Retro Review: Urban Legend
Urban Legend is a film that falls in the realm of post Scream slashers that conforms to the rules set by the successor. It is a simple concept that relies on the execution to do something impressive. The cast thankfully is entertaining and elevates the material enough to make it memorable with the likes of Joshua Jackson, Robert Englund, Jared Leto and Tara Reid among others. The scene stealer though is Loretta Devine as the security guard Reese. The gore is plenty and the deaths are smart.
The film begins with a college student’s violent murder by a killer in the back seat of the car. It shakes her school, Pendleton University’s, student body, especially Natalie, who had been high school friends with the victim. After another couple murders, it becomes clear someone is committed to bringing urban legends to life.
The plot is a straightforward slasher flick with the dressings of urban legends. Most of the kills are done so with blade, even more so than the likes of Scream or Halloween despite setting the precedent and variety of legends out there. The film moves quickly along stringing the mystery of whodunit as it goes. Obvious red herrings are allowed to linger until we get to meet the person behind the mask. At a certain point, the film becomes a bloodbath as folks get offed one after another.
Urban Legend is a fine time capsule of 1999. It makes itself aware of the oncoming technologies, particularly the internet while also lacking cell phones, makes it feel antiquated. A particular watch alarm plays almost funny because it sounds like a cell phone every time it goes off.
In comparison to its contemporaries, Urban Legend can look like a lesser film and one that has already been done before, however it is important to note that in the body of horror films at large and in particular slashers, the film stands as something a bit more unique.
As a fan of urban legends in general, I may be a bit biased with the film. The theming of the kills goes a long way at least with a first viewing, giving the audience something to guess at. It also goes beyond the kills and squeezes in references to several more legends along the way. However, the fact that it sticks to a grounded slasher formula limits the kills and stories it pulls from.
To make up for the variety of kills, it does deliver a high level of gore all through out. The amount of blood in some scenes is almost comical but lends to the viciousness that the killer exerts. There is at least one scene with a level of gruesomeness and originality with Drain-o that will probably never be copied.
The whodunit that the film presents is not too complicated nor easy enough to solve. In much the same way that Friday the 13th did with their mystery killer, this one does an equal twist and reveals the unknown facts that pull it all together only at the end.
On the topic of the killer, the hooded killer is given a very generic look that is used for a one off fake scare in one scene, but it does make for a menacing appearance that wouldn’t be bad to replicate. It serves the generic nature that urban legends have and feels more natural than something like the slicker from I Know What You Did Last Summer and is more iconic than the simpler killer POV used Friday the 13th or a random holiday themed mask from the likes of Valentine(2001).
Building on the look of the killer, the reveal of them is well done and the rant for their actions they give is comparable in both content and delivery is equal to that of Billy and Stu in Scream or Mrs. Vorhees in Friday the 13th.
A big part of the film’s strength does come from the casting. It has an equal number of names that are just a who’s who as its contemporaries. Jackson and Michael Rosenbaum both ham it up while Englund and Leto play menacing and mysterious and Alicia Witt, Rebecca Gayheart, and Devine provide the reliable core. And for the horror fans, they double up on the name casting with Danielle Harris from Halloween 4 and 5 fame.
Urban Legend serves up an entertaining watch that lives up to its namesake. It has reasonable re-watchability with bit of various urban legends to try to catch but doesn’t have much that hasn’t been done in other slashers.
