Urban Legend (1998)

Director:

Jamie Blanks

Writer (WGA):

Silvio Horta (written by)

Release Date:

25 September 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller | Mystery

Tagline:

It Happened To Someone Who Knows Someone You Know... You're Next.

Plot:

A college coed suspects that murders around her campus are connected to Urban Legends.

Plot Keywords:

Urban Legend | Campus | Axe | College | Murder

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Jared Leto	...	Paul Gardener
Alicia Witt	...	Natalie Simon
Rebecca Gayheart	...	Brenda Bates
Michael Rosenbaum	...	Parker Riley
Loretta Devine	...	Reese Wilson
Joshua Jackson	...	Damon Brooks
Tara Reid	...	Sasha Thomas
John Neville	...	Dean Adams
Julian Richings	...	Weird Janitor
Robert Englund	...	Professor William Wexler
Danielle Harris	...	Tosh Guaneri
Natasha Gregson Wagner	...	Michelle Mancini
Gord Martineau	...	David McAree
Kay Hawtrey	...	Library Attendant
Angela Vint	...	Bitchy Girl

Also Known As:

Mixed Culture
Urban Legend (France)
Urban Legends (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for horror violence/gore, language and sexual content.

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

USA | France

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Singapore:M18 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Canada:18 (Nova Scotia) | Iceland:16 | South Korea:18 | Philippines:R-18 | New Zealand:R16 | Argentina:13 | Australia:MA | Belgium:KNT | Brazil:14 | Chile:14 | Finland:K-16 | France:-12 | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Netherlands:16 | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/16 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Etobicoke Olympium, Etobicoke, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Company:

Canal+ Droits Audiovisuels

Trivia:

The movie's fictional location is Melbourne, New Hampshire. Melbourne is the name of the director's home city in Australia.

Goofs:

Continuity: At the Frat party, Paul and Natalie are sitting talking about what's going on. Paul puts his hand on Natalie's face and Natalie then puts her hand on Paul's wrist near his thumb. As the shot changes from Paul to Natalie, her hand appears and disappears with each shot.

Quotes:

Brenda: I must say, Natalie, you have proven your friendship to me. Coming all the way out here without even a little pepper spray to defend yourself with.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Other Final (2003)

Soundtrack:

Rollercoaster

Not Bad, but too predictable...

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.