10 Best Films Based On Urban Legends
4. Campfire Tales
It's a wonder more anthology horror films don't rely on urban legends for their segments, as they're often brief, simple narratives that deliver the kind of shocking twist blow movies such as Campfire Tales needs. The vignettes in this low-budget thriller, featuring early roles from Ron Livingston, James Marsden and Amy Smart, aren't all based on urban legends, although it does include a few of the more famous ones.
The opening, unrelated scene features Marsden and Smart as a young teen couple on Lover's Lane. As so many rendevous turn out, they are interrupted by breaking news on the radio. Seems a madman is on the loose in the area. Smart gets nervous, getting the sense that they're being watched and forces Marsden to drive to the local American Grafitti-esque drive-up. It's there that they find the madman's hook hanging from the passenger-side door. n
The hook has its origins in the mid-1950s, the Rebel Without A Cause-years, but gained nationwide attention after being reprinted in a 1960s Dear Abby column. And variations on the tale have been used in film in television - both for comedic and horrific effect - ever since.
The frame story for Campfire Tales begins in earnest after the cold open. Seems a group of four friends were on their way to a concert when they got into a car accident. To kill the evening, they regale each other with scary stories. Two are original, but not THAT original - fairly derivative horror stories about being lost in the woods and dying, but the second story is based on another classic that can be linked to a short story by D.B. Martin in 1982.
A young girl is chatting online late at night with someone who turns out to be the kind of guy you'd expect Chris Hansen to surprise. Later that night, she feels her dog licking her hand. In the mirror, however, she spots a message: "People can lick too."
Campfire Tales is a lesser-known product of post-Scream horror films and, of its kind, its far from the worst. Those behind it are clearly dedicated fans of the genre and the atmosphere is appropriately eerie. Unfortunately, it also doesn't leave much of an impression.