URBAN LEGEND Reviewed by Jamie Peck
The movie takes place on the creepy campus of New England's Pendleton College, where some freaked-out student or faculty member has begun a murder spree (check), offing victims according to those titular tales - most of them campfire and sleepover favorites - that doubly function as social parables (check). Our heroine is beautiful, brainy upperclassman Natalie (Alicia Witt, check), who may hold the key to cracking the mystery in a dark secret buried deep in her past (check). Our hero is handsome journalism major Paul (Jared Leto, check), a studious reporter for the school paper who's determined to get this scoop no matter what the price (check). Carnage ensues (check, check, check).
Director Jamie Blanks and screenwriter Silvio Horta start better than they finish, with an extended "Scream"-esque prologue that depicts the film's first casualty, as a nervous little missy (Natasha Gregson Wagner) on a late-night commute loses her head in a vivid variation on the killer-in-the-backseat urban legend. Yikes. Most of the time, however, the filmmakers' scare tactics include silly false jumps and absurd red herrings; just about everyone around Pendleton, for example, owns and wears our psycho's hooded Nanook of the North-type costume. True, every movie in this genre relies on faux frights to generate suspense, but "Urban Legend" plays with them far too often to be very effective.
Yet another disappointing facet of "Urban Legend" is exactly how it employs the villain's violent gimmick. Only a handful of the urban legends he brings to life seem genuinely inspired, and all the leftovers don't seem to fully realize their grisly potential. Horta leaves a lot of possibilities unexamined, and ends up having the killer simply splatter coed guts across dorm walls with a large axe when he runs out of ideas. The campy ending also doesn't satisfy; "Urban Legend"'s unmasked villain not only seems physically incapable of pulling off an early murder involving a a tree, a noose and a moving car, but they also explain their master plan to the incompasitated good guy with ... _a_slide_show_?
At least the motive makes too-pat sense and there are some good in-jokes stretched throughout the movie's 98-minute running time; co-star Joshua Jackson, of "Dawson's Creek" fame, exits "Urban Legend" earlier than expected, but not before turning on a radio to the opening notes of Paula Cole's "I Don't Want to Wait." These postmodern references, along with the solid acting (particulary Witt and Michael Rosenbaum as a party-hardy frat boy), sleek production design and clever concept, add up to a so-so slasher film that falls a little short of delivering the goods. But delivering isolated scares is another matter entirely. Let's just say that, thanks to "Urban Legend," this critic will henceforth be keeping a close eye on the backseat of his car.
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