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The Real Life Killer that Inspired ‘Jeepers Creepers’!

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Dennis DePue was a real-life killer that inspired the horror movie Jeepers Creepers!

Plenty of horror movies are inspired by actual events, from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre to Child’s Play. In fact, as we recently told you here on iHorror, even A Nightmare on Elm Street had real-life inspirations. A burnt-faced dream demon of course never truly existed, but the inspiration story is very interesting. You can read all about that here.

You also might be surprised to learn that 2001’s Jeepers Creepers was similarly derived from true events. This fact wasn’t in the least bit played up by writer/director Victor Salva. The movie is about a winged monster that plucks out human eyeballs. Though it may seem impossible that it was grounded in any sort of reality, it most definitely was.

The Real Life Killer that Inspired Jeepers Creepers
via Unsolved Mysteries Wiki

It was in 1990 that Michigan resident Dennis DePue became the subject of a police manhunt. This occurred after Dennis DePue murdered his wife and dumped her body behind an abandoned schoolhouse. The story goes that the murder was an act of vengeance, after his wife filed for divorce, with Dennis DePue shooting her in the back of the head.

In Jeepers Creepers, the monster dumps bodies behind an abandoned church, much the same way DePue disposed of his wife, but it wasn’t DePue that inspired the film so much as it was the testimony of two eyewitnesses who saw him dump the body.

The Real Life Killer that Inspired Jeepers Creepers

While driving around on a long stretch of Michigan road, Ray and Marie Thornton spotted DePue doing his dirty deed, and then found themselves followed by the killer, who suspiciously tailed them in his van for several miles. Sound familiar? Because it certainly should, if you’ve seen Jeepers Creepers.

Jeepers Creepers on Unsolved Mysteries

Now what’s most interesting about all of this is that the TV show Unsolved Mysteries ran a story on the DePue case in March of 1991, a full ten years before Jeepers Creepers was made. The segment featured a re-enactment of Thornton’s story, which bears a striking resemblance to the first half of Salva’s film.

The opening sequence of Jeepers Creepers is directly lifted from the episode, right down to specific shots and dialogue exchanges. Like the Thornton’s, the brother and sister in the film even pass the time by playing the very same license plate game, making the inspiration undeniable.

Oddly enough, while Salva has credited Steven Spielberg’s Duel with serving as an inspiration for the film, he’s never once given any sort of credit to Unsolved Mysteries. This leads me to believe that he hoped nobody would ever make the connection. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with using a ripped-from-the-headlines story as the basis for a film. However, the direct lifting of the “Unsolved Mysteries” re-enactment of that story is suspect, to say the least.

“Creeper” Dennis DePue Caught

The real-life killer that inspired Jeepers Creepers was finally caught.

Shortly after the 1990 episode aired, Dennis DePue was caught, and subsequently committed suicide. So no, he never went on to stalk a bus full of shirtless dudes, in case you were wondering!

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New Windswept Action Trailer for ‘Twisters’ Will Blow You Away

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The summer movie blockbuster game came in soft with The Fall Guy, but the new trailer for Twisters is bringing back the magic with an intense trailer full of action and suspense. Steven Spielberg’s production company, Amblin, is behind this newest disaster film just like its 1996 predecessor.

This time Daisy Edgar-Jones plays the female lead named Kate Cooper, “a former storm chaser haunted by a devastating encounter with a tornado during her college years who now studies storm patterns on screens safely in New York City. She is lured back to the open plains by her friend, Javi to test a groundbreaking new tracking system. There, she crosses paths with Tyler Owens (Glen Powell), the charming and reckless social-media superstar who thrives on posting his storm-chasing adventures with his raucous crew, the more dangerous the better. As storm season intensifies, terrifying phenomena never seen before are unleashed, and Kate, Tyler and their competing teams find themselves squarely in the paths of multiple storm systems converging over central Oklahoma in the fight of their lives.”

Twisters cast includes Nope’s Brandon Perea, Sasha Lane (American Honey), Daryl McCormack (Peaky Blinders), Kiernan Shipka (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina), Nik Dodani (Atypical) and Golden Globe winner Maura Tierney (Beautiful Boy).

Twisters is directed by Lee Isaac Chung and hits theaters on July 19.

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Travis Kelce Joins Cast on Ryan Murphy’s ‘Grotesquerie’

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travis-kelce-grotesquerie

Football star Travis Kelce is going Hollywood. At least that is what Dahmer Emmy award-winning star Niecy Nash-Betts announced on her Instagram page yesterday. She posted a video of herself on set of the new Ryan Murphy FX series Grotesquerie.

“This is what happens when WINNERS link up‼️ @killatrav Welcome to Grostequerie[sic]!” she wrote.

Standing just out of frame is Kelce who suddenly steps in to say, “Jumping into new territory with Niecy!” Nash-Betts appears to be in a hospital gown while Kelce is dressed as an orderly.

Not much is known about Grotesquerie, other than in literary terms it means a work filled with both science fiction and extreme horror elements. Think H.P. Lovecraft.

Back in February Murphy released an audio teaser for Grotesquerie on social media. In it, Nash-Betts says in part, “I don’t know when it started, I can’t put my finger on it, but it’s different now. There’s been a shift, like something’s opening up in the world — a kind of hole that descends into a nothingness…”

There hasn’t been an official synopsis released regarding Grotesquerie, but keep checking back to iHorror for further details.

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’47 Meters Down’ Getting Third Movie Called ‘The Wreck’

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Deadline is reporting that a new 47 Meters Down installment is heading into production, making the shark series a trilogy. 

“Series creator Johannes Roberts, and screenwriter Ernest Riera, who wrote the first two films, have co-written the third installment: 47 Meters Down: The Wreck.” Patrick Lussier (My Bloody Valentine) will direct.

The first two films were a moderate success, released in 2017 and 2019 respectively. The second film is titled 47 Meters Down: Uncaged

47 Meters Down

The plot for The Wreck is detailed by Deadline. They write that it involves a father and daughter trying to repair their relationship by spending time together scuba diving into a sunken ship, “But soon after their descent, their master diver has an accident leaving them alone and unprotected inside the labyrinth of the wreck. As tensions rise and oxygen dwindles, the pair must use their newfound bond to escape the wreck and the relentless barrage of bloodthirsty great white sharks.”

The filmmakers are hoping to present the pitch to the Cannes market with production starting in the fall. 

47 Meters Down: The Wreck is the perfect continuation of our shark-filled franchise,” said Byron Allen, founder/chairman/CEO of Allen Media Group. “This film will once again have moviegoers terrified and on the edge of their seats.”

Johannes Roberts adds, “We can’t wait for audiences to be trapped underwater with us again. 47 Meters Down: The Wreck is going to be the biggest, most-intense film of this franchise.”

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