERS CREEPERS

6A4EVR

6A4EVR6A4EVR

DARRY (cont’d)

(reads it loudly)

"Six A Forever!"

(grins)

That's mine! That's five to

five. Tied up.

TRISH:

What does it mean?

(off his look)

"Six A Forever" what does it

mean?

DARRY:

I don't know.

TRISH:

'Cause it says "Sexy Forever",

stupid, that's mine. That's

five to four.

DARRY:

Since when did you start aceing

me at this game?

TRISH:

Since you were ten. It

involves English and reading.

Darry guns the engine. Goes into the oncoming lane to pass

the camper/trailer.

TRISH (cont’d)

Come on, Darry.

They pass the cab of the truck. An OLD MAN of sixty behind

the wheel. His WIFE next to him. He glares down at Trish and

Darry as they pass him.

DARRY:

Sexy forever huh?

TRISH:

You know that is you in forty

years.

DARRY:

Note to self:
Die young.

(checks his rearview)

Any place but here on this

unbelievably endless road.

JEEPERS CREEPERS

TRISH:

You wanna be sucking in

exhaust fumes on the

Interstate?

DARRY:

No I love stopping at train

tracks every ten minutes.

No further comment from big sister. She's suddenly some place

else.

DARRY (cont’d)

You know there's usually a

reason when you like the long

way home.

TRISH:

Gee like, maybe I like the

country?

DARRY:

(mocking sincerity)

Okay.

TRISH:

Just drive, brat.

DARRY:

I'm only thinking the same

thing mom and dad are gonna be

thinking:
how come you're

driving home for Spring break

with baby brother?

Not heading off somewhere with

"Mr.Poly-Sci-Track-Team-Guy"?

TRISH:

And I'll tell you what I'd

tell them:
none of your

Goddamned business-

WOOOONNNNKKKKKK!!!!! A DARK VAN HAS SUDDENLY LURCHED BEHIND

THEM BLARING ITS HORN.

DARRY:

(swerves a little)

Jesus!

The van is tailgating them at an alarming velocity. Rattling

and shimmying it is so old and distressed.

JEEPERS CREEPERS

TRISH:

Darry!

DARRY:

What's this guy trying to do?!

He tries to find the driver in the rearview. The Van's

windshield is heavily tinted.

TRISH:

Just get out of his way!

DARRY:

He's nuts!

TRISH:

(emphatically)

Get out of his way, Darry!

Darry swerves into the oncoming lane and the van tears

forward. Blasting toward the distant horizon.

Both brother and sister watch breathless. Catching its

rusting and personalized license plate:

BEATNGU:

BEATNGUBEATNGU:

TRISH (cont’d)

Jesus!

DARRY:

(back in the right lane)

Sh*t!

TRISH:

What the Hell is his problem?

DARRY:

My first guess:
inbreeding!

He has shouted this last word out the window toward the

distant van.

DARRY (cont’d)

Get a load of that thing?

Vehicle of choice for five out

of ten serial killers.

Brother and sister still trying to catch their breath as the

van disappears over a distant rise.

TRISH:

God you know what I just

thought of, right?

JEEPERS CREEPERS

DARRY:

Kenny and Darla.

(off Trish's nod)

They died about a hundred

miles from here.

TRISH:

It was the same highway.

DARRY:

This highway runs the length

of the State.

TRISH:

You think it really happened?

DARRY:

That they had to go looking

for her head?

TRISH:

No that they never found her.

Or him. They only found the

car.

DARRY:

No, they never found her head.

They found the car but they

couldn't find him or her head.

TRISH:

Look at me...

(holds out her hand)

I'm still shaking.

DARRY:

You don't think every

generation has their

cautionary tale of drinking

and driving on Prom Night?

TRISH:

I always heard it was real.

That they were Class of '80.

After I heard that story, I

used to think this was the

highway I would die on.

DARRY:

Quite the cheery thinker,

today. What did "Poly-sci guy"

do to you anyway?

JEEPERS CREEPERS

She isn't listening. Thoughts elsewhere again.

DARRY (cont’d)

"Beating you"

(off her look)

That was the license plate on

the van:
B-E-A-T-N-G-U".

(turns to her)

"Beating you", that's five to

five. That ties us up.

TRISH:

You can't call it now.

DARRY:

My ass...

TRISH:

You have to call it when you

see it!

DARRY:

I was in shock!

THE JANGLING BELLS OF A RAILROAD CROSSING AHEAD.

DARRY (cont’d)

You know I don't remember

there being so many rules to

this game.

Trish and Darry slowing as the bells ring and the bars lower.

DARRY (cont’d)

'Course when there was, you

were the one making 'em.

Little Miss Junior Nazi with

the Barbie Doll and the Easy

Bake Oven...

Darry looks down the tracks. Sees the small cargo train

approaching. Revs the engine.

TRISH:

Don't you dare.

(off his look)

My car.

Trish sniffs. Smells something. Looks in the backseat. The

big thing covered in a trash bag. She lifts the plastic: a

full laundry basket.

JEEPERS CREEPERS

TRISH (cont’d)

You are a class act, you know

that?

DARRY:

Hey you live off campus.

(she just stares at him)

You ever try and do laundry in

a dorm? What they don't steal

they dye pink for you. I've

got twelve pair of rosey-pink

jockey shorts.

TRISH:

Maybe they know something

about you, you don't.

She takes the Deodorizer hanging off the rearview mirror and

stuffs it in the bag.

TRISH (cont’d)

Hi mom, haven't seen you

forever, here's my dirty

shorts.

The train is upon them now. He shouts over the din.

DARRY:

Its for her, not me. I have to

bring home laundry. I don't,

she gets depressed. Like she

thinks I don't need her

anymore or something.

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