Urban Legends: Final Cut

Dom Robinson reviews

Urban Legends: Final CutDistributed by

Columbia TriStar

• Cert:
• Cat.no: CDR 31149
• Running time: 94 minutes
• Year: 2000
• Pressing: 2001
• Region(s): 2, PAL
• Chapters: 28 plus extras
• Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
• Languages: English, German
• Subtitles: 17 languages available
• Widescreen: 2.35:1 (Anamorphic Panavision)
• 16:9-Enhanced: Yes
• Macrovision: Yes
• Disc Format: DVD 9
• Price: £19.99
• Extras: Gag Reel, Making-of Featurette, Deleted Scenes, Trailer,Talent Profiles, Director’s Commentary
  

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  Director:

  John Ottman

  (Urban Legends: Final Cut)

Producers:

Gina Matthews, Neal H. Moritz and Richard Luke Rothschild

Screenplay:

Paul Harris Boardman and Scott Derrickson

Music:

John Ottman

Cast:

Amy Mayfield: Jennifer Morrison
Travis: Matthew Davis
Professor Solomon: Hart Bochner
Reese Wilson: Loretta Devine
Vanessa Valdeon: Eva Mendes
Graham Manning: Joey Lawrence
Toby Belcher: Anson Mount
Sandra Petruzz: Jessica Cauffiel
Stan Washington: Anthony Anderson

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I haven’t seen the first movie, but I doubt that’ll make muchdifference for a slasher flick like Urban Legends: Final Cutand you know you’re onto a loser with a horror film that relies on gore buthas been given a certificate 15.

There’s a killer on the loose (again), at a different university this time.Whether he did the same in the last film I neither know nor care but the onehere kidnaps students, has a penchant for stealing body parts – so he’dprobably be top of the pile for the doctor’s job at Alder Hey Children’sHospital – and then offs them, although there’s a complete lack ofsuspense and conviction in the death scenes. In the case of the first murder,I doubt very much that a broken window pane would suffice as a replacementfor a guillotine.

The cast of unknowns playing film students, led by blonde Jennifer Morrisonas Amy Mayfield, include the obligatory other ditzy blondes, a Spanish lesbian,an assertive male with an attitude, a guy with designer stubble, a geek and a fat black guy. Ofcourse all such films must fulfil these roles so we don’t get them confusedwhen its their turn to bite the bullet. Given the film student idea, you cancount on some people pretending to be dead because they know when to use theketchup. The only recognisable actor is Hart Bochner as Professor Solomonas he played Ellis inDie Hard,the man who tried to convince Alan Rickman that he was a good friend of Bruce’sand ended up getting shot.

Urban Legends: Final Cut fails because it’s all been done beforemany times and better. Also, there’s too much time spent pissing about andtalking and too few gory murders which is what we’ve pressed ‘play’ on theDVD machine for. Double-bill this withCherry Fallsif you want to really suffer.

The film also includes an uncredited cameo from the original movie’sRebecca Gayheart as a nurse.

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Oh, rats.

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The film is presented in the original 2.35:1 widescreen ratio and is anamorphic.It looks decent enough and many of the scenes are in near-darkness so makesure there’s no light on when you watch it otherwise it’ll be difficult to seewhat’s going on.The average bitrate is 5.90Mb/s, occasionally peaking over 9Mb/s.

Dolby Digital 5.1 is here in English and German. For such a pedestrian flickyou know exactly when the score will get erratic as needs be.

The first extra is a trailer and takes the film’s only cut, for a second,because the BBFC won’t allow simulated oral sex in a 15-cert trailer anddidn’t want to pass an 18-cert trailer for a 15-cert film. (It’s listed under”Urban Legend: Final Cut”, without the ‘s’ that the title should hold.)

There’s also a five-minute Gag Reel of outtakes, seven brief DeletedScenes, each with optional director’s commentary, Talent Profilesfor the director and four of the main stars, a feature-length Director’sCommentary track and a 3½-minute Making-of Featurette which ismore like an extended trailer containing soundbites from the cast and a voiceoverfrom “that man”, Don La Fontaine”.

The disc contains 28 chapters and subtitles in 17 languages:English, German, Dutch, Polish, Bulgarian, Czech, Hungarian, Icelandic,Hindi, Hebrew, Turkish, Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian, Greek andArabic.The menus are static and silent.

FILM CONTENT
PICTURE QUALITY
SOUND QUALITY
EXTRAS


OVERALLReview copyright © Dominic Robinson, 2001.