Urban Legend

Urban Legend was a wonderful storyline, but the movie focused more on the killings and gore rather than the extremely creative storyline. The idea for the story was very original, with a fresh young cast, but the movie lacked in attention getters, after all if you have seen on slasher film you have seen them all right??

The cast was very well-structured, Joshua Jackson did a wonderful job, although his part was robbed of its acting integrety. Natasha Wagner and Rebecca Gayheart were excellent characters that needed to be developed more. Jared Leto did a wonderful job and his acting ability really shone through.

All in all Urban Legend is an excellent date movie, or a chance just to hang out with friends, but if you are looking for a fresh new addition to the slasher genre, I suggest that you look somewhere else.

As for the people who are comparing this film to the Scream series, I must say that I see where you are coming from, but remember that Scream isn't as original as it seems either. Let's not forget, Night of the Living Dead, Halloween and the ground breaking movie The Exorcist, which all had a grasp pn the horror genre long before Kevin Williamson and Scream. Urban Legend, I thought, had more of an intriguing plot line, but was disappointed to see it left so undeveloped. And people mentioned, why did every character have that parka? Easy answer...the same reason everyone in Scream had those boots!!!

On a scale of 1-10 (1 being yawn, and 10 being nightmares) I give this film a solid 7

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.

i like how its based around so many urban legends, and if u look up urban legends on the web b4 u watch the movie, sometimes you can see the deaths comin. this will you give you an opportunity to yell at the screen before u come 2 ur senses and realise that they cant hear you. the only thing is that there are all the typical teen movie characters in it, which is fairly predictable (the group of pretty girls, the funny immature guys, all fairly popular, the good-looking guy hanging around ready to save the day, the gothic bitchy roomate and the know-it-all teachers.) i enjoyed this movie, but i would warn future viewers not to watch it on a rainy and dark afternoon when your alone.

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 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.