Urban
Legends:
Final
Cut Film Review
A sucker for late 90s horror, I loved Urban Legend. But deep in my heart I suspected the sequel would suck. And it did. Released only two years later, Urban Legends: Final Cut takes place at a different university and with an entirely different cast, except for security guard Reese. Amy (played by Jennifer Morrison) and her fellow film students are busy working on their senior thesis film projects, but Amy doesn’t have an idea for hers. After a conversation with Reese, Amy decides to shoot a film based on the urban legends murders at Pendleton University. Unfortunately for her, as she films the movie her crew starts to die off.
There’s not much to like about this movie. Featuring C-list actors from the 90s, the plot is weak at best. The first film received criticism for knocking off Scream, which I disagreed with, but this plot is a definite Scream knockoff. I hated that Scream, too. None of the characters are particularly interesting and the plot development is non-existent. The ending is incredibly far-fetched and even the killer’s costume is pretty lame compared to the first. Oh and let’s not forget an extremely stupid plot twist involving a set of twins. But hands down, the biggest disappointment is that this film doesn’t really feature any urban legends. Apparently they used them all up in the first. Aside from the kidney thief legend featured at the beginning of the movie, most of the murders are just lame ways to die. I guess one could argue urban legends aren’t real, so they can actually be whatever you want, but these are terrible. The reason the first film is so fun and scary is because the legends it portrays are familiar and resonate with the audience. That’s not the case with this film, which basically undermines the entire point.
So what did I like about this movie? It started well, especially with the kidney thief legend, and it seemed to have potential. I enjoyed the return of Reese and her impact on this film. Any mention of the previous film was nice and I wish there were more. But the best part, and the reason it got even as high as a three, is something I can’t reveal. Just know fans of the first film will appreciate a bit of a twist at the end of the movie.
About as far from scary and interesting as horror films go, Urban Legends: Final Cut is a waste of a sequel. I’ve seen worse follow-ups, but this film is an extremely disappointing continuation of such a great first film. The serial killer population is taking a big hit with this weak entry; hopefully an awesome killer comes around to revive them.
If you liked Urban Legends: Final Cut, you might also like Scream, Scream 2 and Scream 3.