#103 - Urban Legends | Franchise Retrospective

Many horror fans have either watched or heard of the Urban Legend film from 1998 but did you know there were two sequels produced in 2000 and 2005?

Join BP, Coop and Justin as we analyse each movie and discuss the use of urban legends in film, Slenderman, modern day horror folklore and yes we even shine a light on the attempted Urban Legend reboot from 2020 that would've explored AI and deepfake technology.

Urban Legend (1998) was directed by Jamie Blanks, written by Silvio Horta, and starred Jared Leto, Alicia Witt, Rebecca Gayheart, Tara Reid, and Michael Rosenbaum, and was the first installment in the Urban Legend film series. Its plot focuses on a series of murders on the campus of a private New England university, all of which appear to be modelled after popular urban legends. In addition to its younger cast, the film features supporting performances from Robert Englund, Danielle Harris, Loretta Devine, John Neville, Natasha Gregson Wagner, and Brad Dourif.

Urban Legends: Final Cut (2000) was directed by John Ottman in his directorial debut, and starred Jennifer Morrison, Matthew Davis, Hart Bochner, Joseph Lawrence, Anthony Anderson, and Loretta Devine. It is the second installment in the Urban Legend film series and follows a film student being stalked by a serial killer in a fencing mask, who begins murdering the crew members of her thesis film about urban legends.

Urban Legends: Bloody Mary (2005) is a direct-to-video supernatural slasher film directed by Mary Lambert, and starred Kate Mara, Robert Vito, Tina Lifford, Ed Marinaro and Lillith Fields. It is the third and final installment in the Urban Legend film series, although it is almost entirely unrelated to both of the films that came before it, using supernatural elements instead of a whodunit formula. The film follows three high school students who inadvertently summon the ghost of a dead high-school girl, who starts coming after her old classmates

.In April 2025, it was announced that a new reboot was in development by Screen Gems, with Shanrah Wakefield writing the script. Gary Dauberman and Neal H. Moritz are set to produce, with the story aiming to be "an examination of what an urban legend looks like in a post-digital world."

CHAPTERS

00:00 introduction

00:48 Title Sequence

1:11 Introducing Urban Legends

2:00 What are urban legends?

3:33 Real-Life Nambucca Heads Urban Legend

6:20 Franchise Overview

8:06 Urban Legends (1998) – The Good and Bad

12:41 Is Brenda a good villain?

15:40 Are the opening and ending scenes good?

18:45 Urban Legends: Final Cut (2000) - The Good and Bad

26:03 Was the teacher a good villain?27:35 Are the opening and ending scenes good?

31:35 Urban Legends: Bloody Mary (2005) – The Good and Bad

40:00 Tanning beds and Final Destination 3

43:22 Is the ending and villain reveal any good?

44:45 Cancelled reboot involving deepfakes and AI

49:23 Modern ‘Urban Legends’ and Slenderman

51:25 Have you won a copy of The substance on 4K Ultra HD?

52:01 Conclusion

53:02 Thank you for watching

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