Following in the footsteps of last year’s I Know What You Did Last Summer release, independent distributor 88 Films has artfully curated a very special Urban Legend Blu-ray. The disc comes as part of a trilogy set with its sequels, Urban Legends: Final Cut and Urban Legend: Bloody Mary, whilst also featuring an extensive amount of special features that delve into all aspects of the series.
After Scream, the movie industry was hit with a new wave of slasher-inspired horror movies. One of the films released in its wake was Urban Legend. It starred a nice mixture of established horror figures: Brad Dourif, Robert Englund, and Danielle Harris, famous faces of television – Jared Leto and Joshua Jackson – and fresh up and comers – Michael Rosenbaum, Alicia Witt, Tara Reid, and Rebecca Gayheart. The film was set at the fictitious Pendleton University and saw the campus overrun with a series of murders seemingly inspired by urban legends. It introduced some of these terrifying tales to a whole new generation of people, helping continue the spread of these stories that have been around for many years.
The film grossed an estimated $72.5 million box office from a modest budget of $14 million and went on to spawn two sequels. It’s impressive work, even more so when you realise that the film was Australian filmmaker Jamie Blanks’ first feature film. Blanks, who also works as a composer, landed the directing gig after originally putting himself forward to direct I Know What You Did Last Summer. Unfortunately, that project had already been placed in the hands of Jim Gillespie, but Blanks’ work was enough to impress the right people and snagged him this directing gig. To coincide with 88 Film’s fantastic release, we spoke with Blanks for a nostalgic chat about Urban Legend and its legacy.
Urban Legend is available via 88 Films now on special edition Blu-ray.
