Customer Reviews

Urban Legend

5 star:		(116)
4 star:		(63)
3 star:		(36)
2 star:		(33)
1 star:		(37)

 

 

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!

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.

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

Ha ha! Well, Urban Legend is probably not exactly what most people would be looking for from a film with such a title. I happen to be a nut for "Urban Legends," and if you, like me, would prefer to see a film that is basically a group of people sitting around telling twisted tales about a friend of a friend, full of reenactments of the classic stories we all have heard before, then I recommend you pick up a copy of the film Campfire Tales, and The Big Book of Urban Legends, which is a graphic novel (comic book style) encyclopedia of sorts. But this is not to say that you should discount the film, "Urban Legend," completely. It's actually pretty good for recent teen slasher horror. Not on the level of Scream, but what film is?
Urban Legend is the tale of Natalie Simon (Alicia Witt), a young college student whose friends are slowly being picked off by a serial killer in the style of well known Urban Legends. The film is half slasher horror, half detective story, as Natalie and the school reporter, Paul, try their best to find out who's behind the killings and why. There are plenty of great scenes that actually DO reenact our favorite Urban Legends, like the opening scene that plays out the old "There's someone in the backseat!" story, to the awesome tune of "Total Eclipse of the Heart," (well, it's one of my faves anyway), and the scene where Joshua Jackson takes in the deadly mixture of pop rocks and soda. Toward the end, the film might stretch the climax a tad too long, but it's a lot of fun leading up to that point, and the final scene is a nice touch. Probably the only thing that really hurts this film is that most, if not all of the characters are less than likeable, even if a couple of the girls are pretty cute. And I Know What You Did Last Summer still holds the award for "cutest girls in a slasher film" as far as I'm concerned, but those characters were also unlikeable, and at least Urban Legend is a much better movie.

Since the release of Scream, dozens of filmmakers have attempted to cash in on the teen horror craze, with many failing miserably. Movies like The Glass House and The In Crowd made us cringe, more in pain rather than terror. Urban Legend, however, is the most original and suspenseful film to be released since Wes Craven's masterpiece, Scream, thrilled viewers in 1996.

On the campus of Pendleton University, someone is offing co-eds based on urban legends. We've all heard them, and disregarded them as clever stories to scare us. We all know that mixing pop rocks and soda won't make our stomachs explode. Or will it? Like Scream, this film is where many of it's cast members got their big break into show business. Jared Leto (Fight Club, Panic Room), Tara Reid (American Pie series, Van Wilder), Michael Rosenbaum (Sorority Boys), Joshua Jackson (TVs "Dawson's Creek", The Skulls), and Rebecca Gayheart (Jawbreaker) all show up in this thrill-a-minute shockfest.

Urban Legend is by no means a perfect movie, but by the same token, it's a worthy entry in the teen horror set. You'll be surprised how scared a movie can make you.

Don't waste your time on the inferior sequel, this is where the thrills are at.

Urban Legend: rated R, 1 hour 40 minutes

The cast of Urban Legend is proficient, but not excellent. Rebecca Gayheart of (movie) "Scream 2," Alicia Witt of "Cybill," Jared Leto of "My So Called Life," Joshua Jackson of "Dawson's Creek," and John Neville of "The X-Files" give satisfactory performances, but none dare to be anything more than mediocre.
In the dramatic opening scene of the movie, a mysterious person in the backseat of the car beheads a college girl (Natasha Gregson Wagner). After many more college students and administrators are killed, it is later found out that the murderer at Pendleton University is mimicking the tales of commonly told Urban Legends. Excitement builds up as the audience anxiously awaits the moment in which the killer will finally be revealed.
Brutal killings including heinous decapitation and deathly asphyxiation occur frequently throughout Urban Legend. One almost grows accustomed to the gruesome sight of a human cadaver. At one point in the movie, a college student "gets a call coming from inside the house." "Scream" anyone? Of course after receiving the phone call, the young man within minutes dies an appalling death that should strike fear into the minds of any viewer. Believe it or not, on rare occasions, the audience is spared the display of what would have otherwise been a grotesque corpse.
Urban Legend is a suspenseful movie that contains an ample amount of homicides, executed with a mild quantity of gore. The ending is rather absurd, yet somehow awfully entertaining, as the entire movie could be described. It is terrifying fun at the cost of a clever plot. Well, you can't have it all.

Unintelligent, and purely enjoyable, Urban Legend, directed by Jamie Blanks, also starring Robert Englund and Loretta Devine, secures itself a B.

Although taking its cue from just about every teeny horror/slasher film ever made (with a feeling more of theft than homage) Urban Legend is still a damn good horror film. The acting was so/so, but was made up for by sheer viciousness in the death scene department. A New England college with a covered up history of violence, murders based on urban legends, and some really hot girls can be a really fun way to kill two hours on a dark and stormy night(I'd apologize for that, but then I'd be implying that I had a conscience when it comes to overused horror cliches, when much of this movie is just that). The killer isn't revealed until the end, there is diversity galore when it comes to manner of death for those poor unfortunate souls. Such as hanging, hacking (axe), pop rocks and draino, and so much more! You'll get a kick out of it, but then again who wouldn't dangling from a tree with a rope around their neck? Perfect get-together viewing for Horror fans who like small stories and nice vicious ways of meeting one's demise. Check out Brad "Chucky" Douriff as the gas station attendant with a speech impediment and Robert "Freddy Kreuger" Englund as the folklore professor! Did you hear about the one about the dog in the microwave?

As if horror movies didn't already have a bad enough reputation! The ONLY reason to watch this movie is that it is so bad, it's hysterical!! The loopholes are large enough to drive an eighteen-wheeler through! (How come EVERYONE in the town wears the same exact hooded parka the killer does, even though it appears to be warm weather? How did the killer manage to microwave a dog and drag out a student at a crowded party without anyone else noticeing? How does the killer manage to clean up the site of a car accident within five minutes? Why does Natalie only get one-year's probation for forcing a man off the road, causing a fatal car accident? How come, despite a series of murders, NO POLICEMAN EVER SHOWS UP AT THE CAMPUS?!?) During horror classics like Scream, I was on the edge of my seat. But all throughout "Urban Legend", I kept checking my watch to see if it was just about over! If they played this "horror-classic" on an airplane, I would walk out!!!!

if you know ANYTHING about Urban Legends from the many books written on them (or fireside camp stories you were told as a kid) then there's really no reason to see this movie. I knew EVERYTHING that was gonna happen before it happened. Most of the murders are based on some urban legend, which is creative, but alas for anyone with knowledge of these tales, it's also predictable. Ordinarily I wouldn't even review a movie like this because it's unfair for me to judge when it's disadvantage is so obvious. But this movie is flawed in other categories. For one, too many cheap scares. How many times are we gonna see a really tight shot on a person who bumps into something that turns out to be just a friend (sneaking up without introducing themselves for no apparent reason). These "jump" scares just aren't effective in this film. The beginning sequence showed promise and skill too, not going the route of the jump scare at all, relying more on atmosphere and tension buildup. Alas that was the last scene of the movie I enjoyed. I won't spoil the ending, but let's just say that our killer must've been the progeny of Michael Myers or something, and I REFUSE to believe that they have the strength to carry out the murderous acts that have been performed. Quite frankly, I don't think it's a very good film, but go ahead and add a star to my review if you know little to nothing about Urban Legends in general.

right up there with campfire tales, Urban Legends are just as eerie! This movie is so much fun and so insane, gives you a real education on the crazy stunts people believe in. This movie has an amazing cast of people, you wont believe who youll see in here! Jared Leto, Rebecca Gayheart, Tara Reid, and even Freddy Krueger himself, Robert Englund! Watch this fun story!