OPINION: The Victor Salva Conundrum
Is it possible to look forward to the next Jeepers Creepers movie?
On February 24, it was announced that a fourth Jeepers Creepers movie is due for release later this year. Titled Jeepers Creepers: Reborn, the film is described as a “restart” for the franchise, directed by Timo Vuorensola (the Iron Sky movies) and scripted by Sean Michael Argo, with the intention of making a new trilogy separate from the first three films. This briefly piqued my interest, as I’ve enjoyed Vuorensola’s previous work (we were also friends on Facebook, back when he still had his personal profile). Then I remembered the one name that has largely been omitted in official mentions of the new film: Victor Salva.
Victor Salva is arguably the ultimate proof that abhorrent behavior in Hollywood generally goes unpunished, in that he has directed ten feature films to date, despite the fact he was arrested and convicted for child molestation and possession of child pornography while his first movie was still in post-production. This was in 1988, when Salva made Clownhouse, a horror film about a young boy, Casey, who must fend off three psychopaths dressed as clowns, while having to deal with skepticism from his older brothers and the police who just assume his pathological fear of clowns is getting the better of him.
Casey was played by 12-year old actor Jonathan Forrest Winters, and Salva abused him sexually multiple times during filming, including one incident that was videotaped. In addition, tapes and magazines containing child pornography were found at Salva’s home. He pled guilty and was sentenced to three years in prison. He was released after 15 months, during which time the film had been completed (according to Winters, the only thing left at the time of the arrest was the ADR), shown at Sundance and released commercially (although it is now virtually impossible to obtain it legally).
Did that put an end to his career? No, far from it. In fact, after keeping a low profile, Salva wrote and directed not one, but two movies released within the same calendar year: in 1995, his name was on both The Nature of the Beast, a low-budget, direct-to-video thriller starring Lance Henriksen and Eric Roberts, and Powder, a supernatural drama produced by Disney. The latter’s release prompted Winters to come forward and denounce Salva’s actions, causing Disney to state they had been unaware of the director’s criminal record when they hired him (at the time, the studio had a strict policy against working with convicted felons).
He has since largely stayed in the horror genre (which may have shielded him from further controversy due to his general avoidance of the mainstream scene), most notably with the Jeepers Creepers franchise, which got off the ground thanks to Salva’s mentor Francis Ford Coppola (he is credited as an executive producer on the first two films, having previously helped Salva get financing for Clownhouse).
Now, there is the oft-repeated maxim that one ought to separate the art from the artist, a phrase that pops up regularly when discussing the films of directors such as Roman Polanski and Woody Allen. Such a thought process is, however, not applicable to Salva, as the two are impossible to separate: the crime he committed took place on the set of his first movie, with his lead actor as the victim.
Furthermore, Jeepers Creepers and its sequels make for very uncomfortable viewing – yes, I have seen them - in light of Salva’s actions, as the films revolve around a monstrous creature who stalks and maims primarily young people. The third installment went one step further by actually having a teenage character who had been molested by her grandfather, and an early cut of the movie featured a scene in which a boy who has a crush on her says the line “Well, can you blame him?”. The scene was removed from the final cut, but not before having popped up in the version sent to critics for review (additionally, Canadian casting agencies refused to advertise calls for the role – a 13-year old to be played by an 18-year old – due to Salva’s history).
Online chatter surrounding the new film suggests Salva had no involvement in Jeepers Creepers: Reborn, nor will he have any in the two planned sequels. It is even possible the producers pulled a Roseanne Barr (see The Conners), whereby he received a one-time payment in exchange for renouncing any future royalties and residuals (although it’s doubtful his name will be completely absent in the credits, since he created the franchise). But even that won’t be enough to wash the stink away, unless the upcoming installment completely reinvents the mythology and the character of the Creeper. As it stands, it is still very much too overt an allegory of its creator’s misconduct. He claims to have reformed, but that deleted scene from the third movie speaks volumes. Perhaps it’s best to let the series hibernate, and not just for 23 years.