Urban Legend (1998) User Reviews

Stylish addition to the teen-horror cycle

[Libretio · 6/10 · 25 February 2005]

URBAN LEGEND

Aspect ratio: 2.39:1

Sound formats: Dolby Digital / SDDS

A serial killer descends on a New Hampshire college where he/she kills a number of students in the manner of various urban legends.

History has a habit of repeating itself. In the early 1980's, a series of low budget 'slasher' movies emerged in the wake of HALLOWEEN (1978) and "Friday the 13th" (1980), most of which were condemned as substandard imitators by critics and horror fans alike. The same thing happened in 1996, following the success of Wes Craven's SCREAM, a smug reworking of genre clichés which allowed 'sophisticated' multiplex audiences to indulge an attitude of superiority over those 'crappy' old horror flicks and the 'unsophisticated' viewers who once supported them. The subsequent wave of teenage horror pics were flashy, sexy and ramped to the max, and - true to form - virtually all of them were (ho hum) trashed by critics and horror fans alike. And yet, most of them made a profit, perhaps BECAUSE they were flashier and sexier than those earlier pictures, and because they were designed for a wider demographic than 'mere' horror fans.

Jamie Blanks' URBAN LEGEND is a case in point: Most reviews ran the gamut from harsh dismissal to faint praise, yet the movie is a visual treat, as creepy and atmospheric as any of the films which inspired it. Furthermore, Silvio Horta's unassuming screenplay confounds expectations with its solid narrative arc, recognizable characters and dynamic set-pieces, not to mention a climactic 'reveal' which offers a robust motive for the killer's devastating onslaught. There are a few embarrassing lapses along the way (such as the murder which takes place in full view of heroine Alicia Witt, which she ignores because she thinks it's a couple having sex!), and Horta can't resist a handful of cop-out contrivances (eg. the killer slashes the wrists of a girl known for her depressive tendencies, causing authorities to dismiss her death as suicide, though a routine forensic examination would have revealed the cuts were administered post mortem, AFTER she was strangled to death!), but these occasional blunders are redeemed by the movie's fast-paced editing, neo-Gothic visual scheme and clever plot developments. Blanks orchestrates proceedings with consummate skill, but he refuses to indulge the kind of transgressive gore that once distinguished this downmarket subgenre (where's Tom Savini when you really need him?!).

As expected, the talented young cast - including Jared Leto, Rebecca Gayheart and Tara Reid - is pleasingly photogenic, and there are lengthy appearances by TV favorites Michael Rosenbaum ("Smallville") and Joshua Jackson (watch out for the terrific "Dawson's Creek" gag!). Major co-stars include Robert Englund (Freddy Krueger himself!), John Neville and an uncredited Brad Dourif, who features heavily in a powerful opening sequence where Blanks and Horta pull a major switcheroo on the audience (I'll say no more). Loretta Devine is amusing as the campus security guard who views herself as a modern-day Coffy/Pam Grier (her fantasy is rudely curtailed by a climactic encounter with the rampaging maniac), and there's a brief appearance by Danielle Harris, the former child star of HALLOWEEN 4: THE RETURN OF MICHAEL MYERS (1988) and HALLOWEEN 5 (1989), playing an adult character FAR removed from the angelic poppet of those earlier pictures! Beautiful, fairy-tale score by Christopher Young. Followed by the largely unrelated URBAN LEGENDS: FINAL CUT (2000).

Yet another teen slasher movie, but this one better than some

[Xophianic · 6/10 · 4 February 2000]

This is yet another teen slasher movie, one of the many to have come out recently. I don't think this one quite ranks up to the SCREAM movies, but I think it was better than the I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER movies.

College student Natalie Simon, (Alicia Witt) mourning over the recent murder of an old friend, finds herself in great danger after a large number of students are being murdered. Each murder is performed in the style of an urban legend, which many of the kids know. Everyone is a suspect, including the best friend Brenda (Rebecca Gayheart), love interest Paul (Jared Leto) and friend/prankster Damon Brooks. (Joshua Jackson)

The premise of this movie is fairly cool, but the rest of the movie is basic slasher-movie type stuff. It's pretty predictable too, as are most movies like this one. The acting is not especially great, but some of it is fair. Alicia Witt does a good job as the star of this movie. Rebecca Gayheart probably does the best acting job of all, especially at the end.

Most all of the characters are boring and flat, aside from the main one. Many are simply there to get killed, and some that are more important are not as interesting. Still, this movie is better than I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER and probably worth a rent.

Good premise wasted in tepid horror film

[chainsaw-8 · 5/10 · 29 September 1998]

The days of low-budget slasher films appear to be back with Urban Legend, a mildly entertaining but mostly lame variation on Scream with an attractive cast of young TV stars.

The plot centers on a series of campus murders in the mold of urban legends, most of which will be familiar even to the younger audience this is pandering to. What little suspense there is comes from the anticipation of these scenes, since the surrounding story is almost as ridiculous as the film itself.

If the screenwriters had concentrated less on incorporating the whodunit aspect into the plot and more on the legends themselves, they might have had something here. Experienced viewers will spot the killer's identity (and motive) early on, and those that don't will be fooled only because the conclusion is so completely ludicrous, not to mention mostly impossible.

Of course, most of this would be easily overlooked if Urban Legend was scary, but time and again, director Jamie Banks telegraphs the surprises far ahead, and doesn't know how to time the shocks. Over and over we get the sudden burst of loud music followed by a character running into another character, but it doesn't work. And that gets annoying after the third or fourth try. Occasionally Banks does get something eerie going, but the style is more suited to an action flick.

Of the cast, most of the actors more or less get by despite a less-than-clever script, though it's disheartening to see a talented young actor like Jared Leto wasting his time with a nothing role as the reporter. Horror favorites Robert Englund and Brad Douriff pop up in cameos, adding a nice touch to their brief scenes.

What we're left with is an intriguing idea undone by cliche after cliche. The legends are potent enough to hold your attention to the end, and horror fans will find a few gruesome goodies to amuse themselves. And even though the script needs to be about three times again as clever as it is, there is a great in-joke at the end about one of the actresses and a commercial.

That clever scene might have been the first scene of a clever movie. It's the last scene of this one.

A film that manages to do everything very badly

[dvdjedi · 1/10 · 21 July 1999]

Urban Legend is the current standard by which I rate terrible movies. It manages to win the triple crown of badness: it's badly written, badly directed, and badly acted. Alicia Witt gives a spectacularly wooden performance in the lead role & there is little tension & few true scares. The most amazing aspect of this film is that a sequel is planned! Avoid this film at all costs.

Fun Horror Film

[damianphelps · 7/10 · 9 March 2021]

Urban Legend provides great value as it laughs, cries and scares it way through its running time. A really enjoyable addition to the 'horror smart' teen genre such as Scream and I Know What You Did...

The cast is pretty good as well which helps the film enormously.

Adding Robert Englund to the cast was an inspired choice.

Its good fun like its supposed to be :)

Urban Malaise

[Billy_Crash · 1/10 · 6 July 2007]

Alas, another horrible horror film. The only new element, which was completely wasted on the run-of-the-mill, hack and slice, and regurgitated plot, is the use of the urban legend. The psychotic fiend brings urban legends to reality by using them as the tool to annihilate a group of stock character college students.

The sad part is, even though the urban legend angle would make this genre film unique, the execution of these death scenes is far from stellar. There is no punch, no shock and no suspense, just your typical and redundant scares with a heavy music cue. Needless to say, the premise is a tremendous waste of a great idea.

It appears that the movie tried to parody itself near the end, when one of the characters asks "Where's the twist?", but Craven's successful "Scream" did it far better with much more wit.

Save your time and money by avoiding this ho-hum, saw it all before, half-baked flick.

Let's get our slasher on!

[Smells_Like_Cheese · 6/10 · 28 July 2002]

Ah our precious 1990's, so many great things came out of this memorable decade, including a streak of teen slasher films. Let's face it, after the mega success of Scream which opened the doors once again after Friday the 13th, Halloween, and Nightmare on Elm Street, we needed a new classic. So naturally all the screen writers who were a bit scared to present their ideas on the table, thanks to Kevin Williamson, the clever writer of Scream and Dawson's Creek. After that, every teen slasher film was released: the Scream sequels, I Know What You Did Last Summer, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, etc. But we didn't stop at that, we were now presented with Urban Legend.

The film begins on a dark and stormy night as college student Michelle Mancini realizes she is near empty while driving in her car. There's someone in the back seat as Michelle drives, a figure in a dark coat with a fur trim around the hood sits up in the back seat and, with a swift blow from its axe, decapitates Michelle. The same night, on campus, a group of friends listens to Parker Riley tell an old story about one of the campus halls, Stanley Hall. According to the story, in 1973, an abnormal psychology teacher went crazy and killed all the students living in an on-campus residence hall. Paul, a school paper journalist thinks the story is bogus. Still, the story sticks in their minds, especially for Natalie, and Brenda. The next day, the front page of the campus newspaper has an article about Michelle Mancini's murder written by Paul but the papers are quickly confiscated by school officials. Later that night after going into a secluded area of woods to talk, Natalie reveals to Damon that she knew Michelle, but they hadn't spoken in years. Damon, playing on Natalie's vulnerability, tries to make a move on her but she rejects him. Upset, Damon goes into the woods to urinate but is attacked by the killer. He then is hung from a tree in a noose with the rope attached to the bumper of his car. The next day, no one believes Natalie's story due to Damon's penchant for pranks and tricks. Realizing both Damon's death and Michelle's murder closely resemble famous urban legends, Natalie goes to the library to read up on urban legends. Not realizing the terror has just begun to scare her and her friends even more.

Basically, Urban Legend didn't stand out against it's competitors, it has every cliché in the book. Not to mention no memorable actors that had the same chemistry as the cast of Scream. It's over written at times and has every predictable moment: the friends don't believe in a ghost story, a couple people get killed off but everyone thinks it's a prank/fake death, a classic chase scene with a big breasted girl in a skimpy costume, the creepy janitor, the smart girl that no one believes is all of a sudden right about all the murders and of course a mega twist ending that no one will ever see coming! OK, Urban Legend isn't a horrible movie, while it has all these predictable moments and clichés, it's still actually fun to watch and a good part of the memory of good teen slasher films that came out of the 1990's.

6/10

Oh please! Not another "Scream" knockoff!

[Delerium · 1/10 · 27 April 1999]

Another movie tries to cash in on the recent success of teen horror/comedies like "Scream" and "I Know What You Did Last Summer". The results were worse than expected. I am ashamed to admit I paid to see it.

The script here is the big flaw. The characters go through the whole movie telling each other these ghost stories, these "urban legends", while somebody acts them out by killing their peers in the fashion mentioned in the stories. There is also a creey teacher (played by Robert Englund, Freddy himself) who teaches a course on Urban Legends, and most of the victims were in his class. That is about as interesting as the film ever gets.

The script is filled with corny, over-the-top dialogue and teen sex jokes ("Word of advice, back away from the volcano before it erupts") sure to make all the 13 year old boys giggle.

The movie then drags on, people die, and those alive accuse all the wrong people until they either get picked off themselves or they discover the real one. Either way, you know how the movie is going to turn out. Because you've seen all this before, and "Urban Legend" offers nothing new. My interest lasted for about 10 minutes, then the movie just fell apart.

The sad thing is that this could have been good.

Full of clichés...

[helencmm · 5/10 · 29 June 2019]

I definitely feel that this film gave me nothing. Really nothing. It was full of clichés, as I've mentioned, and there wasn't a plot twist (at least to me).

Firstly, the clichés. I felt that I was watching a film, that desperately wanted to be better than "Scream" and to get all of its cult following. The concept, although it was about urban legends, something that I appreciated, it had many vibes from other slasher films, so I think that it lacks of authenticity.

Second, I knew who was going to die, and I could tell easily, during the film, which deaths were "fake", the ones that wanted to shock you a little bit.

Third, the characters. I mean, they managed to make even the characters to act in a cliché way. There was the serious final girl, the one whom they try to mislead you that he or she is the killer, but he's or she's not. The over the top excited person, the idiot prank boy, the blonde bimbo, the goth, and the a*****e! Nothing new, nothing creative.

As I've said, I knew 90% of what was going to be happen, so I haven't felt any thrilling moment. Except one scene.

Let's say the things that I liked about this film. First of all, the concept of the urban legends it was cool, and maybe the only prototypical. I also liked the first scene. It was actually very thrilling and gave me a very good first impression. The person who played the killer was cool and had good acting skills.

To conclude this review, I want to mention that this film is not necessarily bad, but to me it wasn't good either. It was something between "Scream" and "I Know what you did Last Summer". Plus urban legends. As a person that have seen many many similar Films, I have to say that I kind of knew the flow of the plot, so I did not found it thrilling. If you've never seen similar Films, maybe you'll like it. It's a fun film to watch, if you don't have anything to do.

Not Bad, but too predictable...

[Gislef · 6/10 · 5 October 1998]

Unfortunately, Urban Legend suffers from a rather disjointed plot, and the fact that as a pseudo-mystery, they've eliminated most of the suspects by the end of the movie, so you pretty much know who is responsible. The murderer displays all the qualities of a more supernatural killer like Jason or Michael Myers, such as superhuman strength and the ability to be everywhere the plot requires him to be (like being across campus within minutes of each murder). Signposting some of the urban legends would have been helpful (there's a urban legend about a DJ being killed on the air and people thinking it was a hoax???). The cast is likable enough, but only Loretta Devine really stands out. The movie could as easily have been called "Horror Movie Cliche" as "Urban Legend" (or was that subtitle spoken for by Scream?). There are a few cute in-jokes (yes, one of the actresses was in a Noxema commercial). It's generally an entertaining way to waste a couple of hours if you're a horror-slasher fan.

A Mediocre Rip off of Scream & I Know What You Did Last Summer

[indigo-2 · 1/10 · 17 August 1998]

It is a sad state of affairs when a film has to rip off not just one mediocre horror film, but two. Urban Legend does just that, taking a brilliant premise, casting a group of untalented 20-somethings, giving them hip one-liners and bland dialogue, thereby creating a carbon copy of last year's I Know What You Did Last Summer and 1996's Scream.

What could have been fresh and exciting just comes off as another glib horror movie that startles you, but never really scares. The killer goes around dressed as Nanook of the North, killing college coeds with apparent ease and strength. When the killer is finally revealed, the filmmakers expect us to believe that this person can, among other things, hang a larger person by a rope and throw another victim across the room.

The cast is just another bunch of television has-beens and soon-to-be-has -beens. Alicia Witt can't scream to save her life (no pun intended) and Rebecca Gayheart can't act to save her fledgling career.

If you want real horror, rent Hellraiser. If you want a great take on an urban legend (the baby sitter and the man upstairs), rent Halloween. But don't waste your hard earned money on Urban Legend.

Like Scream but less self aware

[NateWatchesCoolMovies · 29 December 2017]

Urban Legend is pretty much like Scream, but a lot less meta and a bit more atmosphere, unfolding as you'd expect it to, with a group of college kids getting killed in bizarre circumstances that all relate to half whispered local myths. One of their professors is Freddy Krueger himself, Robert Englund, and who better to lay down the tongue in cheek groundwork than such a familiar face and expressive, dynamic presence like him. Looking back on this it's fairly shocking how terrific of a cast it has and how it's been mostly forgotten in the annals of slasher archives. Jared Leto, Alicia Witt, Rebecca Gayheart, Joshua Jackson, Tara Reid, Natasha Gregson Warner and Danielle Harris headline as the varied campus rats, with Harris a standout as the obnoxious bitchy goth stereotype, far from her timid Jamie Lloyd in the Halloween films. There's a prologue cameo from horror vet Brad Dourif as well as appearances from Loretta Devine, Julian Richings, Michael Rosenbaum and a priceless John Neville, getting all the best lines as the college's salty Dean. The kills are all done in high 90's style, the story takes a Scream-esque twisty turn in the third act and as far as atmosphere goes, it pretty much outdoes the ol' ghostface franchise. Spooky good time.

Heard the one about the terrible film ???

[rhsymonds · 1/10 · 9 September 2006]

This was really poor, Filled with mistimed shocks, appalling acting (apart from Leto) and people bumping into each other for scares every 7 minutes, the special effects aren't up to much, not the worst I've seen, but even scream managed to do better.

If you like really predictable "horror" films then give this a whirl, you can see every drawn out waste of celluloid coming a mile off, and even though the deaths are all authentic "Urban Legends" that have been passed down over the years, I'm sure we wont be hearing any more about this one.

Seriously, its worse than Ultraviolet.

You Can Only Rate Them On Laughs.

[daveisit · 6/10 · 6 December 2000]

"Urban Legend" is just like all the other horror movies ever made. How can any horror movie copy another when they all have exactly the same story and plot? This is what "Scream" was telling everyone throughout the whole movie. In the end all horror movies are just comedies with very few jokes.

"Urban Legend" was just as good or bad as all the other recent horror movies. You can only go on the number of laughs you get which is usually three to five in a decent horror flick.

I enjoyed "Urban Legend" 3 Laughs out of 10.

Can't get much worse than this

[BlueFormicaHalo · 1/10 · 28 May 1999]

Have you ever wished that the killer would just end everything and just kill you? After seeing this TERRIBLE Dead Teenager schlock, I did. Alicia Witt, Rebecca Gayheart, and Jared Leto duke it out for worst performance as three college kids who become scared over a killer repeating infamous urban legends (um, didn't we see that in Scream?). Urban Legend is a cheap, cheap rip-off of such horror classics as Scream, Scream 2, Halloween; such non-classics as I Know What You Did Last Summer and the Halloween sequels; and even Felicity! Urban Legend is handsdown terrible; but surprisingly only my second least favorite of 1998. (The Rose McGowan sci-fi clunker barely edged it out; and The Waterboy was slightly beaten by this one)

Basically, do not see this movie. Zero Stars out of Four.

Terribly Fun

[lukandkilt · 7/10 · 6 July 2018]

Is it on the same level as the Scream movies? No, but it certainly belongs to the same family. An enjoyable flick with a fair share of well-executed whodunnits and scares.

Wow, I saw it all coming.

[grittyktty · 1/10 · 24 May 1999]

I could predict everything. The only thing I didn't see coming was the killer... Anyway, moving on... I rented this movie not expecting to see anything great, and with that in mind, the movie sure delivered everything I expected. Boring, slow, predictable.. This is a typical horror movie directed at people under the age of 18 who watch Dawson's Creek and other various teenage television shows. It follows the typical format of the horror movie: a cast of about eight young, recognizable, attractive movie stars. There's the smart, strong one, the innocent friend, and the suspect. The other five people are merely filling. The movie follows the typical path of stupidity and sex--how else are they going to get the viewers to stay and watch? Avoid this stinker at all costs.

This isn't a masterpiece but is a worthwhile addition to the genre

[kevin_robbins · 6/10 · 26 October 2021]

Urban Legend (1998) is a movie I rewatched for the first time in a long time on Tubi recently. The storyline follows a college campus where the kids one day at a coffee shop compare random horror urban legends. They try to figure out which story is more realistic than the others. Shockingly the murders they talked about start happening all over campus. This movie is directed by Jamie Blanks (Valentine) and stars Jared Leto (Suicide Squad), Alicia Witt (Dune), Rebecca Gayheart (Jawbreaker), Loretta Devine (Crash), Michael Rosenbaum (Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2), Robert Englund (Nightmare on Elm Street) and Tara Reid (American Pie). The storyline for this is fairly mediocre but still fun to watch unfold. This felt like a step down from other movies from this era like Scream, Final Destination and I Know What You Did Last Summer (I felt the same way about Blanks' Valentine film also). The acting in this is better than it should be and Leto is actually pretty good in this. The kill scenes are solid and worthwhile for horror fans. The twist at the end is a bit predictable but clever in a this era kind of way. Overall this isn't a masterpiece but is a worthwhile addition to the genre. I'd score this a 6-6.5/10 and definitely recommend seeing it.

Better than I expected

[fabfemfatale · 10/10 · 13 September 2003]

I am so not into scary movies. The twists and turns of the story line were edge of the seat watchable. The ending was the best. I recommend this to intelligent movie goers. The murderer is not who you expected it be. As most thrillers, go. Why give up who the "bad guy" really is? The first true scary movie for me was Halloween when I was 13 years old. This one is no Halloween, but it was able to make me jump at the right times. We all know about those Urban Legends, but do we really believe them? Enjoy this movie, don't pick it apart.

Disturbing

[mm-39 · 7/10 · 12 July 2001]

My wife likes this film and gave it a 7. She found it disturbing. The characters had a early 90's feel to it, it brought back memories when I was at the University, and the director does this in order to make the film unravel like a urban legend from the past. The sub stories or legends make this film shine. If you are a fan of the Nightmare on Elm Street saga, you will see Freddy without the make up on.

OMG was that bad

[cliosimonetta · 1/10 · 23 January 2013]

Lame and stupid. The characters are so thin that a piece of white paper with a number would have been just the same. The story is predictable and the only twist it can menage is by stop making any goddamn sense. This is not really an horror, no supernatural element should be included here, which makes every scene damn unbelievable. The protagonist is annoying, downright stupid (she never, EVER gets it right, and I know some ten years old with more sense) and the movie tries to compensate the absolute lack of "scariness" by jumpscaring you for 1h and half. Just the same, old, useless teenage-slasher movie. To its honor, it kinds of tell you from the very beginning: "hey, I'm lame nd stupid like the lamest urban legend you happen to hear when you hang out with stupid folks!" So, it's not a surprise. If you are twelve, or very sensitive, or you never watch scary movies, you MAY find this scary. If not, be prepared to one of the silliest pieces of crap ever put on the screen.

But in the end I must say: it IS kind of entertaining! It is so stupid, predictable, lame and trashy that it's kind of fun to watch. You got a night with friends, beer and taste for trash? This might be your movie. Sits down and enjoy the parade of clichés. Girl running-Killer walking but still keeping up with her... checked; Teenagers partying... checked; Horny teenagers... checked; Killer somehow foreseeing where the victim (randomly escaping in a very vast compound) will end... checked; Killer in the backseat... checked; Shall I go on?

Cliché, cliché and cliché

[Trungsten · 2/10 · 12 January 2005]

Urban Legend is the prime example of how a good premise can be let down by just poor storytelling. The whole concept is interesting enough with the title a dead giveaway. What's disappointing is that every horror movie cliché is used here- horror theme music every time something happens, car stalls while killer prowls around, ominous telephone ring, desperate run from killer, the stunning 'anti-climax' and the shameless of gore and blood. The acting is over the top with every scream accentuate with the lame soundtrack. The last twenty minutes the whole thing falls apart as the film abandons all pretence of reality or cohesion. Urban Legend in a nutshell is disappointing with poor acting and an awful soundtrack.

Scream lovers will like this - (5.5)

[sujith789_reviews · 6/10 · 21 May 2020]

• This is a movie similar to Scream series where the unknown serial killer uses urban legend stories for murder.
• I would say if you like Scream series you will like this movie.
• One time watch thriller movie.

here is the most accurate interpretation of the movie

[DKRisley · 1/10 · 22 November 1999]

Urban Legend was an extremely piss-poor effort for a slasher movie trying lamely to emulate the success of scream. it's such a waste of celluloid to create a sequel. i was highly disappointed by the predictability of the movie, and i think it's a shame that the actors of the future must have their names dragged through the mud by featuring in the film

could of been better!!even scream was better than this!!

[Doc_Who · 7/10 · 28 September 1999]

This movie deals with Urban Legends. What is should of done is stick a couple (two or three) and made a story out that. The acting was a little stiff. It could of used a little more development of the people involved. The plot was a little slow at times. At least the movie has a cool soundtrack !!The stars of the movie have been in better movies than this!I like this movie ,it just seemed at the time the studio was trying to cash in on all the money of the "scream" movies. If it was out before those movies ,came out it might of had a better chance!!maybe they will make a sequel and explain all the lose ends this pathetic slasher/horror movie has!!