Life at bucolic Pendleton College, in chilly New Hampshire, is fairly safe. In fact, according to this film, "Urban Legend," the fictional school is ranked the number one safest school in America by none other than U.S. News and World Report.
By the end of the movie, that reputable ranking has been torn to shreds by an ax-wielding psycho who makes short work of several students. And, in a clever twist, this parka-wearing killer only attacks in a certain pattern: by making urban legends realities.
A suspenseful opening scene finds a young woman driving alone on a cold and stormy night. When she pulls into a gas station, the attendant creeps her out, and she speeds off before he can warn her about the ax murderer lying in her backseat. Ultimately, the woman meets a grisly death while ironically singing "Turn around" from Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart."
It turns out that woman was an undergrad at Pendleton, and her death is the first in several knock-offs. At the center of the carnage is Natalie, played nicely by Alicia Witt (TV's "Cybill"). Her friends all start dropping like flies, but no one believes Natalie that they've actually been murdered. Not even the dean, who seems to be the only authoritative figure in the college.
Nevertheless, Natalie is quick to see that her friends are becoming the victims of urban legends. After all, she is taking a class about contemporary folklore taught by none other than Robert Englund whose most famous role has been Freddy Krueger in the "Nightmare on Elm Street" series. That should be enough to make any student wary of the preponderance of death on campus.
Along with Witt, the cast is unsurprisingly photogenic. It features Jared Leto (TV's "My So-Called Life") as an overzealous school reporter who gets a big head because his column is read by 3,500 people. Could he be killing so that he'll have a big story?
Also there's Damon (Joshua Jackson from "Dawson's Creek'), a hyper frat boy who likes to pull all sorts of pranks. Tara Reid ("The Big Lebowski") is a college radio personality who keeps sneaking up on people, and Rebecca Gayheart, most commonly known as the Noxema girl, is Natalie's best friend, Brenda, who likes saying "Bloody Mary" way too much.
Plus, who could forget Reese (Loretta Devine from "Waiting to Exhale"), the lone security guard for the entire college population? She studies the works of Pam Grier with the hopes of finally encountering a criminal. Devine plays the part with hokey charm that's nothing short of hilarious when she slips in a pool of blood.
The film seems to have all the elements of a truly scary movie. We all grew up on these urban legends: the murderer in the backseat, the killer in the same house as the babysitter and the slasher hiding under the car, waiting the cut your Achilles tendon. The stories last because they are all frightening, chilling and target our vulnerabilities.
Because of the audience knowledge of urban legends, the film should have generated its suspense from dramatic irony. We know that there is an ax murderer in the back seat. The only question is when will the killer strike? That is the heart of the suspense.
Unfortunately, the movie swaps that sort of suspense for a cheaper, more exhausting and campy brand: the startle. Not to say that the startle doesn't have its merits, but it shouldn't be so heavily relied upon as it is in this film.
Almost every encounter with a person warrants a gasp and a loud burst on the soundtrack. This is a fine tactic in moderation, but when almost every action seems to scare Natalie, it becomes a little overkill.
By the second hour, the film also suffers from inaccuracies that pile up at a rate that completely undermines the picture. For instance, why is there literally no security on the campus, and why are requests for more security denied, even after a handful of mysterious deaths?
The identity of the killer is pretty easy to figure out, and the person's motives are cliche and predictably obscure. The movie has its share of obvious red herrings, and it seems as though murderer's signature parka is worn everywhere by everyone, even around steamy gym pools.
"Urban Legend," directed by Jamie Blanks, is the latest teen horror flick to surface in the wake of the "Scream" successes, but, unlike those films, it lacks any sort of imaginative suspense.
Nevertheless, the screenplay does include some clever dialogue, and for once the actors actually look like college students. The film, despite its many flaws, is entertaining enough to be an amusing diversion, but it simply is not the scary movie it is cracked up to be.
