Alicia Witt, Jared Leto, Rebecca Gayheart

An attractive young woman is driving her car on a dark country road and singing along to the radio. She's running out of gas and so she pulls into a gas station (run by a jittery, stuttering Brad Dour...( read more  read more... )if), but then flees what seems to be an attack, only to find the real threat in her backseat: a hooded killer with an ax who takes her head off with a well-aimed swing. You've heard the story before? Not surprising, given that it's one of the more famous urban legends borrowed for Urban Legend, a post-Scream exercise in self-referential horror. The students at an ivy-covered New England college are turning up dead, the victims of a serial killer who murders in the fashion of the "apocryphal" modern myths. It's all for the benefit of good girl with a dark secret Alicia Witt, the sole witness to most of the killings. Doe-eyed Rebecca Gayheart, as her gullible best friend, and Jared Leto, the ambitious campus journalist who tracks down the secret that hangs over the school, lead a cast of pretty young women, hunky guys, and campus characters, notably the suspicious professor Robert Englund, a genre legend in his own right as the star of seven Nightmare on Elm Street films. Take away the cheeky remarks and self-awareness and it's a throwback to the 1970s' rash of teen slasher movies, where sexually active teens are sliced, diced, and otherwise slaughtered in elaborate and ingenious ways. The increasingly preposterous film is no Scream, but the modestly stylish production has its moments. --Sean Axmaker

Flixster Users

46% liked it

147,838 ratings

Critics

21% liked it

48 critics

R, 100 min.

Directed by: Jamie Blanks

Release Date: September 25, 1998

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DVD Release Date: May 22, 2001

Stats: 3,516 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (3,516)


  • September 24, 2009
    A poor slasher film with a wasted idea. I've always thought Joshua Jackson could have done better for himself.
  • February 28, 2009
    I've seen this so many times. The end was so surprising...usually it's obvious right from the start.
  • May 2, 2008
    This could have been better but was just an alright movie to me .
  • March 28, 2008
    Back before Jared Leto discovered eye liner.
  • February 9, 2008
    not bad but it was a little stupid. Stupid isn't really the word, lets just say it was targeting at teens and young adults only.
  • November 14, 2009
    the begining was pretty good and then it turned into Scream
  • November 2, 2009
    As good as 'Scream', but not as scary. I liked how put a lot of urban legends into the plot and it made me keep guessing who the killer is. Oh, and speaking of the killer, when will he/she ever die (Go see the movie to find out what I'm talking about)!
  • October 30, 2009
    Cool movie, and great eye-candy, but that doesn't necessarily make it a good horror/thriller flick. I suppose I was expecting a bit more, but I did enjoy the way all the legends were meshed together. :)
  • October 24, 2009
    haha the actress who plays the killer is so fuckin over the top but its okay if uv nothin else to watch
  • September 9, 2009
    Call me a sucker for horror films, but I liked this one. I just wish they would've put more Urban Legends in it, but it was still good. Typical horror film from the 90s.

Critic Reviews


April 25, 2003
Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail

Like Frankenstein's monster before the lightning strikes, it's all recycled cold flesh and bolts, without a twitch of originality. full review

January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Competently made! full review

January 1, 2000
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

A routine slasher, and not a particularly scary one. full review

January 1, 2000
Ty Burr, Entertainment Weekly

It's just a weary sigh over how Scream's juicy archness has already turned into boilerplate.

View more Urban Legend reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

Comments


  • chaceismine
    March 20, 2008
    i think this movie was awsome plus i like the guy he is cute and hot he kept me entertain i think dis was awsome and who ever doenst like it it would probably be a guy there juss jelous love it
  • BlaahBlaah
    August 2, 2006
    i really like this film, not one of the best scary films but its full of suspence and you will never guess who the murderer is in the end. it was ok.

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Urban Legend Trivia


  • Which is NOT a Wes Craven film?  Answer »
  • In Urban Legend, what message was written on the wall in blood?  Answer »
  • What movie did a group of friends take a roadtrip and find out about an old legend?  Answer »
  • What movie has this quote : 'Someone's taking alot of these urban legends and making them real life' ?  Answer »

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