Urban Legend: Final Cut

A student filmmaker's thesis project encounters production problems when the actors and crew of her film start getting killed by a monstrous force.

Jennifer Morrison stars as Amy Mayfield, a student at a prestigious film school, unsure about what her thesis film is going to be. But after a conversation with security guard Reese Wilson about her experience with a series of murders that had happened on the campus she had previously worked in, she is inspired to make a film about a serial killer murdering in the fashion of urban legends.

I rewatched this on Blu-ray in the new collector's edition trilogy, although I have seen the film in the past. The film is carried by Morrison's gratifying performance, alongside Loretta Davis bringing comic relief to the film. Where the film succeeds is in its classiness as a horror picture, and director John Ottman has proven that he can successfully cross over from being, not only a gifted composer but also a respectable filmmaker. The film embraces the horror genre wholeheartedly and giving us a nail-biting, heart-jolting experience. Where I found the film fell short is the fact it's very keen on keeping the film (mostly) bloodless and a lot of the deaths happen off-screen or cut away just as it happens, although I think the film would've benefitted from more gore and brutality. Which is not something I would normally say. The end of the film wraps up reminiscent of an episode of "Scooby-Doo" with a nice nod to the original courtesy of Rebecca Gayheart. It's a fun watch.

"Urban Legends: Final Cut" is a sequel to the 1998 slasher movie "Urban Legend". The sequel concerns a group of college coeds, primarily lead by aspiring film director Amy Mayfield. Amy is trying to direct a horror film for her latest project, and is striving to be awarded the Hitchock Award from her school. She introduces the idea of a horror film based on urban legends, but after the crew of filmmakers begin to shoot their project, cast and crew members begin to disappear one by one. The more of the film that is shot, the more students begin to die. Who is responsible for the killing? Could it be Travis' twin brother Trevor? Or could it be someone else? Who knows? Who cares?

The original "Urban Legend" wasn't Oscar worthy but it had a semi-original story, some horror clichés tossed in. But for the most part, it was a decent slasher film. This follow-up is nowhere near the first film. The story was somewhat weak, and it was as clichéd as could be - bumps in the dark, eerie shadows, a misrepresenting interlude, and a killer who can appear out of thin air. The ending wasn't as shocking as the filmmakers were expecting it to be, and the little sequence before the credits roll tied this film to the original, but for what purpose? Reese, the female campus security cop from the original, returns in this film as the a new security guard on this campus, and does give a few laughs with her "Foxy Brown" imitations. The Amy character, our leading woman, does make some smart moves in the film, but all of the others make dumb decisions that cost them their lives. The scene that stood out the most of the whole film was the infamous "kidney" scene, which was actually pretty well constructed and was disgusting enough.

Overall, "Urban Legends: Final Cut" isn't anything great. The story wasn't anything we haven't seen before, it's your basic "find out who the killer is" horror movie. It serves well as a gory slasher flick, but there is nothing new that it has to offer and very little surprises at all. Put all that aside, fans of the first movie may want to check this out. But, while the original wasn't great, I can confidently say it was better than the sequel. 5/10.

A typical 2nd installment in the series. I actually like the 2nd one a little better and I like all the new faces in this movie. It was not scary but a better screenplay then the first. It a slasher movie and a good script to play wih but it was so predicdible. I like Joey Lawrene but not enough screen time and the rest of the cast is going to do other and better films but just take it as it is as horror movie and nothing else. Out of 4 stars I give it 2 1/2 stars.

Urban Legends: Final Cut starts off on the right note just like the original. It doesn't have horror classic written all over it like the first one did when it began but it still starts off above average. However just like the orignal once the film begins to progress it slowly turns into another crappy slasher film.

The premise uses the whole movie within a movie tie in that is quite frankly getting a bit tired. Our new heroine is trying to win the prestigious Hitchcock Award for her new film which is about a serial killer who kills his victims based on Urban Legends. however once murders begin to happen on the set it becomes much harder to seperate fact from fiction.

What i Liked:

The heroine in this film is far more engaging than the one from the first film. She gives an honest performance and despite a tepid script she holds her own.

Very interesting to see Joey...no i mean Joseph Lawrence in this film. I joked about him being in it when i first heard about it but he was actually kinda good. In fact i wish he could've been in it more because he provides some pretty funny moments in the film.

i liked how it wasn't just a slasher film. During certain moments it played like a thriller and for at least the majority of the film the whodunit aspect is quite engaging.

i liked the use of seperating fact from fiction. That was a bit interesting. The scene where thry begin to watch Amy's reel and the killer switches it to the death he filmed was pretty intense.

What i didn't Like:

Where in the hell were the urban legend deaths. We got one and that was it. The one they has was pretty good but the film is called urban legend you would tihnk they would utilize that.

The last half of the film is even more ludicrious than the one in the first film. i found my self dumbfounded that they actually were allowed to produce the last half of this film. what a disappointed.

You can tell that we're running out of costumes for the killer to wear. The fencing mask and black apparel might seem frightening to some but all i kept thinking was the killer looks like a giant micro-phone.

The acting, with the exception of two people, is so painfully bad. My two year old brother could even act circles around these people.

This might not say much but at least this sequelis better than something like I Still Know What you did Last Summer. It barely sinks below the level of the original and i guess that says something. It's no film masterpiece but i tihnk fans of the first film may enjoy it.

5/10

URBAN LEGENDS: FINAL CUT

Aspect ratio: 2.39:1

Sound formats: Dolby Digital / DTS / SDDS

Several film students at an isolated university campus are targeted by a serial killer who patterns his/her crimes after various urban legends.

John Ottman's unnecessary sequel is a disastrous jumble of humor and horror which isn't nearly as funny or frightening as the filmmakers might have hoped, and the visual references to various classic movies (most notably the VERTIGO-inspired climax) seem entirely superfluous. Most of the murders are routine, except for a grisly decapitation inspired by a similar sequence in Dario Argento's INFERNO (1980), but the rest of the movie adheres strictly to formula, as a masked killer strives to frame weak-willed heroine Jennifer Morrison for a series of brutal crimes. Only two of the characters from the original URBAN LEGEND (1998) have been retained: Loretta Devine as the campus security guard whose aspirations toward COFFY-style bravery are finally realized during a climactic confrontation with the killer, when he/she makes the mistake of trying to punch her out (Devine retaliates with the best line of dialogue in the entire movie!), and Rebecca Gayheart in an unbilled cameo which should raise a smile amongst devotees of the original film.

The supporting cast is handsome but interchangeable, including Matthew Davis (TIGERLAND) as Morrison's potential love interest, Jessica Cauffiel (VALENTINE) as a dizzy would-be actress whose final sequence resembles one of the more famous set-pieces from PEEPING TOM (1959), Eva Mendes (ONCE UPON A TIME IN Mexico) as a statuesque lesbian beauty whose fondness for Morrison lands her in a whole heap of trouble, and Hart Bochner (APARTMENT ZERO, SUPERGIRL) as an unlikely college professor. Production values are polished, but the movie amounts to little more than an uninspired rehash, and represents an inauspicious debut for former composer/editor Ottman (THE USUAL SUSPECTS). Also starring Joseph Lawrence, Anson Mount and Marco Hofschneider.