urban legend surprised me . based on the last few films the genre has produced ( including but not exclusive to the likes of i know what you did last summer , disturbing behavior and the disappointing halloween : h20 ) , i was positive that i was in store for another mildly entertaining but silly and ultimately boring rehash of the scream phenomena . thankfully , legend rose above it's soggy premise to become not only a hip , scary and stylish entertainment , but also what will probably become one of the best films of the year . you're all familiar with the plot ; a bunch of overly horny teenagers get systematically slaughtered by a masked maniac who's identity is not revealed until the closing moments of the film when it turns out to be , you guessed it ; everybody's favorite veteran of the whodunit flicks . . . the only person you didn't suspect ! however , just because legend doesn't really break any new ground as far as literary or even technical achievements go does not mean that it can't qualify as first-class entertainment . it was , believe it or not , one of the funnest times i've had at the movies all year . the thing is , i'm not really sure what made this particular stab ( pardon the pun ) at the genre seem so fresh and alive . maybe it was the above-par performances by the movie's two leads ( jared leto and " cybil " actress alicia witt ) . or , it could have been the on- target direction by jamie blanks . more likely , though , it was because of the inspired premise . i don't think i need to tell you that a killer hacking people up ala urban folklore is much more frightening than a killer fisherman . urban legend begins with a sequence that reminded me of the classic scream opener , not so much in plotting as in attention to detail that makes for an absolutely chilling teaser for the rest of the film . a pretty young coed is driving down a deserted road when ( gasp ! ) a gas problem ( hee-hee ) forces her to stop at an equally deserted gas station for a refill . one problem , though . would you want to stop at a station run by brad dourif ? i thought not . predictably , the attendant ends up coaxing her into the main building to sort out a problem with the credit card company . it's odd , though , when you pick up a phone to realize that nobody's on the other line . naturally , the potential victim escapes into her car and drives off . and the when we least expect it . . . whack ! ! ! a decapitation . it turns out that the creepy looking attendant was just trying to warn her about the maniac in the back seat of the car . so who is it this time ? the obvious candidate is the slightly off-kilter professor at the college the girl went to ( none other than freddy kruger himself , robert englund ) , who teaches a class on urban legends . a-ha . or could it be the fame-hungry local journalist ( leto ) looking for a meaty story to put on his resume ? like all movies of this nature , one of the chief pleasures is trying to guess whodunit . and it turns out to be , of course , the one you didn't suspect . i'm not going to pretend urban legend is anything more than it is , but i must give credit where credit is due . and this flick definitely deserves credit for being what not many other recent horror films have been . . . fun . * complimentary movie ticket courtesy of valley cinemas in lodi , ca
