After Wes Cravens Scream resurrected the slasher genre in 1996 (more on that in a moment), studios quickly jumped on the bandwagon and produced endless teen slashers to capitalize on the craze. For the most part, these movies were cheap imitations, utilizing the same techniques and dialogue as Scream and populating the cast with TV teen drama actors. Jamie Blankss Urban Legend is no different. In fact, it was perhaps the most shameless Scream rip-off of the era. The film follows a group of trendy archetypical college kids as they slowly realize their campus is the stomping ground of a serial killer who patterns their kills after urban legends. In other words, its Scream based at a college with a killer obsessed with urban legends instead of horror movies. Urban Legend is by no means the pride of the slasher genre, but it does have its moments. At the very least you get to see some obnoxious college students meet their demise in admittedly inventive ways. The executions consist of a hanging, a dog in the microwave, and soda being replaced by chemicals to complete the ol' Pop Rocks death. It's certainly a flawed film, but definitely worthy of a revisit.
Jesse Gumbarge is editor and chief blogger at JarvisCity.com - He loves old-school horror films and starting pointless debates. You can reach out at: JesseGumbarge@JarvisCity.com
