Released in the wake of Scream, Urban Legend formed part of the late nineties’ slasher resurgence. Directed by first time feature filmmaker Jamie Blanks, the story played out at the fictitious Pendleton University. Here a wave of murders inspired by urban legends sweep the campus, with Alicia Witt’s Natalie at the heart of the action. The film also starred Jared Leto, Rebecca Gayheart, Joshua Jackson, and Tara Reid, amongst a plethora of other talent. Whilst it didn’t set the world alight in quite the same way as Scream, it did perform well enough to receive not one, but two, further films in the series. These three films have now been rounded up by the excellent team at 88 Films and released in a stunning trilogy box-set.
Kicking off the series, and the box-set, Urban Legend sets the tone perfectly. In fact, the opening of the film starts everything off beautifully. People often discuss how great the opening of Scream is, but Urban Legend is arguably a great competitor. Beginning with a lone female driving late at night during a storm, the film tackles the legend about someone hiding in the backseat. Blanks does genius work with this sequence, his prior history with short film format shining brightly through. It’s a taut, tense, and harrowing ten minutes, a masterclass in scares and features that skin-crawling twist when the creepy gas station attendant (played to perfection by Brad Dourif) finally gets his words out, “there’s somebody in the backseat”, seconds too late. Then comes that iconic, irony rich, rendition of Jim Steinman and Bonnie Tyler’s ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’. Blanks follows this super-strong beginning, with a solid slasher that copies from the Scream template, whilst remaining its own separate entity. Tonally, Urban Legend sticks closer to the scares, but still maintains some fun self-referential nods that helped endear it to a generation of genre watchers.
The new release also includes a mammoth eight-part documentary that comes in at 147 minutes. The documentary dives deep into every facet of the film’s production, from inception to its continuing legacy. Several sections hone in on specific scenes or moments from the film, the iconic opening amongst them, with practically every decision made on set from location to camera angle discussed in vivid detail. There are interviews with key members of the crew, as well as most of the cast (only Jared Leto and Joshua Jackson absent) and it offers a truly insightful peek behind the curtain. It’s a tad more technically based than memory-lane nostalgia and is so packed full of information that it becomes hard to process. Luckily, by breaking itself into eight parts the viewer can pace themselves and save their brain getting fried.
Sequel Urban Legends: Final Cut shifts the action to a film class who decide to make a horror film inspired by urban legends. As production begins, cast and crew members start to die in ways that bear a startling resemblance to the movie they are making. It’s not the most original film in terms of sequels, but does bring back a couple of characters from the first film, the fantastic Loretta Devine’s Reese Wilson being one of them. The quality declines further for third instalment Urban Legends: Bloody Mary. This time the action is transplanted to high school and focuses just on the titular urban legend, moving in a different direction to the groundwork laid out in the first film. This trajectory mirrors that of fellow slasher franchise I Know what you did Last Summer, with the third film being almost unrecognisable as part of the franchise in the title.
The consistent element across all three Urban Legend movies is how each manages to feature cast that have gone on to become big names. The first of course features a pre-American Pie and Sharknado Tara Reid, as well as a not-yet Lex Luthor, Michael Rosenbaum. Final Cut sees early performances from Eva Mendes, Jennifer Morrison, and The Vampire Diaries’ Matthew Davis, and Bloody Mary sees a young Kate Mara lead the piece.
This release follows in the footsteps of 88 Films’ phenomenally successful I Know What You Did Last Summer and is packed full of special features and added extras. In addition to a snazzy blu-ray version of all three Urban Legend films, the special edition release also includes six art cards, a double-sided poster, and a forty-four page booklet that features essays and words from the original film’s director, Jamie Blanks, as well as Andy Roberts, Stefan Matthews, and Leonie Rowland. It really is an absolute must for fans of the series, and with so much to unpack, is it guaranteed to keep you entertained for years to come.
The Urban Legend is available now from 88 Films.
Urban Legend Trilogy
Summary
Although the films vary greatly in quality, this release from 88 Films is once more a labour of love that will become a beloved entry into many a horror fanatic’s collection.
