Writer and director Victor Salva promised himself he would never make a sequel after his splendid horror B-movie provoked multiplex madness.

Two years down the line and we have the inevitable follow-up, a movie Salva, after changing his mind, now insists wanted to be "new and different".

Well, the difference is the cast of characters has expanded with the budget ...and the expections of an audience seduced by The Creeper are higher.

We first make our re-acquaintance with his nibs when, posing as a scarecrow, he disappears into the wild blue yonder with a young boy in his talons.

Next thing we are watching a schoolbus happily trundling through the idyllic American countryside that is The Creeper's happy hunting ground. Suddenly it stops.

It could be argued that using a charabanc-full of sports jocks and their attendant floozies presents more possibilities for complex dramatic interaction.

Rearing their ugly heads are issues, including racism, homophobia and even a cheerleading clairvoyant refugee from The Sixth Sense. ("I see dead people")

However, those of less generous nature could reason that the more lithe young bodies means a bigger larder for The Creeper.

Either way, the claustrophobic small scale that made the original so nerve-shreddingly compelling has been diluted by the broader, blander approach.

That's not to say Salva's completely lost his touch - there are still touches that mark him out from the pack.

When one hapless young sap declares: "It's gone, man ...I'm willing to bet money on it" you just know this is one wager wher he won't see the winnings.

However, while competent, effective and wryly amusing this has nothing to really distinguish it in an already overcrowded marketplace.

Tim Evans