Product Details

• Actors: Jennifer Morrison, Matthew Davis, Hart Bochner, Loretta Devine, Joseph Lawrence
• Directors: John Ottman
• Writers: Paul Harris Boardman, Scott Derrickson, Silvio Horta
• Producers: Amanda Goodpaster, Brad Luff, Gina Matthews, Michael McDonnell
• Format: Color, Dolby, NTSC
• Subtitles: Spanish
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Sony Pictures
• VHS Release Date: June 26, 2001
• Run Time: 97 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (84 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0000541US
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #455,679 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

While Urban Legends: Final Cut is not nearly as terrifying or inventive as some of its predecessors, the film does offer up a fairly suspenseful whodunit that fans of the teen horror genre will likely appreciate. Amy Mayfield, the film's heroine (played by fresh-faced Jennifer Morrison), is the daughter of an Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker trying to make a name for herself at Alpine University, "the greatest film school that ever existed." Along with several other students she is competing for the coveted Hitchcock award, which virtually guarantees the winner a successful career in Hollywood. When the film school's resident genius and likely winner of the award is found dead, suspicions arise. As other film students are killed off one by one, everyone becomes a suspect. Would someone kill to win the prestigious award?

While striving to be Hitchcockian in theme (as evidenced by its multiple references to the director himself), the film never quite moves beyond cliché. Many scenes are a little too reminiscent of other popular teen horror flicks like Scream (the anonymous masked killer, though not nearly as frightening), The Blair Witch Project (Amy is chased through desolate woods by her stalker), and Friday the 13th (Amy hides from the killer in a lake setting eerily similar to the one where Jason died so many years ago). These elements seem just a little worn out. Morrison gives a serviceable performance, and Loretta Devine, from the original Urban Legend, adds humor as a Foxy Brown-worshiping security guard. The film manages to keep you guessing until its conclusion, and a sequence set in an abandoned amusement park is truly creepy. But ultimately Urban Legends: Final Cut lacks the originality to make a name for itself among the many films of its genre. --Mindy Ruehmann

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Much Under-Rated, February 9, 2001

By 

Josh "Josh" (Sc, Usa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Urban Legends - Final Cut (DVD)

I don't see why "critics" have given this movie such poor reviews, or why it flopped at the theaters. Urban Legends : Final Cut, to me, was a very good suspense thriller. Although the only connection it has with the original Urban Legend is the security cop Reese (who is hilarious), the movie lives up to be better than the first. Of course, there isn't much originality (It's got to be hard to think of something new after all these teen horrors have been released), but the acting is well done, and the effects aren't the worse in town. Jennifer Morris was awesome as struggling film student Amy. All the other cast members looked as if they really knew where their characters were coming from, and dove right into them. I also liked the way the whole Hitchcockian theme was used. Especially the cute little diddy that happened at the end of the movie. As for the DVD itself, picture and sound quality is excellent, and there is a great amount of supplements (inc. 9 deleted scenes, audio commentary, gag reel, ec.) found on the DVD. Even though some people think it is entirely stupid to recommend this movie, I do recommend it.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning sequel!, December 19, 2001

By 

"joshwinning" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Urban Legends - Final Cut (DVD)

Sequels that surpass their predecessors are a rarity in the movie business. In the words of Randy in Scream 2, "by definition alone they are inferior movies." But does the same apply for non-sequel sequels? Apparently not, for Urban Legends: Final Cut is a truly remarkable film, let alone sequel.

UL2 has a very sophisticated edge which gives the movie a far more adult feel, and John Ottman's direction is on par with the veterans of the genre as he demonstrates a great knowledge of both how to create good scares/jumps, and also how to make the images on screen look good without being too crowded. In truth, the entire movie reeks of visual style, and the settings are beautifully shot. For a low-budget film, it definitely doesn't look it.

All of the cast members are a joy, including Jennifer Morrison - who brings the heroine Amy to life on the screen - and the viewer can't help but like her from the start. There is something very fresh and original (in truth, this can be said about the entire movie) in her performance, and when paired up with Matt Davis the film becomes something very special. Additional cast like Jessica Chauffiel (whose bubbly energy fills all her scenes with a gritty humour), Joseph Lawrence (who is under-used, but makes a good red herring) and Anthony Anderson & Michael Bacall (who play Dirk and Stan respectively, and are hilarious with their geeky one-liners) are all nice departures from the cliched bit-parts of most Horrors. Another nice addition is Eva Mendes, as Amy's best friend, who strays from the typical "heroine's timid field-mouse best friend" cliche as a loud-mouthed lesbian. It's a shame that she didn't have more screen time (although, granted, for a movie of this genre she gets her fair share), as the scenes that she is a part of are all filled with some nice banter between characters.

Director Ottman's subtle score is another bonus, as the combination of his already-spread composer wings and unique visual penache create something that is genuinely creepy the entire way through. The combination of quite, music-less moments and loud crescendos give the film an off-beat ambience.

The killer's costume itself (a fencing mask doubled with a long trench coat) is very different to most outfits, and added little touches - like the killer's breathe steaming through the mask, and electric sparks rebounding off the metal - give our weapon-weilding maniac a very human-yet-sterile feel, which immediately invokes fear.

Despite many viewer's criticisms that no urban legend deaths (save the first) were involved in the film, this is not true - how could this movie be called Urban Legends unless it had that feature? All deaths cleverly used legends that most of us have heard of (although perhaps not many have heard the 'Tunnel of Terror' story...), and there is a gritty realism to them. Most use only sound alone rather than graphic detail in order for the audience to use their imagination (what's in the mind is always far scarier than what we see on-screen), and for once the motive behind the deaths isn't hugely ambiguous!

There are some brilliant scenes to be found in UL2. The first and second death are both some of the scariest moments ever put onto film - again, Kudos to Ottman for his clever direction and editing! - and a scene in which the killer plays the keys on a piano Amy is hiding under was extremely unsettling, and for some reason really gets under your skin (maybe it's the out-of-control emotion that the chords stir inside us). As well as these more action-based scenes, there are some very nice character scenes, including the moment that Amy discovers Trevor in the bell tower, and the first time Amy meets Reese. The climax is excellently-worked, and provides a memorable ending to the film.

I recently purchased the DVD, and after watching the deleted scenes footage, it was a shame that some of the more emotional scenes were not kept in the final print. A scene which demonstrates first Amy's writer's block (before encountering Reese), and then her guilt at straying from documentaries gives an often-ignored insight into her character, and could have done a lot more to let the audience see what makes her tick. I can understand that for the younger audience who are only interested in seeing blood and guts, the deletion of these scenes would have been no problem, but for the more mature audience we would definitely have liked to have seen these scenes involved. A director's cut someday please, John?

Other than this quibble (which probably only affects the DVD-viewing audience of this movie) Urban Legends: Final Cut is an atmospheric, character-fuelled movie that cleverly mixes Hitchcock-ian-style mystery with scary scenes that will have your skin crawling. Congratulations to John Ottman for a masterful movie debut, and let's hope we see more from you in the future!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars This movie makes the horror genre look bad, February 28, 2001

By 

Hubert Vigilla - See all my reviews

This review is from: Urban Legends - Final Cut [VHS] (VHS Tape)

The only reason I saw "Urban Legends: Final Cut" was because it was free. I would like to now express to the makers of this "film" that I require compensation. If you would be so kind, please write me a check for 100 minutes. The acting is horrid, the script is bland and midway through takes a turn for the absurd, and the look of the killer is just plain laughable. Why is the villain wearing a fencing mask of all things? Did the costume designers just give up one day? The story involves students being killed off while working on a thesis film concerning urban legends. Note: It has almost absolutely nothing to do with the previous film. Thus, it is not so much a sequel as a film trying to cash in on an already established (and sub par) horror title. The scares are banal stalker fare (i.e. someone pops out of the shadows) that are pathetically predictable and never haunt the viewer after leaving the film. "Urban Legends" also blatantly rips things off from numerous other films. Apart from being another "Scream"-esque potboiler, one gory death scene (which is the only gory scene) seems to borrow from Italian horror masters like Lucio Fulci and Dario Argento. Another killing borrows from the voyeur-murderer film "Peeping Tom." And, during one chase, one gets the more than distinct first person camera shakiness of "The Blair Witch Project." The characters are all one dimensional, even the villain. I didn't care that anyone died nor did I rally behind the very ridiculous looking slasher. To think that several million dollars went into this production that could have been used to fund the betterment of public schools, feed the homeless, or do research that would aid in curing terminal illnesses.