The Jeepers Creepers Movies in Order

Jeepers Creepers is a horror film trilogy written and directed by Victor Salva. The villain is a cannibalistic demon creature known as the Creeper, who hibernates for most of his existence but awakens every 23 years for 23 days to feed on human body parts to survive. 

The release order of the films is Jeepers Creepers, released in 2001; Jeepers Creepers 2, released in 2003; and Jeepers Creepers 3, released in 2017. 

Although the movies were released over 16 years, all three take place during one 23-day feeding cycle of the Creeper. However, since Jeepers Creepers 2 occurs on day 23 of the Creeper’s feeding period, chronologically, Jeepers Creepers 3 occurs between the first and second film. 

There is also a 4th installment set to be released in 2022, but it was written and directed by someone else and occurs in the future. This article will overview the first three Jeepers Creepers films and explain the chronological timeline. I will also discuss watching the trilogy in release order versus chronological order. 

Jeepers Creepers Film Trilogy Plot Overview 

A specific release date has not been set for the fourth film, Jeepers Creepers: Reborn, other than it has been filmed, and the release is expected sometime this year. This film will occur on a separate timeline and is set up to be part of its own trilogy. Therefore, this overview will only cover the original trilogy. 

1. Jeepers Creepers

In 2001, Jeepers Creepers began the film trilogy and introduced the Creeper. College students and siblings Trish and Darry Jenner are on their way home for spring break. Traveling through Florida, they observe a suspicious figure outside of an abandoned church dumping what appears to be bodies into a pipe. 

The driver chases the siblings in his old beat-up truck but misses them. After losing him, Trish and Darry go back to the church to investigate and find hundreds of dead bodies underneath the church. They resume traveling and stop at a diner to call the police. 

At the diner, they receive a call from a strange woman who tells them that the man chasing them is the Creeper: a demonic creature who feeds on humans every 23 years for 23 days. The siblings leave with a police escort but learn that the church has caught fire. The Creeper catches up to them and kills the police. 

They make it to the police station, where they meet a psychic, the same woman who called them at the diner. The Creeper arrives at the police station, and after killing several people, he finds Trish and Darry. He leaves Trish and escapes out of the window with Darry. 

The movie ends with Trish being picked up by her parents and shows the Creeper in a new hideout with Darry. He killed Darry and took his eyes to replace his own. 

2. Jeepers Creepers 2

Jeepers Creepers 2 was released in 2003 but occurred a few days after the first movie. The film begins on day 22 of the Creeper’s feeding cycle. He abducts a young boy, Billy Taggart, from a field at his home in front of his father Jack and brother Jack, Jr. 

The next day, a bus occupied by a high school basketball team, coaches, and cheerleaders breaks down on an abandoned road. Cheerleader Minxie Hayes is warned about the Creeper by Darry in a vision. The Creeper arrives and begins his killing spree. 

Meanwhile, Jack and Jack Jr. go searching for the Creeper. They catch up to the bus and the remaining students, and Jack shoots the Creeper in the head. 

However, he is shot right as he is about to hibernate, so he goes into his 23-year hibernation wounded but not dead. Jack takes the sleeping Creeper back to his farm. The ending jumps 23 years to the future, with Jack waiting on the Creeper to wake up so he can finally kill him. 

3. Jeepers Creepers 3

Jeepers Creepers 3 was released in 2017, but the movie’s events occur between the first and second movies. Sherrif Dan Tashtego and Sergeant Davis Tubbs start an investigation into the Creeper after the abduction of Darry Jenner. 

Meanwhile, Gaylen Brandon, whose son Kenny was killed 23 years earlier by the Creeper, has a vision of her son, who warns her the Creeper is coming for her and her granddaughter Addison. Later in the day, Addison and her friend Buddy come across the Creeper while delivering hay. The Creeper kidnaps Addison. 

Tashtego, Tubbs, and several officers catch up to the Creeper, and many officers, including Tashtego, are killed fighting the Creeper. 

Later that night, Addison manages to wound the Creeper and escape him. He chases after her but is hit by a truck. The Creeper feeds off the truck driver to heal himself, and Addison gets away. 

She returns home to her grandmother and her friend Buddy. The movie ends the next day with Buddy leaving to catch a bus to a high school basketball game (the same bus of students in Jeepers Creepers 2). 

Watching the Jeepers Creepers Movies in Order: Release versus Chronological

Now that you know the movies occur on the same timeline, but were released differently than the timeline of events, what is the best way to watch (or re-watch) the trilogy? 

If you prefer to watch them following the chronological timeline (the 23-day feeding cycle of the Creeper), then you should watch Jeepers Creepers first, followed by Jeepers Creepers 3, and finish with Jeepers 2. 

Jeepers Creepers occurs sometime at the beginning of the Creeper’s feeding cycle. Jeepers Creepers 2 occurs on days 22-23. Jeepers Creepers 3 happens sometime after the first film but before the second, so it probably takes place on days 19-22. Both the second and third movies contain flashbacks and flash-forward scenes. 

You may prefer to watch the movies in the order they were released. Some believe since there is such a long gap in the release of the second and third films, the events of Jeepers Creepers 3 make more sense if you watch the first and second movies before watching it. 

Hopefully, this article helps you understand the timeline of the movies as opposed to the order they were released. Whatever way you decide to watch the films, the Creeper is sure to give you a good scare.