There are points to be made for the popularity of the traditional creature-killer-slasher franchise film. Some are hit-and-miss (see: the “Friday the 13th” franchise), some are more successful than the original (see: the “Aliens” franchise), and some ride the franchise name to a slow and painful death (don’t see: the “Halloween” series after the original).

In the past decade, horror films have made a comeback, thanks in part to the wildly successful “Scream” franchise. While the aforementioned “teen” film sparked a torrent of somewhat original and intellectual ideas into the market, it also brought along many weak stories and, inevitably, franchises. “Soul Survivors 2,” “Species 2,” “Carrie 2,” and “Urban Legends 2” were all trying to convert their predecessor’s mild popularity into box office returns, but they all ended up as weak sequels and could easily have all gone straight to the home video store. Enter “Jeepers Creepers 2.” See a pattern?

After what could be termed a mildly successful predecessor, “Jeepers Creepers 2” tries to mop up any sort of cash it can. Unfortunately, it turns out to be a ho-hum creature-killer-slasher film that falls flat. Instead of invoking “the scary creature from hell,” the film instead invokes thoughts of “what the hell were they thinking?”

As all of the advertisements and trailers have already given away, there is a “creature” (“The Creeper”…I wonder if his first name is Jeeper…) that sleeps for 23 years, then, on the 23rd day of the 23rd year, he wakes up and gets to eat. Must be that high-protein diet of fresh teenagers that enables him to hibernate like that. But I digress. If you’re planning on seeing the film, I hope this doesn’t ruin it for you, but here goes. In this newest installment, after chomping on a farmer’s young son, Jeepers The Creeper goes after a broken down school bus full of shirtless high school boys, who happen to have their 3 cheerleaders along for the ride. Thankfully, one of the cheerleaders suddenly starts to have “visions” of what The Creeper is so that she can explain it to everyone (although it really doesn’t make any sense), just before she tells them they’re all going to die. After some racial harmonizing on the bus, the kids run around in fields while getting picked up one-by-one by The Creeper. Sure, there’s an ending, but I’m not going to ruin it for you!

That’s pretty much it. There’s not much gore, very few “made you jump” scenes, and there’s definitely no new ground that has been embarked on here. Just a creature that “can’t be stopped” (but sure does seem to get knocked out a lot…) and who likes to slowly raise up behind someone for full effect before killing them.

To be fair, there are a few funny one-liners, and some interesting scenes with flares, but it’s nothing scary…or creepy…or even mildly entertaining.

“Jeepers Creepers 2” reminded me of another under whelming film from earlier this year, “Darkness Falls.” With a creature that is seen throughout the movie, there is no scare appeal, and the creature really isn’t that scary to begin with. The story line is weak, and the dialogue flat and predictable, which all adds-up to be a pitiful excuse for a horror film.