Urban Legend (1998)

A college student suspects a series of bizarre deaths are connected to certain urban legends.

Director:

Jamie Blanks

Writer:

Silvio Horta

Stars:

Jared Leto, Alicia Witt, Rebecca Gayheart

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

Urban Legend tells the story of a group of pretty college students at a remote New England university. The focus of the story is Natalie, a beautiful, academically-gifted student at the fictional Pendleton University. Natalie and her friends are all involved in the Folklore class being taught by Professor Wexler. Wexler regales his class with urban legends, which include Pendleton's own urban legend about a Psych professor who murdered six students at Stanley Hall 25 years ago. Natalie is the first one to suspect there's a killer on campus, especially after she has ties to all of the victims. No one, including her friends, Wexler, Dean Adams and security guard, of course, believes her until it's too late. Now she finds that she and her friends are part of the killer's ultimate urban legend.

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Plot Keywords:

urban legend | college | gothic | goth girl | characters murdered one by one | 

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Taglines:

Urban legends can kill

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Details

Country:

USA France

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 September 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

Urban Legends

Filming Locations:

Humber College - 3199 Lake Shore Blvd, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$14,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$10,515,444, 27 September 1998, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$38,072,438

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$34,455,157

Company Credits

Production Co:

Phoenix Pictures,Canal+ Droits Audiovisuels,Original Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film's fictional location is Melbourne, New Hampshire. Director Jamie Blanks home city is Melbourne, Australia.

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Goofs

There is not only no way that Natalie's roommate could have written such a lengthy note without collapsing from blood loss, but also no way that anyone would have assumed that 'no foul play' had taken place; additionally, a security guard from the school would not be sufficient to make that sort of pronouncement in any case, and actual police investigators would be involved in the case of any such violent death. Natalie even mentions the message, which would seem to showcase a tremendous oversight in writing.

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Quotes

Paul Gardener: Hey, how about some interviews? You know, students react to the tragedy on campus.
Brenda: Okay. I am saddened, and moved by the tragic...
Natalie: This was someone's life Paul. Did you even spend one minute thinking about that?
Paul Gardener: No, I didn't. But because of my story, three-thousand five-hundred students will. I think that's enough to help me sleep at night.

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Alternate Versions

The version of the film shown on the USA network keeps onscreen violence to a minimum. All violence is shown very quickly, while the sound effects during killings have been removed entirely, and any shots of a dead body have been trimmed to show only a flash of what the body looks like.

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Connections

Referenced in Yes Man (2008)

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Soundtracks

The End of Sugarman
from the film "Coffy"
Composed by Roy Ayers

User Reviews

This was a great movie!!!

I liked this movie because I could see someone actually doing this.It starts off with them telling you an urban legend.As the movie goes on people start dying based on urban legends.There is a reason for this but you don't find out till much later.But watch who you trust you might be wrong...