Urban Legend

I just returned from a press screening of the new horror film Urban Legend, and I must say that I was very disappointed. I had thought that the idea of basing a horror film on the various urban legends that have been told time and time again would be a fresh idea. Instead, the film is nothing more than a walkthrough combining many elements from past horror films. We had a killer in a getup that seems to be very popular with many residents in the local area. This idea had been done recently in I Know What You Did Last Summer. There was the taunting phone call just like Scream. Last but certainly not least, we had the climatic scene where the hero finds the bodies of all the recently slain stashed in the one place were they were taking refuge.
Alicia Witt and Jared Leto are very interesting and charismatic actors on the rise, however, the script gives them very little to work with even by horror film standards. The film was never very frightening, nor entertaining. Even an old industry vet like Robert Englund was under used in the film. I hope that the makers of this film intended it to be a spoof of horror films, as Urban Legend was laughable. I hope that this film is not an indicator of future horror films to come, as Scream was the most original and fresh horror film in years, and even it was not so fresh with a second helping.
1.5 stars out of 5