Anyone seen the movie Jeepers Creepers? Anyway, the beginning of the DePue segment is a LOT like the beginning of Jeepers Creepers. Both were couples driving down a country road, and saw an old van speed by and had a game out of the lisence plate. Later they both saw the van from earlier parked with a guy who was by an old building holding some bloody sheets. After they saw the guy he chased them in his van for a while before he left.

The beginning of that segment and the beginning of Jeepers Creepers are so similar it's not even funny.

That has been talked about here before. I'm actually thinking of renting Jeepers Creepers to compare.

I wonder if the writers of the movie ever mentioned if PART of it was based on a true story. It would be too much of a coincidence if they came up with the whole beginning sequence by themselves.

Looks like movie writers are Unsolved Mysteries fans too!

For the most part it's exactly the same except for a couple of details:

The brother and sister viewed the Creeper dump a body wrapped in a bloody sheet into a big tube behind a rundown church. In the U.M. segment the couple saw DePue stuff a bloody sheet down an animal hole or something like that.

Looks like I'm going to have to buy that movie now.

Re: this Dennis DePue UM segment & the great horror film Jeepers Creepers (2001), I totally see the connections here re: the creepy van on the deserted road, etc. I do also think the makers of JP got "inspired" by this UM segment from the early '90's.

Re: the actual DD crime, it's good that seeing himself on UM led to his fleeing his new life (with his new gf in TX) and soon after ended up with his demise. If it hadn't been for the UM segment, it seems clear that he may have lived his "double life" indefinitely. After all, it was a lot easier to "disappear" in the late '80's & early '90's - than it is today.

Some in the media have pointed out the similarities, including Detroit News 4 (https://www.clickondetroit.com/features/2017/02/15/did-1990-michigan-murder-inspire-jeepers-creepers-film/), NewsBreak (https://www.newsbreak.com/news/1530639366789/dennis-depues-murder-of-his-wife-may-have-inspired-movie-jeepers-creepers-man-with-a-van-examines-the-real-case), and WFMK (https://99wfmk.com/jeeperscreepers2018/).

DePue was creepier looking than anything in the movie.

Anyone seen the movie Jeepers Creepers? Anyway, the beginning of the DePue segment is a LOT like the beginning of Jeepers Creepers. Both were couples driving down a country road, and saw an old van speed by and had a game out of the lisence plate. Later they both saw the van from earlier parked with a guy who was by an old building holding some bloody sheets. After they saw the guy he chased them in his van for a while before he left.

The beginning of that segment and the beginning of Jeepers Creepers are so similar it's not even funny.

The first half hour of Jeepers Creepers is among the best 30 minutes of ANY horror movie ever!

But then the movie tails off although it's still a pretty good movie. Jeepers Creepers 2 which involves the kids getting stuck in the school bus was absolutely horrible!

Yesterday, the 'WhatCulture Horror' YouTube page released a top ten list of horror movie scenes that were inspired by true events. They put Dennis DePue / Jeepers Creepers at #2. And they mention Unsolved Mysteries...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmEv3Et0HMA

Dennis Depue is in my top five segments.
And yes, Jeepers Creepers does the pastiche treatment on the Depue story.

Unfortunately, the writer-director of the Jeepers Creepers trilogy was convicted of sexually abusing a 12 year old boy for the purposes of child pornography in 1988.

I've wanted to re-watch Jeepers Creepers and Powder, but I'm not going to throw any cash in that direction. I feel the same way about Bryan Singer and the Usual Suspects.