Killer Legends

The two presenters here are certainly no Louis Theroux. Do you remember the really annoying guy that would try scare others with creepy campfire stories on school camps? Well he is back and this is his documentary. For such interesting subject matter, it's testament to the incompetence of the filmmakers that they somehow manage to balls it up so badly.

It comes across highly exploitative and cheap in nature, with the presenters far too often the center of the film, instead of the subject matter itself. It features 4 'very American' urban legends. It would have been better off split into mini episodes as part of a Netflix series hosted by someone like David Farrier - because it doesn't quite work as a documentary.

Just ends up being two amateurs pointing at trees in the dark. It tries too hard to be scary, with not only on-site nighttime footage, but cut-shots of horror movies loosely based on the urban legends. The documentary didn't even come to much of a conclusion on the subject of urban legends.

Don't watch if you have a fear of clowns - though that segment was by far the most interesting part.

I loved Joshua Zeman's first documentary Cropsey even though it was frustratingly short on details and hard facts. Killer Legends was uneven and hard to follow, especially the first segment about the hookman killing a couple in a lover's lane in Texas. It got better and more focused later, especially the candyman segment but it just wasn't as good as Cropsey. Watch that instead of this one.

I decided that I needed to watch the Killer Legends documentary tonight. This was a serendipitous choice, it seems, since I just recently watched the meta sequel to The Town That Dreaded Sundown (sharing the same title), considering that this documentary begins with an exploration into that particular series of murders in Texarkana. It goes on from there to a chilling story of a real life incident of a child dying on Halloween night from poisoned candy as well as the basis for the urban legends that provide the substrate for numerous movies including When a Stranger Calls. This was a terrific documentary about a truly fascinating subject...and I wish that I had thought to do it myself. It would be an absolutely captivating thing to do with my time, traveling around and investigating the horrifying real life crimes that have birthed the numerous urban legends we grow up hearing and sharing with others.

Picked randomly on Netflix i found the content directly relating to each incident quit fascinating. Problem is the film comes off amateurish due to the fact that the documentarian(s) find it necessary to insert themselves with filmed commentary, including the two of them bumbling around on location attempting to identify murder sites and rather pretentiously speculating on the case circumstances and the killers motives. Most superfluous and unnecessary are the occasional, random personal reaction shots during interviews or in hotels rooms while conducting research. Wish i could give more positive feedback. The filmmaker's just seem to be stretching this a bit, most likely due limited resources on the chosen subjects.

I came across this quite by accident mistaking it for something else, I am however very happy I did.

This feature length documentary looks at four urban legends and their origins, where did they come from and did they start with an element of truth?

Those that are looked at are the babysitter killer, the hook man, tainted Halloween candy and the killer clown phenomenon and all are very engrossing.

Sadly with some they do digress somewhat and only look into a story that vaguely resembles it, but the stories are so well told and presented I really couldn't care less.

I've never seen anything by Joshua Zeman, his methods appeal to me and I'll be actively seeking out more of his work now.

The subject matter is certainly grim, crime scene photos and grisly descriptions don't help matters but if you can stomach it this is an interesting and enjoyable piece.

The Good:

Very well made

Extremely engaging

Likeable hosts

The Bad:

Some of the stories do digress from the source material

Could have been a tad longer

Things I Learnt From This Documentary:

Be not afraid of the story, be afraid of the storyteller

I find a weird appeal in all things clown

I always thought the tainted Halloween candy might have been a Christian ploy to keep people away from the Pagan holiday that is Hallows Eve