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18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Your typical slasher horror movie, just a different concept, September 16, 2004
I had to look at this poster everyday I was at school, for 2+ years, as it was in my registration/art class for some reason. So I probably know the poster better than I do the film!
I love this movie. It starts off with a girl singing along (badly) to Total Eclipse Of The Heart, which is one of my fave songs ever since it was played at my uncle Malcolm's wedding. And it always makes me feel sad. Basically, you've got another slasher movie, cashing in on the success of I Know What You Did Last Summers and Screams, but bringing in a different concept. And that's always cool when they do that, rather than just churn out another slasher flick.
Plus, it has a fantastic cast. Brad Dourif (who's uncredited for some reason) plays a stuttering gas station attendant, much like his role in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, which was a good ting on the director's part, as he's instantly recognisable because of that. (He also does the voice of Chucky in the Child's Play movies) Also starring is your usual teen movies actors and actresses: Joshua Jackson (with a very bad dye job, and watch out for the bit where he starts the car, and the Dawson's Creek theme blasts out!), Alicia Witt, Jared Leto, Tara Reid and Rebecca Gayheart. Tara Reid is nothing special in this, although there's plenty of cleavage on show for the men in the audience, she basically plays a dumb blonde. Someone who can't be missed is Freddy Krueger himself, Robert Englund. He plays up his college professor role to the max, playing one of the main suspects in the killings.
However, there are some severe plotholes in this movie, particularly towards the end. Alicia Witt is stabbed very badly, and looks in pain, but as soon as she gets off the bed, she's fine. No one tends to her wound, and the knife could have hit anything. The cop lives. (Enough said, and she manages to turn up for the sequel) The killer only has a motive for a couple of his/her victims, and from then on it just seems like random killings. The killer is shot (twice), gets thrown through a car windshield, and ends up in a river, yet still manages to live?!
If you ignore all these plotholes and there are probably more, then you'll survive the movie, and probably get the second one!
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16 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Every cliche in the book, May 19, 2000
Almost every horror cliche is present in this movie. Cars not starting, a girl not believing the guy is really getting killed, the dumb authority dismissing the heroine's cry for help as nonsense and many, many more. All teens (actors in their 20s) are booze and sex hounds who do nothing more than party and laugh at serious stuff. How annoying.
Once you find out who the killer is you realize that it would have taken precision planning on the scale of Desert Storm to pull off the murders that happen in the movie, even if some of them are purely by chance and some don't even coincide with Urban Legends which is what the whole movie is based on.
Many characters are given (very) brief roles and (very) small personalities. Then they are killed. Like they are just teenage meat that are killed for our pleasure. I thought Hollywood had stopped making conveyor belt movie like this, but obviously not.
When will film-makers realize that horror films should be surreal, elaborate, scary, daring and manipulative? Never apparently.
The only reason for watching this movie is Chris Young's pounding musical score. Once again he has creating a soundtrack that is simultaneously action packed and creepy.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Bargain Bin Material, May 8, 2008
It's always interesting to see movies from your childhood again. I remember watching this movie--and really liking it--when I was eleven, so I thought it would be interesting to re-watch this movie as an adult and see if it was really good or... not. Well, it's not even close to as good as I originally thought it to be, but there are some pretty cool ideas here.
Slasher films have all been done before, so you won't find anything utterly new or innovative here, but the overall premise is a very good one. A killer who uses urban legends as a means of killing people is an interesting concept, one that is executed quite well in this film. The execution of the "urban legends come true" scenes are pretty well done, but plot itself, such as the reason behind these murders, doesn't ring true to me. The killer had motivation to kill only two of the people he/she (I use the he/she to avoid spoilers) did kill, but the rest of them... not so much. It can be argued that the killer is just crazy or did it all to torment the main character, but it just seemed like a cheap excuse to show a bunch of kids being murdered in variously innovative ways.
The music is actually pretty good, adding to the suspense and overall feel of the film, but there are a few things that really bring this down. Even for a teen flick, the acting is fairly awful. Alicia Witt as the lead is totally unconvincing, and--I hate to say this because I love My So-Called Life--Jared Leto was not at all impressive. The rest of the cast was hit or miss, with Joshua Jackson (in his short but entertaining roll) being a hit and Tara Reid being a miss (they cast her in that roll for two reasons, and neither is acting talent).
All in all, it's a fun watch, but you'd be better off with Scream, as that movie has less wasn't-supposed-to-be-cheesy-but-it-was moments, better dialogue, and better acting. As for "Urban Legend," if you can find it in the bargain bin at the DVD store, go for it, but otherwise you should pass on it.
4/10
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