Collegiate Killer Majors in Folklore

Yeah, we know that Urban Legend isn't out on video yet . . . But it will be eventually, so we'll post our review now (since I got to see a sneak preview last week) . . . .

The concept is pretty intriguing: A quaint New England college campus is terrorized by a faceless killer who draws inspiration from "urban legends" . . . You know, those hazy un-truths that strike fear into the hearts of modern man like the old lady who tries to dry her cat in the microwave or the killer is making the calls . . . from inside the house.

Alicia Witt is our obligatory "nice" heroine. Her friends and colleagues - "obnoxious joker," "doubting frat boy," "gothic slut," "floozy blonde," and "newspaper editor/jr detective" - begin to die. Someone is out to get Ms. Witt . . . Who could it be beneath the not-scary parka? You don't have to wait long before suspects begin to die off and a motley crew of hilarious red herrings ("mad professor," "stuttering gas station attendant," "dean-in-denial," "creepy janitor") begin to pop out of the dark at opportune moments.

What you've got here is another Scream wanna-be that actually owes more to Happy Birthday to Me than to Kevin Williamson. Works for me. I'm a sucker for a slasher flick - especially if it takes place on a college campus. And Urban Legend is actually entertaining and well-shot (a surprise considering that the director is a 25 year old and this is his first flick). The deaths are plenty and, although relatively bloodless, are effective in their execution.

I'm torn when it comes to the "new wave" of teen-kill flicks. The early 80s slasher flicks -films like Killer Party or Pieces or The Mutilator - had something that the current spate of I Know What you Screamed . . . movies lacks. The original slasher flicks may have been un-original, but they spiced it up with pure exploitation. There was always a ceiling that could be pushed, be it in the body count or explicitness. Today's slasher films are so self-referential that they sometimes lose their impact. Don't get me wrong, I'll take a slasher flick any way I can get it . . . And Urban Legend is definitely one of the more entertaining and fun entries in the Williamson cash-in movement. But I long for the days of the gross-out and the lack of "nod and wink" humor. And another thing: Why is it that the nudity factor decreases as the stars of these slasher films get more attractive? Remember that although teenagers may be getting more "media-savvy," they're still teenagers (i.e. horny). I guarantee that Urban Legend would make at least $10 million more if they bared one of Rebecca Gayheart's breasts. Something to think about.

Minor qualms aside, Urban Legend is pretty damn entertaining and worth the price of admission as long as you remember that it's just a cheesy slasher flick.