Review of Urban Legend (1998) by Cheyenne — 01 Nov 2009

Urban Legnd, another film following in the 90's trend of flashy, MTV-style, youth-oriented horror films (Screams, I Know What You Did Last Summers, etc) follows young, beautiful ginger Alicia Witt who's friends, including Jared Leto (Lord of War), Joshua Jackson (Dawson's Creek), Rebecca Gayheart, Tara Reid (pre-douchy slut stage), Danielle Harris (multiple Halloween films) and Natasha Gregson Wagner start getting picked off one by one by a mysterious killer who is infatuated with urban legends.

Also lending a hand are sassy black chick Loretta Devine, professor Robert Englund, and Gas Station attendant Brad Dourif (in a fun role). The movie offers up some decent kills mixed in with popular urban legends, but at a little over a decade old, the film is definitely starting to show its age.

I would have appreciated a better leading woman (perhaps if they had switched Witt with Harris' character) as well as a better second second lady (maybe switching Gayheart with Reid). Oh well, the movie was still a fine presentation, especially from newcomer Jamie Blanks (who at the time was a rising Australian talent), who managed to wow enough of the right people to score this impressive American debut.

Overall, Urban Legend wasn't too bad of a movie (especially thanks to its seasoned horror vets that help to carry it), but thank goodness this trend didn't continue on much longer.