"Aren't you glad you didn't turn on the lights..."      

URBAN LEGEND (R) 

Reviewed September 27, 1998 - Check out the Urban Legend Website.

Urban Legend is another in an ever-growing string of 90's teen horror flicks spawned by the success of Scream.  As with the original (and then Scream 2 and I Know What You Did Last Summer, to be followed later this summer by I Still Know What You Did Last Summer), the key elements are as follows:

Okay, did I miss anything?  If I did then let me know, but I think you get the general point.  Unfortunately, as each successive film of this type is released, the entertainment value seems to get progressively worse...and hence, surprise surprise, Urban Legend is about as uninspired and unoriginal as they come.

Starring Alicia Witt (from TV's Cybil) as Natalie Simon, Urban Legend is set on the campus of Pendleton College, where one of the students, driving at night on a deserted road, is axed to death by some stranger hiding in the backseat of her SUV.  It's a shocking incident that the school wants to keep quiet, but it's a story that school reporter Paul (Jared Leto), student prankster Damon (Joshua Jackson), and Natalie's friends Brenda and Sasha (Rebecca Gayheart and Tara Reid) cannot ignore.  That's exactly what happened to a cousin of a uncle of a friend I knew in another town, they say.  Of course, these students also all happen to be taking Professor Wexler's (Robert Englund's) class on Urban Mythology, where they are told that these stories are merely modern-day folktales that have been told and re-told as facts, but have never really happened.  Okay, fine.  But then another student dies...and then another...with each death replicating an urban legend that the students have heard.

All of a sudden, the school has an "urban legend serial killer" on their hands, and students are dropping like flies.  For the audience, it means you play the slasher film guessing game: part of the time you're guessing at who did it, the other part you're guessing at who's going to die next.  When done well (as in Scream) this game can be a lot of fun, but in the case of Urban Legend it all gets boring awfully fast.  There is, simply, very little originality in this film, and in the end very little to recommend.  It's not scary, it's not funny, and it's not interesting.  Yup, we've all heard this one before...I'm just hoping that there isn't a sequel...

Responses from cyberspace--thanks for writing!

gp_actor_09@yahoo.com gives this movie  stars: "I loved it! The plot was awseam and so was the acting! And Rebecca Gayheart was hot and a good actress! She was perfect. I loved the end too, it really gets you wondering!" (4/20/01)

jessfrogy@prodigy.net gives this movie  stars: "I loved this movie it is really good and it keeps you guessing who the killer is til the very end. The story is very smart but not well followed threw some of the killings tword the end were not done in and Urban Legend fassion (Sasha and the Dean) but neverthe less it was still i really good movie i loved the end." (4/13/00)

eg82@hotmail.com gives this movie  stars: "Loved it, to some extent it's better that scream, but then again not. I'm hoping for a sequel." (12/1/99)

katrina.mcaskill@mailcity.com gives this movie  stars: "pleas can you send me the adress for the urban ledgan web sit as i have got into it befor abd now i cant so can you please help me." (11/28/99)

kellgirl17@hotmail.com gives this movie  stars: "This movie was too similarto Scream, I know what you did last summer etc!!!!!! think of a new plot and maybe there will be a better response!" (10/21/99)

sue gives this movie  stars: "i thought this film was great. i am not a great fan of the films like Scream, but i really enjoyed this one and will be watching it again. Also i think Jackson and Leto were gorgeous in the film, and the acting was brill." (9/27/99)

faylove51@hotmail.com gives this movie  stars: "i think this is the best horror movie ever made!!!!!! anyone who wants to email me, mail me!!!!!" (8/29/99)

bgalpin@telstra.easymail.com.au gives this movie  stars: "this is the best movie ever made, anyone who agrees, email me!" (8/13/99)

anja.roer@c2i.net gives this movie  stars: "I wonder which song the first girl who where killed, played in her car any nows ? mail me!" (8/3/99)

Zucchero84@aol.com gives this movie  stars: "I thought this movie was awesome! It took me and my friends awhile to figure out who the killer was, and there were so many twists at the end. And there were many fine lookin' actors in this movie!" (7/25/99)

Klobb gives this movie  stars: "Okay, okay, I've already said I'm a terrible advocate of what's scary because I'm such a wuss... (cyke) but this movie was more a comedy of mistakes that took a relatively decent idea and screwed it with too much "Scream Envy" in wanting to case a bunch of beautiful people carved out of cream cheese who try to laugh in the face of death as it happens. DUMB, DUMB, DUMB. There were a couple of parts that made me slouch in my seat, but like I said: I'm such a wuss. (again, cyke) MEDIOCRE acting... a choppy plot (for lack of a better word) that can be guessed within the first 20 minutes. This movie tries to freak you out that "Oh, it's gotta be the professor," then "Oh, it's gotta be the creepy janitor," then "Oh, it's gotta be the hot chick" --- only timid mentally challenged morons who have NEVER seen a horror flick would believe these weak attempts to freak you out on who the killer really is --- The killer's a hot babe?! Get bent! Crud, even if a over-hyped horror movie has sloppy and blatant acting I'll still enjoy it if it keeps me guessing till the end. This one DIDN'T. Hot Dammit!" (6/26/99)

ShadowRaider_98@yahoo.com gives this movie  star: "Scream was excellent. New, different, smart, funny, purposeful. Since then every second movie wants to be Scream. Draft in some TV pretty-gals and some stud-puppies with big chins and six-pack abs, and just make them run around screaming while some lunatic tries to hack them apart with a knife/hook/garage door/whatever. Urban Legend is the worst example of a genre that started as a spoof of a beloved genre, and has become a joke in itself. The premise is a mystery guy who offs the local campus folks using old urban legends as his inspiration; like the one about a lunatic killer hiding in the back seat of the car; or the guy who ate poprocks and drank a coke and exploded; or the old woman who put her dog in the microwave to dry him after it rained; yada, yada, yada. A decent premise, completely and utterly botched. There's little thought given to pacing, script, even plausibility. They're so desperate to keep every character in the frame of possibly being the killer, that you'd need a calculator and a degree in advanced math to count all the characters wearing black jackets just like the killer, with every sub-character (read suspect) all seeming to have an excuse for even the most bizarre act of violence. Urban Legend is even worse than Halloween: H20. Please, someone end this genre. The killer is a hot chick? Eww! Modern day villains blow mutant goat." (6/24/99)

sko875o@tninet.se gives this movie  stars. (4/11/99)

Stephanie gives this movie  stars: "Hello ! I'm french, I love this site, and Urban Legend is a very good and scary movie !!!! Au revoir " (4/5/99)

Pwl120f@tninet.se gives this movie  stars: "This movie should have 10 points but i can only give it five! I´ts the best movie ever! THE BEST MOVIE THE BEST MOVIE THE BEST MOVIE THE BEST MOVIE!" (4/4/99)

Jeni Grey gives this movie  stars: "This movie wuz da bomb! It had so many twists to it! I can't stop watching it, and it has so many fine actors (and actresses) in it. I can't wait for a part two!" (2/27/99)

mrriddles@hotmail.com gives this movie  stars: "This movie was typically violent and attractive to white trash like me. It's a really good movie to see with a girlfriend :) But if you want plot you wont find much. But who really looks for plot in horrow movies?" (11/15/98)

tpetrowski@rollins.edu gives this movie  stars: "As a whole, Urban Legend seems to be a rip off of just about every slasher flick out there. Yes, it is wat too similar to either Scream or I Know What You Did Last Summer. Buy delging deeper, past the obvious surprises, rebellious characters, and lackluster music, it was a pretty well made (and sometimes intense!) teen thriller. There was plenty of slick comedy injected into the movie (eg. Dawson's Creek Theme and mention of Noxima ad). What people don't realize was that UL was MOCKING THE WHOLE GENRE OF SUSPENCE/SLASHER MOVIES!!!! For this, it certainly deserved three stars. " (11/12/98)

planet@shoa.net gives this movie  stars: "Wicked! A must see film!" (10/11/98)

orrbit@mfi.net gives this movie  stars: "This Movie was the best you have to go see it!" (10/10/98)

nickblaskowski@hotmail.com gives this movie  stars: "Just another horror movie,*sigh*.This movie was like a thriller mini-series.Not to scary,not much blood.I liked how the killer was copying urban legends to kill people,though." (10/10/98)