Following a series of strange murders, a group of students at a college campus set out to investigate the crimes and their seeming connection to the killer when they find out the killer is basing their crimes on urban legends and set out to stop the rampage.This is far better than its reputation would have it. Among the better features here is the fact that back when this movie came out the gimmick of using the deaths based on urban legends allowed for some pretty inventive and original kills. The opening backseat driver decapitation is a great one to open a film on, the dead boyfriend suspended over a fleeing car in the woods offers some rather nice suspense with the killer appearing and continually trying to break into the car and the sex/strangulation misidentification is really cool mainly because the circumstances needed to make it true, from the back-story needed to make sure she shouldn't see anything, the killer gaining access to the room without violent means, and the actual sounds of the incident, are all mixed together and makes a marvelous scene. These here really work nicely due to the way they incorporate the whole mythology of the premise into their stalking and work incredibly well at bringing these together. Other great scenes, where she watches someone in the killers known attire stalk one of her friends in a swimming pool while she is helplessly trying to get her attention or the tense stalking of the DJ in the radio station during the thunderstorm make for some additional tense, thrilling scenes, and the way it works out due to knowing what the killer is dressed like is effective enough. That also leads into the twist about the identity of the killer and how their secret is kept, as the way there are so many different red herrings involved and all of them given good alibis to clear them, so by gaining more clues to their identity, it broadens the suspense by making an extra clue for the people to solve. These here really work nicely for the film as there isn't a whole lot really to dislike here. The main problem with this film is that it was aimed for the masses to consume, so it has a lot of toned-down gore. Many of these killings should've been gorier, and it will probably disappoint many out there looking for a good gory slasher film. It also falls into the realm of those films where they're trying to poke fun of the genre at the same time as trying to scare, and here is one example that having a ton of cheap scares aren't that frightening. What makes it worse is that many of the jokes aren't funny, so it is a bit flat in some places. The pacing is a little off in the first half with all the build-ups to the class and what they all mean, but there's not a whole lot else wrong here.Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, some alcohol use, a scene with a dog drinking and a brief mild sex scene.

This film is set in a university where a killer is making real several urban myths that end in the death of local students. Everyone who reads this phrase will probably think "I've seen something like that somewhere..." and you're right. It seems that American directors love to slaughter college students in horror movies, in particular with a few bites of sex and drunkenness to spice things up. It's not usual to be very interesting movies and this is just another movie where naughty and slightly drunk teenagers are killed like dogs on a freeway. The script is simple, taking advantage of a huge variety of US urban myths to support itself and creating around a mysterious murderer a cross web of suspicions (if you remembered "Scream", I also remembered watching). The actors are deeply amateur and never surprise. In fact, the cast leaves much to be desired for the level of interpretive quality, but nothing that we were not expecting from a film of this level. Alicia Witt stands out in the midst of the kids around her, but she's still a very raw and little-worked talent. In the end, you think they should all die because they are just idiots. As a horror movie is bad because it ends up getting funny and making you laugh, but if you look for a light movie that you want to watch without thinking too much about it, this movie will do.

"Urban Legend" is a movie that clearly tries to cash in on the slasher revival started by "Scream", but I don't mind that because it's a very well-made horror movie. It looks slick, but some of the false scares genuinely work and the murders based on urban legends are a good addition (even though they bail on that pretty quickly). The whodunit aspect is also entertaining, there are so many red herrings thrown around in this movie. However, the climax is pretty disappointing. When you find out who the killer is in "Scream", you're genuinely surprised: it's a movie that's even more fun to watch the second time, because then you can puzzle it all together. The revelation in "Urban Legend" on the other hand makes no sense whatsoever, and you just feel cheated by the movie. Thankfully you've seen plenty of good kill scenes by then, so it's a mistake that's easy to forgive.

Alright here's the deal - the movie itself makes no sense. VERY unrealistic. The ending is ridiculous and illogical. BUT - If you like the typical slasher, urban legend type movies (When A Stranger Calls, Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer series, etc.) then you'll enjoy watching this. If you watch horror movies to laugh at the horrible acting, like I do, then this is a definite movie. Great to watch with friends and make fun of the logic of the writers and the annoying blonde girl screaming and doing dumb stuff. Basically, if you're looking for a smart psychological thriller, horror type movie this is NOT for you. If you're looking for a fast paced and stupid movie to have a good time with, you should watch Urban Legend.