An underrated series of slasher films - the original is brilliant
I don't think the Urban Legends series gets the attention it deserves. The quality of the films goes down with each sequel (with the third having nothing at all to do with the first two films), but it's still a darn good trio of horror movies. This is a great buy for those who don't already have all three films (especially the first two) in their DVD libraries.
Most of my high regard for the series is due to the original. Far from being a Scream clone, it is one of the most impressive slasher films of recent years, in my opinion. The suspense is sustained throughout, the identification of the killer is handled superbly, and the ending is well-nigh perfect. A serial killer who constructs his/her kills on urban legends - fantastic. Maybe it's not a wholly original idea, but no film had ever taken the premise to the extreme the way Urban Legend did. Among the talented cast, Alicia Witt and Rebecca Gayheart give particularly impressive performances. Gayheart in particular really expanded her acting repertoire with this film. The less talented cast members, as it turns out, were pretty much the first to be dispatched, and this works out well. It's always nice when a particularly annoying character you expect to have to deal with until the end gets offed in the first half hour. All told, I actually consider Urban Legend to be a much more original, shocking, effective film than any of the Scream movies it is invariably compared to. The final revelations of this film, as I have already mentioned, took me completely by surprise, and that really doesn't happen all that often.
Urban Legends Final Cut is a movie about a movie, basically, and this little twist to the classic horror formula plays out rather well. At the country's most distinguished film-making school, the Hitchcock Award for best student movie is the ultimate accomplishment, all but guaranteeing the winner a quick jump to a directing chair in Hollywood. The protagonist, Amy, decides to break away from her documentary roots and produce a horror movie, one in which a serial killer patterns his murders on urban legends. As Amy begins filming, several of her fellow students are murdered, and eventually the killer comes after her. All told, this is a better-than-average slasher film, combining good acting, great special effects, and an actual storyline that doesn't reveal its most important secrets until the very end. The special effects are pretty good, and there is a nice variety to be found in the urban legend-based murders. The movie has its lighter side, as well, obviously not taking itself too seriously. The movie could be considered rather Scream-like, but it has enough character of its own to succeed in its own right - but it's not as good as the original.
Urban Legends - Bloody Mary was a direct-to-video release that really had nothing to do with the first two films. While the film falls far short of its predecessors, Urban Legends - Bloody Mary isn't all that bad, though. It has some definite weaknesses, but it also has a nice sampling of blood and gore. There are many variations on the old Bloody Mary story, but it makes for classic urban legend fare. Look in the mirror, say Bloody Mary's name three times, and she appears - and then the fun begins. Apparently, a mirror isn't actually required after all, as young Samantha Owens conjures the restless spirit without one after hearing the story of a local girl supposedly killed back in 1969 - and disappears until the next day. Those responsible for Samantha's disappearance start dying, in rather gruesome ways, which makes Sam and her brother David (whom some blame for the murders) exceedingly unpopular at school. By about the second murder, the whole urban legend m.o. is applied rather loosely, but there's still the Bloody Mary connection. Samantha comes to believe that the killer is the ghost of Mary and that she is killing the children of those responsible for her death. There's no denying that Urban Legends - Bloody Mary is an exceedingly predictable little film. Mary's killer might as well have walked around with the words "I did it" on his forehead. There are some decent-sized holes in the plot, as well. Still, I enjoyed this movie. The special effects for Bloody Mary herself are pretty good, and the deaths are reasonably gory (although we sometimes only see the aftermath of them). You really have to judge this film on its own merits, though, as it really has next to nothing to do with the first two Urban Legends movies.
These DVDS are just the three Urban Legends - Just Put Together
It's just three Urban Legend Movies put together, so it's typicaly the same thing, and the same bonus features.
URBAN LEGEND is a movie about those terrifying tales turning true as a college has a serial killer with those motives. 2/5
URBAN LEGENDS: FINAL CUT is the movie that is the worst -- and I mean it, it really does suck. At a film school, a movie called Urban Legends is being made, and another serial killer comes slicing the crew members. 1/5
URBAN LEGENDS: BLOODY MARY is different from the first two. It is a slasher flick, but with a ghost killing teenagers. 2/5
So it's the same old thing. Three DVDS just put together. And I suggest you buy Urban Legends 1 and Urban Legends 3.
When Randy the video geek rattles off the rules of surviving a horror movie in Wes Craven's Scream, he speaks for a generation of filmgoers who are all too aware of slasher movie clichés. Playfully scripted by Kevin Williamson with a self-aware wink and more than a few nods to its grandfathers (from Psycho to Halloween to the Friday the 13th dynasty), Scream skewers teen horror conventions with loving reverence while re-creating them in a modern, movie-savvy context. And so goes the series, which continues the satirical spoofing by tackling (what else?) sequels while sustaining its own self-contained mythology. Catty reporter Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) turns grisly murders into lurid bestsellers, a cult of killer wannabes continues to... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Campbell - Arquette - Neve Campbell DVD Release Date: Released the 17 July 2001 Usually ships in 24 hours
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When you consider its unfortunate production history, Cursed turned out surprisingly well as a werewolf thriller that horror buffs will appreciate. It's hardly the disaster critics made it out to be, but extensive rewriting, reshooting, recasting, and lengthy delays in production and release (including the elimination of R-rated gore to earn a PG-13 rating) clearly took their toll. The result is a fun but flawed monster-show that begins when a young talk-show producer (Christina Ricci) and her teenaged brother (Jesse Eisenberg) are bitten by a werewolf, setting the stage for a horror-in-Hollywood scenario that reunites director Wes Craven and screenwriter Kevin Williamson, creators of the Scream franchise. What could have been a classic horror comedy is instead a fairly... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Jesse Eisenberg - Christina Ricci Director(s): Wes Craven DVD Release Date: Released the 21 June 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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In the grand scheme of theological thrillers, Constantine aspires for the greatness of The Exorcist but ranks more closely with The Order. Based on the popular Hellblazer comic book series, and directed with nary a shred of intelligence by music video veteran Francis Lawrence, it's basically The Matrix with swarming demons instead of swarming machines. Keanu Reeves slightly modifies his Matrix persona as John Constantine, who roams the dark-spots of Los Angeles looking for good-evil, angel-devil half-breeds to ensure that "the balance" between God and Satan is properly maintained. An ancient artifact and the detective twin of a woman who committed evil-induced suicide (Rachel Weisz) factor into the plot, which is taken so seriously that you'll... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Keanu Reeves - Rachel Weisz - Djimon Hounsou Director(s): Francis Lawrence (II) DVD Release Date: Released the 19 July 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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I Know What You Did Last Summer As they celebrate their high school graduation, four friends are involved in a hit-and-run accident when their car hits--and apparently kills--a pedestrian on an isolated roadway. They dispose of the body and vow to keep the incident a secret, but a year later somebody starts sending them letters bearing the warning "I Know What You Did Last Summer." At that point the panicked foursome becomes the target of an elusive serial killer whose disguise consists of a fisherman's slicker and a lethal ice hook. Part mystery and part slasher flick, this thriller was heavily hyped as a follow-up to Scream by screenwriter Kevin Williamson (who later created the TV series Dawson's Creek), and like Scream it's a showcase for a... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Jennifer Love Hewitt - Sarah Michelle Gellar - Anne Heche Director(s): Jim Gillespie DVD Release Date: Released the 23 September 2003 Usually ships in 24 hours
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i knew this wasn't guna be as good as the first. From what reviews and friends and everyone was saying about it, I was upset because i thought it would be terrible. I have been looking forward to this movie for a long time and recently saw it. It was much better and scarier than everyone had said. I wastched it in my basement, at night, while i heard noises upstairs, so that made it creepier. I thought the story wasn't that bad either. I don't know what people were thinking. I could understand it not being their favorite movie, but it actually was not bad at all. More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Naomi Watts - Simon Baker - David Dorfman - Sissy Spacek Director(s): Hideo Nakata DVD Release Date: Released the 23 August 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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