URBAN LEGEND - Blu-ray review

"It happened to someone who knows someone you know..." -- Urban Legend

This probably sounds a little convenient, but I can actually remember the very first time I ever heard an urban legend. I was in the gymnasium of my elementary school during phys-ed, and one of the gossip girls shared the famous story of "Bloody Mary" with the rest of the class. As is normally the case with a group of kids, it wasn't too long before dares were being passed around like hot potatoes to lure any brave 10-year-old into summoning the murderous spirit. All we had to do was turn off the lights to the restroom, venture into the darkness alone, and say "Bloody Mary" three times while staring into the mirror.

I don't recall anyone stepping forward that day, and I know for a fact that I sure as hell didn't volunteer. I'm smart enough to know that I shouldn't be poking sleeping dragons with sharp sticks... whether dragons are real or not.

After "Scream" revived the dying slasher genre during the mid-90s, the huge success of the Wes Craven film inspired a whole slew of horror films hoping to stake a claim in the box office gold mine. Two of the more notable ones recently received the high-definition treatment on Blu-ray by Sony Pictures: "I Know What You Did Last Summer" (which I also reviewed not too long ago) and this one, "Urban Legend."

The central character in "Urban Legend" is Natalie (Alicia Witt), a college student enrolled at Pendleton University. Natalie lugs around more than her fair share of emotional baggage from a tragic event from her past, although the exact details are sketchy until later on in the movie. All we know is that something quite troubling happened to her, and she's trying to move on with her life.

Natalie's road to recovery is cut short when the campus newspaper reports that the decapitated body of one of the other students, Michelle Mancini (Natasha Gregson Wagner), had been found during the night. Most of the school reads about this horrific event and their hearts go out to the victim, but like most of society they're able to quickly push it out of their minds and continue about their daily routine. All except for Natalie, of course, where the tragic news really hits home.

But just as she's sorting through her thoughts and dealing with what happened, the Pendleton murder transforms into a string of serial killings. What's even worse is that the crimes appear to be the handiwork of someone sadistically obsessed with urban legends. The crime scenes are meticulously schemed and staged to re-create popular mythical folktales, and somehow, Natalie soon finds herself at the center of it all.

While it's true that "Urban Legend" is a slasher flick, rookies Jamie Blanks (director) and Silvio Horta (screenwriter) still manage to find ways to keep the movie stimulating all the way through. First is the clever application of a variety of fascinating legends that have been floating around for decades. "Pop Rocks and Soda," "High-beam Initiation," and "Bloody Mary" are just a handful of these twisted tales that creep into the film in one form or another. Part of the experience is wondering which urban legend is coming next, and with so many stuffed into the picture it never gets stale.

The film pays homage to two of classic horror's most iconic faces. Brad Dourif, who brought the psychotic doll "Chucky" to life, makes a memorable appearance as the stuttering gas station attendant. Plus Freddy Krueger himself, Robert Englund, stars as the eccentric Professor Wexler. I never grow tired of seeing these brilliant character actors on screen, and it must have been a stroke of luck and/or genius bringing them aboard.

The cast is also full of the usual stereotypical suspects making the killer's true identity into a guessing game. Could it be one of the two veteran horror actors, or are they just here to throw viewers off kilter? How about Pendleton U's Dean Adams (John Neville) or the grounds security and wannabe cop, Reese (Loretta Devine)? Maybe it's one of Natalie's peers like the campus reporter Paul (Jared Leto), her best friend Brenda (Rebecca Gayheart) or the notorious prankster Damon (Joshua Jackson)? Then we have the cocky and cynical Parker (Michael Rosenbaum), his nymphomaniac radio host girlfriend Sasha (Tara Reid), and who can count out Parker's beer-chugging terrier Hootie (himself)? It's a murder mystery like the boardgame "Clue." Just don't waste a guess that it was Professor Wexler with homemade finger-knives in the boiler room... that's some other movie.

Due to the inexperience of Blanks and Horta at the time, "Urban Legend" still does have a couple of holes that made me scratch my head with wonder about a few things. I'm no filmmaker, but wouldn't the killer's heavy parka disguise be best suited for cold weather? I just think it would be much easier to skulk about that way without drawing too much attention. Also, how does the killer stay twenty steps ahead of everyone else and predict their victim's every move? This kind of intuition would turn the greatest criminal masterminds in Gotham City green with envy.

Video:
Sony delivers another solid catalog title on Blu-ray with a very pristine transfer (MPEG-4 AVC codec) preserving the original theatrical widescreen aspect ratio of 2.40:1. Colors are slightly soft in certain frames, but I didn't notice any noise or other flaws. Strong black levels, especially in darker shadowy situations, make "Urban Legend" a worthy addition to any horror fan's video library.

Audio:
The Blu-ray version of "Urban Legend" features audio tracks in lossless Dolby TrueHD 5.1 in English, French, and Portuguese, as well as additional Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks in Spanish and Thai. While the soundtrack is better than a fair number of Blu-rays I've previewed and there's not much to complain about regarding the ambience, it still didn't really "wow" me. Then again, my ears could be just getting spoiled after hearing some top-notch PCM tracks, though. We also have optional subtitles in English SDH, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, Thai, Indonesian, Dutch, and Arabic, although the commentary only has Dutch and French.

Extras:
The headlining feature is an Audio Commentary with director Jamie Blanks, actor Michael Rosenbaum, and writer Silvio Horta. All three seem to be having a ball while recording it, so it's definitely an entertaining one.

After that, a Making of Featurette (10:09) shows behind-the-scenes footage for a few of the stunts, post-production stuff, and even a deleted sex scene with Michael Rosenbaum and Tara Reid that was actually quite funny. This bonus comes with a commentary by Jamie Blanks.

Sony includes a few trailers on startup for "Blu-ray disc," "21," and "Starship Troopers: Marauder."

The packaging also designates the Blu-ray disc as being BD-Live Enabled, but unfortunately I can't fairly comment on this feature since my Panasonic is only profile 1.1 compliant.

The Final Cut:
Even though I had a few nitpicks, I think I actually had more fun with "Urban Legend" than I did with "I Know What You Did Last Summer." It's obvious that everyone involved had a blast making the movie, and most of the actors step into their roles with a tongue-in-cheek attitude. In the end, the mild satirical approach allows us to put our brains on the shelf for an hour and a half, sit back, and enjoy.