URBAN LEGEND (1998)

Director: Jamie Blanks

Writer: Silvio Horta

Producers: Neal H. Moritz, Gina Matthews, Michael McDonnell

Cast: Alicia Witt, Rebecca Gayheart, Jared Leto, Joshua Jackson, Tara Reid, Michael Rosenbaum, Loretta Devine, John Neville, Robert Englund, Brad Dourif (uncredited), Natasha Gregson Wagner, Danielle Harris, Julian Richings, Matt Birman, Balázs Koós, Danny Comden, Stephanie Anne Mills, Nancy McAlear, Clé Bennett, Shawn Mathieson, Danielle Brett, Roberta Angelica, Gord Martineau, Angela Vint, Kay Hawtrey, J.C. Kenny, Vince Corazza 

Students of Maine’s Pendleton University are being murdered. The college is the setting of an urban legend about a mass murder that was supposed to have occurred on April 23rd, 1973. As the 25th anniversary of that rumored tragedy approaches, student Natalie Simon (Alicia Witt) has witnessed two recent killings and is convinced that the killer is re-enacting various urban legends. 

The Flashback Fanatic movie review 

The massive success of Scream (1996) resurrected the slasher film genre as it toyed with the conventions of that ’80s horror trend. Urban Legend was certainly trying to tap into that same market while it arrived at its own interesting MO for its killer. Rather than riffing on slasher films, the villain of Urban Legend riffs on the contemporary folktales of bad things happening to ordinary people that may or may not be true. That gimmick is the main pleasure that I derive from this film. 

Urban Legend is quite true to its slasher roots. There are plenty of suspicious characters and speculations about the killer and possible motives, which work well with the theme of paranoia in an era becoming more aware of urban legends. There are plenty of contrivances to allow the killer access to victims and to play games with the bodies. There are also plenty of gratuitous killings. Rather than exact retribution in the most direct and practical means, the killer risks constant discovery racking up a lot of extra victims. I can justify this execution excess by rationalizing that early on the villain may have achieved one main objective but had roused a bloodlust that needed to be sated with a more protracted series of murders before completely settling their grudge. Yup, that’s me: the serial killer enabler. 

As in the best slasher films, the identity of the killer is a mystery we are waiting to be solved. In an interesting variation on the usual slasher film formula, we are not privy to a past tragedy early in the story that motivates the murderer; all is revealed late in the film. This variation, however, is also how Scream dealt with its reveal. 

Of course, since this film and many more, for better or worse, were inspired by Scream, that means that we are dealing with a lot of slick, snarky, and hip banter between all members of the young cast. To be clear, this can be entertaining enough, yet is hardly more realistic or gives us characters of any more depth than the much-maligned slasher film characters from the '80s. 

While the able, young cast portraying college students clearly typify the potential victims of Scream and many slasher films of the previous decade, the filmmakers of Urban Legend also treat ’80s horror fans to some familiar faces; Robert Englund, Danielle Harris, and Brad Dourif have small but memorable roles. 

There are also many uses of the soon-to-be-tired false scares crutch. While this gimmick was nothing new, many youth-centric horror films at this time were running it into the ground. Apparently, Gen X film fans needed a climax, even a faked one, every five minutes. I wonder what Sasha (Tara Reid), the Pendleton University radio sex therapist, would make of that.

Pendleton University has to be the classiest campus in the universe. Even the campus cafe the students hang out in looks like the inner sanctum of an upper crust gentleman’s club from a century earlier. Studded leather upholstered furniture and dark wood paneling are everywhere. The frat house that hosts wild parties is as finely appointed as the average mansion. If mommy and daddy can afford it, I could see some of these kids switching majors at least half a dozen times so that they will never have to graduate. 

Urban Legend is a slick and diverting thriller with a sly sense of subverting expectations. The menace in a scene is often established as a misdirection to deliver a surprise payoff. Although this killer goes to extraordinary lengths to exact a twisted revenge, it is fun seeing the different urban legend scenarios that are employed. Perhaps the main fault of the film is that it tries too hard. Like all too many films since the ’80s, one climax is never enough. As Urban Legend approaches its finish, we have one twist and surprise reveal after another until it starts to remind us that we are just watching a movie. However, I do find the very last scene satisfying. 

As I unleash this review of Urban Legend upon an unsuspecting world on the 50th anniversary of the Pendleton University Stanley Hall massacre, I want to assure you that, even if my sanity has always been questionable, this flashback fanatic is not bearing any murderous grudges. However, if anyone tries to convince me of the merits of Independence Day (1996), I just might lose it!