Urban Legends: Final Cut (88 Films) Blu-ray Review

Urban Legends: Final Cut should have been a good flick. A film set at a film school where a short film about urban legends is being made. There is so much promise, but it is squandered by a piss poor script with some really lazy direction.

Studio: 88 Films
Release Date: September 22nd, 2000 (theatrical)

March 29th, 2021 (blu-ray)
Run Time: 1 hour 38 minutes 20 seconds
Region Code: B (locked)

Picture: 1080p (2.40:1 aspect ratio)
Sound: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1

English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
Subtitles: English
Slipcover: Yes (Hard box)
Digital Copy: No
Starring: Jennifer Morrison, Matthew Davis, Hart Bochner, Loretta Devine, Joey Lawrence, Anson Mount, and Eva Mendes

Written by Paul Harris Boardman and Scott Derrickson

Directed by John Ottman
Rating: BBFC: 15 (strong horror, violence, threat)

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Poster

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What's It About?

Amy Mayfield (Morrison), a student at Alpine University who struggles to complete her thesis film on urban legends - only to have her crew members fall prey to fatal 'accidents.' Suspicious, Amy investigates and discovers a much more sinister hand at work. Now she must unmask the killer before she, too, becomes an urban legend.

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Film Review

You would think that a slasher movie taking place at a film school would give us a cast of unbearably snarky characters we can't wait to die in horrible ways, but that isn't the case. Sure, there is a snarky character or two, but the vast majority of the characters here are actually nice people we want to see survive. The characters don't stand around arguing while dropping clever film references. We have characters who seem like real people and they have real conversations and goof around like friends would. Now, what about the rest of the film? It's not very good. The original URBAN LEGEND had a style to it. The chase and stalk scenes were exciting and well done with tons of filmmaking flourishes all around. Here, the filmmaking is very standard with nothing really standing out from anything else. Even the best scene in the film, the scene where the girl wakes up in the bathtub after having her kidney removed, is pretty standard stuff. That's what this film is: it's standard slasher stuff. It's done well enough, but there isn't anything exciting or scary. This is a scare-less horror film.

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Video/Audio

URBAN LEGENDS: FINAL CUT comes to blu-ray with a very dated and somewhat lackluster transfer. The thing that you will notice right off the bat is how soft the transfer is. The daytime scenes look a fine, but the nighttime scenes lack deep blacks. Detail is nice in some scenes and not so nice in others. Colors are fine as well without anything really jumping out. This could have benefitted greatly from a newer transfer.

The sound is nice with dialogue sounding nice throughout. The surrounds get a decent enough workout during the opening plane scene, and the score sounds good.

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Extras/Packaging

Two commentary tracks. The one with John Ottman is fine. There some good information to be found. The one with The Hysteria Continues is where it's at. These guys talk about all different aspects of the film and its making, all with their own opinions on the film.

A retrospective making-of is up first and it's pretty standard stuff. Everybody talking positively about the film and their experiences making it. Following that is an interview with actress Jessica Cauffiel, who is lively and full of stories. Out of any of the video-based special features, this one is by far the best. Seven deleted scenes are up next and all of them were rightfully cut. Director John Ottman gives us commentary over the scenes. A vintage making-of, gag reel, and the film's original theatrical trailer round out this special features package.

Audio Commentary with director John Ottman
Audio Commentary with The Hysteria Continues
The Legend Continues: Urban Legends: Final Cut (17m 4s, HD, 1.78:1)
Interview with actress Jessica Cauffiel (16m 41s, HD, 1.78:1)
Deleted Scenes (8m 39s, SD, 2.40:1, 4x3)
Deleted Scenes with Commentary by director John Ottman (8m 39s, SD, 2.40:1, 4x3)
Archive "Making Of" Featurette (3m 35s, SD, 1.33:1)
Original Trailer (1m 49s, HD, 2.40:1)
Gag Reel (4m 58s, SD, 2.40:1, 4x3)

The packaging is just like the first Urban Legend film. There is the theatrical poster for the front cover, a still from the film as the inner art, and the same poster used for the disc art. All of this comes in a non-eco-friendly blu-ray case.

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Overall

URBAN LEGENDS: FINAL CUT is yet another example of the horrible wave of slasher films that showed up after the success of SCREAM. While the characters are much more likable here than in the first film, they are given a by the numbers slasher script to be a part of. Had these characters been in the first film, that film would have been a bonafide classic. The film just isn't very good. The blu-ray is pretty good overall. The picture could have used some sprucing up, but the audio and special features kind of makeup for that.

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Extras/Menus