Urban Legend (1998) d. Jamie Blanks (USA) (99 min)
While turning the scary little “true” stories that everyone has heard from “a friend of a friend” into horror films is nothing new (see When a Stranger Calls), this slick feature attempts to incorporate as many as possible into the context of a slasher movie with moderately successful results. First-time director Blanks (Valentine, Long Weekend) assembles an extremely photogenic cast to play students enrolled in professor Robert Englund’s college class on urban legends. Silvio Horta’s smirking script then proceeds to creatively eliminate the student body utilizing the syllabus’ grisly methodologies.
The suspects are so plentiful that only by turning up as victims can they remove themselves from suspicion. Who could the parka-wearing killer be? Jared Leto’s passionate newspaper editor? Good girl Alicia Witt? Tara Reid’s breezy DJ? Brash bad girl Rebecca Gayheart? Practical joker Joshua Jackson? Goth freak Danielle Harris? Campus rent-a-cop Loretta Devine? Or maybe it’s kooky gas station attendant Brad Dourif, trotting out his One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest stutter.
Enthusiastically made by aficionados of the genre, the film manages to be entertaining despite straining its audience’s credulity in search of a higher body count. The enjoyable (if artificial) effort succeeds right up and through its final act, even as it serves up horror clichés involving villains that won’t stay dead and corpses improbably stuffed into every nook and cranny. Followed by a sequel (of course).
BONUS FEATURES
DISC ONE
NEW Audio Commentary with Director Jamie Blanks, Producer Michael McDonnell, Assistant Edgar Pablos, Moderated by Author Peter M. Bracke (Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th)
Original DVD audio commentary with Director Jamie Blanks, Writer Silvio Horta, and Actor Michael Rosenbaum
Theatrical Trailer
DISC TWO
Urban Legacy – The Making of Urban Legend (147 Minutes) 8-part documentary including Interviews with Director Jamie Blanks, Writer Silvio Horta, Executive Producers Brad Luff and Nick Osborne, Producers Neal Moritz, Gina Matthews, and Michael McDonnell, Chairman and CEO of Phoenix Pictures Mike Medavoy, Production Designer Charles Breen, Director of Photography James Chressanthis, Editor Jay Cassidy, Composer Christopher Young, Actors Alicia Witt, Michael Rosenbaum, Natasha Gregson Wagner, Robert Englund, Loretta Devine, Rebecca Gayheart, Tara Reid, and Danielle Harris, Assistant Edgar Pablos, and Author Peter M. Bracke.
NEW Behind-The-Scenes Footage
NEW Extended Interviews
Archival Making-of Featurette
Gag Reel
Deleted Scene
TV Spots
Urban Legend is available now as a 2-disc Collector’s Edition from Shout! Factory and can be ordered HERE:
https://www.shoutfactory.com/product/urban-legend-collector-s-edition?product_id=6880
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