215: Urban Legend (1998)

SPEAKER_03 0:04

This whole episode is Chris apologizing for spoiling the movie that Paris said he saw.

SPEAKER_01 0:15

Greetings and salutations, and welcome to Hacker Slash. If you're joining us again, welcome back. Sounds like a virus raising more than just the dead in there. If this is your first time listening, welcome to the party. We are a horror movie review podcast dedicated to telling you whether a movie is a hack. A total joke, a waste of time, or a slash.

SPEAKER_05 0:32

Totally killer, pun intended.

SPEAKER_01 0:34

We believe horror is for everyone, and as such, we're ringing these movies with the perspective we've gained from our varying walks of life and the flavors of fear we fancy most. My name is Chris, I'm your friendly neighborhood slasher enthusiast. This week I'm joined by the Gore Lover Alexis, an early edition of Karma Sutra with illustrations, the cowardly creeper Ryan, yeah, there's no reason a dog can't be hip. And the Screaming Queen Paris. Hey, you'd better check her pulse. She's looked like that for years. The people have spoken and our patients have decided we're checking out another classic 90s slasher. But before we jump back in time, we have some follow-up.

SPEAKER_05 1:06

Let's follow up on a movie and honestly travel even further back in time because we recently reviewed The Howling, a film that I actually was not here to review and also didn't watch. But from what I've heard, it sounds wild. Chris said that there was like a porno theater and a werewolf sex cult. That is accurate. So maybe I'll watch it one day. But as always, we wanted to hear what our listeners thought, and the results are in. 18% gave it a hack, and 82% gave it a slash, which I feel like is really good.

SPEAKER_03 1:38

The people love werewolves.

SPEAKER_05 1:40

And we have a couple comments from our listeners. Uh, these actually come straight from our Discord. If you're not already a member of our Discord, what are you doing? Join the Discord. Let's go. Uh, this comment comes from Samurai Shy. They said, if you enjoyed the howling, or just like werewolf movies, absolutely peep this fucking gem because I love this movie. The way the creatures are depicted terrified me as a kid because holy shit, werewolves are scary. And then posted the poster for the movie Dog Soldiers.

SPEAKER_01 2:06

Dog Soldiers is also done by the same director as The Descent.

SPEAKER_05 2:10

Oh wow. I know. So it like might actually be good.

SPEAKER_01 2:13

Get you a man who can do both.

SPEAKER_05 2:15

We have another comment from Nathan who said, I had no idea there were eight howling movies before I watched this. And that concerns me as a as a viewer.

SPEAKER_01 2:24

Yeah, I think once you get further along into the franchise, they start they I think they did a movie that's more like the original novel, the howling is actually based on.

SPEAKER_05 2:33

And finally, we have a comment from Tony who said this. Am I the only one that thought Bill was trying to pull off Tom Atkins? And did anyone else get the Rosemary's Baby vibe with the phone booth scene and the bookstore scene?

SPEAKER_01 2:45

I personally didn't, but we will be doing Rosemary's Baby semi-soon. So maybe um maybe in retrospect I'll pick up on it.

SPEAKER_05 2:52

Ryan, anything to say about the Tom Atkins vibe?

SPEAKER_01 2:55

I feel like we talked about him being Tom Atkinsy.

SPEAKER_03 2:58

In the sense that he was semi-slimy, yeah. Yeah, wanting to be. He wanted to be Tom Atkins. He was never as hot as Tom Atkins was.

SPEAKER_05 3:04

Wow, okay, Ryan, simping for Tom Atkins.

SPEAKER_03 3:07

I'm joking, you know a time.

SPEAKER_01 3:09

Uh it's like a a thing you have to do at this point, I think.

SPEAKER_05 3:13

And that's our follow-up.

SPEAKER_01 3:14

Well, while the howling focused on myths and iconic monsters that lurked in fanciful stories, this week's film explores a different kind of story. Our patrons have voted for us to review a film which pulls back from the famed monsters that often grace our screen and instead turns us to the stories that circulate in our neighborhoods and on Facebook. This film follows a group of college students surrounded by tragedy. Tragedy that seems eerily similar to tales they've heard before. This week, after winning 47% of the overall patron vote, we're talking about the 1998 film Urban Legend.

SPEAKER_03 3:46

Yes, and this was nominated by one of our newer patrons, Ashley, who we adore. And Ashley said, I have such vivid memories of watching this movie constantly as a tween slash teen. Every time we rented a movie, we had to rent this one. It's peak nostalgia and 90s era horror slasher. It's can't be and fun, and the acting is better than it has any right to be. There were lots of votes for all of our other options, but Urban Legend was a tempting choice for people who haven't seen it in a while. And personally, I was very excited about it. And then Amber, one of our other patrons, said, I can't wait to give Urban Legend another watch to see how it's held up over the years. I remember this being a fun and cheeky slasher from memory. This is a slash. Curious to hear the outcome of this episode.

SPEAKER_01 4:26

I'm also super curious. Let's get down to business. Who here has seen Urban Legend before?

SPEAKER_03 4:32

You know, I haven't seen it, but I was very excited because I've always consistently really enjoyed the 90s movies that we've covered.

SPEAKER_02 4:39

That's so interesting. I thought you had seen this because you were so excited about it.

SPEAKER_03 4:43

I was told that it would be up my alley. And and again, the 90s. Like, like I just I want to feel what I felt from the faculty. I want it again. Hmm.

SPEAKER_01 4:52

This is very different from the faculty, but let the record show that when Ryan was originally going to miss this recording, we swapped two weeks just so she could watch this movie.

SPEAKER_02 5:01

I'm glad we did. It's so funny because until I was putting my notes in for this movie and doing a lot of the information to get you all prepared for the episode. Well, I saw two characters in particular, and I was like, yep, I've definitely seen this. They were it two very great characters in this movie, memorable, I should say.

SPEAKER_05 5:22

So going into our watch-along, I was fully convinced that I had seen this movie before, and as it turns out, I have never seen this movie before. So I don't know what I was thinking. I feel like I've seen the beginning, and I was familiar with a lot of the urban legends, and I love Rebecca Gayhart, but somehow this never made it to my screens until this time.

SPEAKER_01 5:46

Honestly, it was a shocking turn of events because I had even been talking to Paris this whole time as if he had seen it. And so I'm like sharing little details or making little comments about a certain kitchen appliance, and it's impacted it had on me. And he's like, What? What happens in this movie? It was probably uh the most shocking moment of that whole watch-along. Now, obviously, going into this, I've seen this a ton before, but I hadn't seen it in many, many years, since maybe like the early 2000s. So it's been a minimum of 15 years since seeing this movie, at the most recent. And one of the things that I have always remembered about this franchise is what a gem I thought its sequel to be. And I really thought, like, you know, out of the things that I remember from both movies, the sequel is a little bit campy, it's a little bit cheesy, but I just have such fond memories of it. And I obviously remember the iconic opening scene to this movie and how it had total eclipse of the heart playing on repeat in my family's car for a really long time. So I was expecting this to be a fun time. I mean, even just recommending that Paris and I do the watch along for it, I thought we'd just, you know, have some laughs and uh and have some fun together. It's like a very lighthearted film. But what were you all expecting?

SPEAKER_02 7:02

Well, it was interesting since I remembered this movie, but it took me a while. You know, I was like, it's probably gonna be very stereotypical, like I remember it being, you know, like I know what you did last summer, the faculty, all final destinations. But you know, I feel like this movie was gonna have a greater payoff than some of those because, you know, you got some star-studied casts, and you got Charles Lee Ray, you got Freddie, you got Danielle Harris. So you got a bunch of people in this movie that I was like, you know, this payoff is gonna be good. Yeah, I had some high expectations.

SPEAKER_03 7:35

Again, I was kind of prepared, like, hey, this might be something you enjoy by Chris, by one of my coworkers, who I tend to go and be like, why did you tell me I would like this movie? I hate it. Um, but they seemed confident that I would enjoy it. So I guess I had high expectations, but I didn't really know what I was in for. I was just kind of as usual along for the ride.

SPEAKER_05 7:56

So when I was under the impression that I had seen this before, I remembered it being a slash, which is a fabrication that my mind came up with on its own. But at that time when I was going into it, I was like, okay, I feel like people always talk about 90 slashers. It goes Scream, I know what you did last summer, and then Urban Legend. And Urban Legend is in that like third place spot. So I wasn't expecting it to be as good as either of those films, but because of how much I love those two, I was assuming that I liked this one or would like this one going into it.

SPEAKER_03 8:25

But here's my beef with that. I know what you did last summer sucks.

SPEAKER_05 8:28

False.

SPEAKER_03 8:30

I'm pretty sure it's true.

SPEAKER_01 8:32

Honestly, Ryan, for as much as I know, I mentioned to you, like, hey, it's a 90 slasher, so if there is a slasher you're gonna like, it's probably gonna end up being this because of the likelihood of 90s. But then I I realized wait, if we look at like the big two, you're really only 50-50 on 90 slashers. I mean, with the exception of like Scream 2, right? Like you you did enjoy Scream 2, but it was a little bit dicey territory there, so I'm excited to see how this panned out for you. I think one of the things that struck me the most was still how fun this movie was while I was watching it. And aside from just having Paris' company and talking shit throughout the whole movie, this movie, like beat for beat, it truly held up to what I remembered of like a fun, light-hearted, in some moments really gross movie. But it was also one of those things where I wasn't bored watching it. Again, not just from the company, but because of the story. Uh, I found that obviously, like looking back now as an adult, having not seen this since I was a kid, there's a lot more to pick up on in terms of undertone and subtext. And then also the very adult jokes that are really thrown in there at the beginning, it was a fun experience to pick this up again after so many years.

SPEAKER_05 9:46

Having watched this for the first time alongside you, Chris, I had a pretty different experience. Uh, I think you recall the first name that popped up in the opening credits was Jared Leto. And I said, What? No, why? Fuck. So I was like really concerned after seeing that. I am not a fan of his whatsoever. Um, many reasons, Google him. Uh so I was like, uh, I don't know about that. And then I saw Rebecca Gayhardt who I knew was in this for sure, and then I saw Tara Reed, and I was like, okay, there's gotta be something in here that I can work with. And while I was watching it, I feel like we did get some solid performances. But one of the things that I was feeling most of all was like how much of a flop our main character actress was. And you had mentioned that at one point they had offered this role to Jennifer Love Hewitt, and after you said that, I couldn't unsee it. And I was like, this girl is giving nothing. She is not a leading final girl, she's not delivering the performance that I need from her. She was gorgeous, don't get me wrong, she was absolutely beautiful, but like it was such a flat performance that it was kind of a little bit distracting and disappointing for me.

SPEAKER_03 10:49

I think, I don't know, my feelings were pretty chill. I think the biggest thing that I look for when I'm I'm approaching a movie, especially like uh Visa Some Kids in College, you know, kind of setting, is if I hate the characters. And I I didn't hate the characters, and I didn't hate the women, especially. Several of them, I have things to say about them, but I think I just felt chill and like comfortable. And honestly, that's usually what I find in 90s horror. It's just like I'm here, I'm vibing, like I'm not offended, I'm not annoyed, it's not so old that I'm distracted by film quality or sound quality or like something like that. It's just like meh, but not in a bad way.

SPEAKER_02 11:28

Yeah, it's kind of like it's a point in your life, and it's not that you you can relate to this movie or anything, but the overall setting of this movie probably seems very familiar, like 90s.

SPEAKER_03 11:40

It's just like a simpler time when this is what was on TV, you know?

SPEAKER_02 11:44

Yeah, and it wasn't crazy, it wasn't super gory, it was just very to me suspenseful. And watching this again, I found it also very suspenseful, especially starting off with a kill. And I love movies that do that. They start off with a great sequence and they get you, they hook ya. And I really appreciate the meta that they have going in through this, which I didn't pick up or remember from the first time watching this, or maybe some subsequent times after watching, but I did pick it up on this time and I thought it was cool, but it wasn't like overly cheesy and overly trying to make fun of you know urban legends, but it was on the nose for it.

SPEAKER_05 12:21

Yeah, this movie definitely felt familiar and comfortable.

SPEAKER_01 12:24

For sure. But going back to what you said, Paris, obviously, like Alicia Witt, our leading lady, was absolutely a flop. Now, she didn't dis detract from the fun for me because I think there are so many characters in 90s horror, you know, aside from going for something like misery, where it's like really led by two people and it's super serious and it really relies on the dynamic of those two. There are a lot of characters in a lot of 90s horror movies that I don't really care for. And I think what I appreciate is that there was enough in this movie to really compensate for her kind of like lackluster performance. She was a disappointment for sure. One of the other things that surprised me, and I'm ashamed that it surprised me, was I, up until like right before starting, I forgot Danielle Harris was in this movie. Probably because she's in such a different role than anything I had seen her in. And uh I I was joking with Paris, like, hey, if Danielle Harris is a spooky empire, I should get a picture of her from this movie and ask for an autograph. Because she is just not like a face that I remembered. Like I remembered the character, I remember what happened to the character. I think we know the the fate of a lot of these characters are something that like really stands out in my mind. So I remember like where she stood, but there was nothing connecting little Jamie from Halloween 4 to this character in Urban Legend when I was a kid. Completely different. And now I can't unsee it, right? But uh I think you know, this movie, the highs and its lows really rested within its cast.

SPEAKER_03 13:57

I think for me, one of the most interesting parts of this movie is how the killer looks. And I I have kind of mixed feelings. I I think it's a disappointment for me. I feel like the 90s was based around having these like killers that are a recognizable icon, not necessarily as a person, but like what they're wearing or how they look. But this one like doesn't do it for me, and it's I don't know, it's all it's kind of like displaced in a way. It just seems odd and like a specific thing, definitely a specific, recognizable thing, but not memorable, if that makes sense. You you would recognize it, but you may not place exactly where you're seeing it from because it's just such a like a random look, uh an unimportant look that the killer has here.

SPEAKER_01 14:42

Yeah, and that's something that we even discussed in the watch-along for our patrons. Like the the design of the killer, the look of the killer was made based on a very specific decision. And when they change this element of the story and the timeline in which things occur, they're like, fuck it though, we'll leave the killer like this, and it makes no sense with anything else. So I think it does create these moments where it it stands out and it's like, what are we doing here? What what is the aesthetic here? Why is this person wearing this kind of thing at all in this time of day? It's a little bizarre.

SPEAKER_05 15:11

I have to say, one of my biggest disappointments, and this is through no fault of Chris's, because I did absolutely tell her that I had seen this movie, but through conversation, I was casually spoiled as to the identity of the killer. And I don't think I would have seen it coming had it not been for like having seen a couple, like I think Chris specifically showed me a screenshot and I was like, oh, does that mean this? And she was like, uh, you really don't remember. And then then but this was when we were under the impression that I just hadn't seen it in a long time. Uh so I think I would have loved like the reveal of the killer as it was. Um, but because I knew it ahead of time, I didn't really get that. Uh I still enjoyed it nonetheless. Uh and it, I th but I just think it would have been a surprise to me had I not known ahead of time.

SPEAKER_03 15:54

I definitely did not see it coming. And honestly, I you know, sometimes you go into a movie and you're like, I have to figure out who this killer is. This was not one of them. I was just like, all right, here we are. I'm I'm riding along. I didn't know if it would even be one person, so I certainly didn't see it coming.

SPEAKER_02 16:09

Yeah, so I know I mentioned it before, but to me, I was super surprised. I mean, I knew of this movie and knew of a few characters, but I didn't realize how star-studded the cast was, especially having a lot of horror icons. And I think that brings a lot to this movie and something I could definitely appreciate.

SPEAKER_05 16:25

Yeah, I also wasn't expecting there to be so many notable uh actors in this movie. And as we were going through those credits, I was like, wait, what?

SPEAKER_03 16:33

I didn't take note of that many things, and honestly, I expected to recognize more people in this. As you tell me names, I recognize them, but in this movie, I didn't recognize that many people. So I I feel like the 90s were really moments for people who didn't have a name to be in a great movie. With all that being said, I couldn't have been less scared of this movie.

SPEAKER_04 16:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:53

Yeah, there's um something about this villain that's not very scary. And I think it's because there's this lack of building cat and mouse in this movie and less stalking like you see in Halloween, and you see another movie. So I think that it makes this villain like a little less scary. If there were more stalking, if there was a little bit probably more brutality in this movie as well, I think it would have been a little bit more frightful.

SPEAKER_03 17:19

I don't know. I feel like we get some brutality. It's just the killer isn't menacing or creepy, it just seems to be going after things. Like it seems to be chasing a story of the urban legend, you know? I don't know. It's just not creepy for whatever reason, mostly because it's a coat.

SPEAKER_01 17:37

Yeah, I mean, one of the things that I can appreciate is really looking at how theatric and dramatic the kills are, and I think there is some underlying spookiness that really exists there. This is not a movie that was ever gonna like really scare me, right? It is one that thrilled me, and it is one that, you know, obviously we get into the opening of the movie is absolutely traumatizing in some respects, and it's one of those that while it's not scary, it's kind of like a final destination effect where it causes you to always check something. Or just uh the same day that I hung out with Paris, we were driving to go uh look at a tattoo parlor, and he made me change lanes because of something that was in front of us because it was gonna do some final destination shit. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_05 18:22

There was literally just like a bundle of steel rods, but only on the passenger side. So if it were to happen, it would have only impaled me. And I was like, Chris, let's get around this horrible nightmare vehicle, please.

SPEAKER_03 18:32

Paris, if I took you anywhere, I would specifically stay in that lane just to torture you.

SPEAKER_05 18:38

Well, good luck living.

SPEAKER_03 18:40

I'm gonna live. It was only on the passenger side.

SPEAKER_05 18:43

We're gonna die. Uh yeah, this movie definitely was not scary. I feel like some of the urban legends are scary. Specifically, you know, I'm a I'm a sucker for the tendon slasher. Uh, in like the opening sequence, that's a scary idea. But it was done in a way that was like a little bit kind of like not camp, but like a little bit silly to the point where it was like almost castrated any sort of actual fear that would have been. And Ryan, like you're saying, like the the giant parka is like so vague and nondescript that it's like that's just a a person in a coat uh coming for who whoever. You don't really get a lot of intention for most of the movie, so there's less to be afraid of.

SPEAKER_01 19:19

Right. Despite this being a 90s slasher with a hooded figure chasing some late teens or early 20s adults, like at teenagers, and exacting some kind of agenda or vengeance or uh punishment for something, right? There's some kind of moral of the story here. Despite it having all those elements of the recipe, this still stands out as a wholly unique approach to 90 slashers. A, I love the concept of building upon urban legends 100%. I also appreciate that it does enough with some red herrings to I think create a solid surprise in terms of what we get throughout the whole movie, right? When you expect it to zig, it zags. And not in the sense of like a 90s formula, but just in the moves that it makes. You know, I think in its kills it continues to escalate. I see this, and if Paris was talking about like the big three of the f of the slashers, I find this a little bit more uh original than I know what you did last summer.

SPEAKER_05 20:20

That's totally fair. I think they took a really original idea and did a fun thing with it.

SPEAKER_04 20:26

Whereas I know what you did last summer is to scream as Friday the 13th is to Halloween by some stretch of the imagination, if you know what I'm talking about in some capacity, maybe.

SPEAKER_03 20:38

Maybe you know, I have weird feelings about this because to me this spits the formula in some ways of the 90s, which is like guess the killer. It it was like guess the killer times, you know, and maybe that was precedented by scream, I don't know. But I don't know. I feel like the urban legend part of this is very original, but then like the guess the killer part doesn't feel original at all. Like for me, like the second half kind of doesn't feel original.

SPEAKER_02 21:06

I can definitely see where you're coming from. I know Scream plays a role with watching this with me as well. It's the satire that Scream brings. I feel like it comes into this movie as well. But you know, I'm a fan of these like urban legend twists on these desks and the way they do that part, but like you said, Ryan, the whodunit part. But to me, it's just something that's in these movies, especially in the 90s and continuing to today, honestly. So I wouldn't necessarily say it's not original. I think it's pretty original.

SPEAKER_03 21:39

I gotta say though, like I just mentioned, the ending it's not my favorite part of this movie.

SPEAKER_02 21:45

What? I thought this movie was so meta at the ending, which I was a fan of.

SPEAKER_03 21:51

There's a climax to the story where you where the with the story and the explanation is all kind of revealed. And that didn't do it for me. Now the very end bit. I kind of liked it. I liked the meta, the meta part just kind of very on the nose as the movie had been getting more and more so along the way. But like the general way they wrap up the story of this movie, just like kind of meh for me.

SPEAKER_05 22:13

Once again, I had the ending a little bit spoiled for me, unintentionally. Ultimately, I still wasn't mad about it. I thought it was a little interesting, some of the choices some of our actors made. And I wasn't necessarily mad at them, but they were unexpected for sure. I think overall the ending was pretty solid. And then the end end, I was like, cute. I like that. There's a nice little bow at the end of this movie that's uh that's somewhat satisfying.

SPEAKER_01 22:41

I will never live down, Paris, accidentally spoiling the ending for you. And I think I'm so disappointed in myself that now when you tell me you've watched a movie, unless you can recite the full movie to me, I'm not talking to you about the movie ever again. I feel such guilt.

SPEAKER_05 22:55

No.

SPEAKER_01 22:56

What an experience I robbed you of.

SPEAKER_05 22:58

This is 100% my own fault. Do not take any responsibility for this. I fully lied to both of us.

SPEAKER_01 23:05

I'm a Capricorn, I must. But I think one of the best things about this movie is its ending and the way it handles it. I think some of the reveals that we get in Act Three are just batshit off the walls, but then it wraps itself up in a bow that I find pretty pleasant. I'm not not a fan. I think it actually has a semi-more satisfying ending than I think I've seen from other 90s films. But what I'm more curious about is how, you know, the experience thus far, despite even my spoiling it for Paris, impacts our ratings. So let's go ahead and start making our way there. Alexis, how many people died in this film? We had a total of 10 deaths in this movie. What about the animal report?

SPEAKER_03 23:42

Yeah, it's not good. Um this is your warning that the animal report here is oddly very poor. Very bad. Do not recommend. Not a good experience at all. And and why did that have to be in this movie? I don't know. Hard to say.

SPEAKER_01 23:55

Let the record show that I did put my hands in front of my eyes for that. And I did peek a little bit, but it was absolutely devastating, and I knew it was coming and still hated it. But let's go ahead and get into our ratings. Urban Legend, 1998, as chosen and selected by our patrons. Was it a hacker or a slash?

SPEAKER_03 24:12

I'm gonna go ahead and make this pretty short and sweet. This movie is a slash, it's not a passionate slash, but I think it's good enough, it's interesting enough, it's got a unique enough approach to what was going on in the 90s that I enjoy it. I didn't hate the characters. I enjoyed them generally. They weren't perfect, but they were generally pretty good. Much better than most groups of college kids that we get. But I'm not like shouting from the rooftops how much I love this movie or ready to tell everybody they need to go watch it, but it's a good one. I'm I'm not mad at it.

SPEAKER_02 24:44

I couldn't agree with that more. And to me, this movie is good. It's not the best movie I've seen ever, but I think it's super entertaining. You know, I love the 90s for just like you do, Ryan, and I appreciate what it does. And it might do the same thing for all the movies during that time, but I'm okay with that because you said it's comfortable, it's it's great. I do like the suspense of who is this? Who could it be? You know, and I know in the movie they direct you through, okay, it should be this one, but I don't think they do it so bad where I've seen in other movies, and you're and you're like, you know, this is too much. I love the look of our killer in this movie. I'm a fan of those jackets. I wore those when I was a kid, so I can't hate that. But honestly, like you said, it's simple, it's done well, visually done well, and I don't think I could really give it any bad feedback that would make it a hack.

SPEAKER_05 25:36

Alexis, you're totally right. The parka in this movie is giving very much those like $120 jackets that you could get at like Abercrombie and Fitch in our high school days.

SPEAKER_02 25:45

Imagine it's a baby fat jacket.

SPEAKER_05 25:47

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_02 25:48

Yeah, I was thinking more baby fat than Abercrombie.

SPEAKER_05 25:52

In my mind, no, it is a baby fat jacket. That's now canon. Thank you, Ryan. So I assumed I was gonna slash this movie, and I'll be honest, I didn't like it as much as I thought I would, as much as I wanted to, but it I'm not gonna dick everybody around. It's still a slash. Uh, there's definitely a lot of fun to be had here, especially if you've never seen this movie. I would say if you are a fan of any of the movies we've referenced tonight, this falls into the same vein. It does things a little bit differently. It's really unique in its approach, in that all of the kills are designed around a specific theme. Uh, and I love a theme. I think we also got some really solid kills in this movie. Chris, you definitely looked away during that certain scene, but they didn't show a damn thing. So that scene had no effect on me whatsoever. So I was like, uh, okay.

SPEAKER_01 26:40

I knew what was happening.

SPEAKER_05 26:42

Yeah, I I mean, as an idea, horrible, but it could have been so much worse as far as what they showed. I also loved how they left little breadcrumbs along the way so that by the time we find out who the killer is, it makes sense. I remember when Chris spoiled the killer for me, it wasn't like 100% sure. It was like, consider this as a possibility. Uh, so there was still a period of time where I was like, it's either this person or it's that person from that photo I saw. Uh, and then once I realized it was definitely that person, I was like, oh, is it because of this, this, and this? And those were all things that I'd picked up on throughout the movie. So it's definitely solid in laying its groundwork for the exposition. Whereas a lot of movies, I feel like around that time didn't necessarily do their homework or do their due diligence to make the the reveal of the killer feel earned. Uh, so this movie definitely gets a lot of points for that. It was a fun time. It's just like a fun, like bullshit watch with your friend kind of movie. And it didn't do anything so horrible that it would be worthy of a hack. So it's a slash.

SPEAKER_01 27:34

Okay, so we got some passive slashes here. We got some uh, it's largely inoffensive, but I am gonna venture to say that this movie is passionately a solid slash because yeah, it fucks some stuff up. This movie is imperfect. We have a final girl situation, a leading lady who couldn't lack any more charisma in this movie. She really could not. But really, what we have on top of that is a beautiful meta weaving of this film's subject matter, and it's like built into every fiber of this film's identity, even down to you know, bringing in some of the Easter eggs that we have scattered throughout the film, and then also baking in the meta of some of the cameos we get, some of the appearances we get from famous horror stars from other franchises, and looking even at, you know, how we lay the little Easter eggs of like certain names of certain background characters that we don't spend much time with, there is so much to discover in this movie. And while it definitely has its flaws, which we'll get to in the second half, this movie is still undoubtedly solid. And with that, Urban Legend from 1998, which you can find on HBO Max or streaming elsewhere for free online, possibly with ads, has earned a Universal Slash.

SPEAKER_05 28:56

Uh-oh, it looks like I just got a text from our girl Rebecca Gayhart, and she is very pleased with the outcome of this voting.

SPEAKER_01 29:03

Excellent. I'm so glad we didn't disupport Rebecca. Now, again, you can find this movie available online, so check it out, and then join us in the second half so we can unpack those urban legends together. We'll see you in a bit.

SPEAKER_03 29:21

Are you a college student? Wondering what deaths might be waiting around the corner for you? Is your Facebook feed full of pixelated reposts that you think might be fake? Fact-check those frightening fables with Ask Wexler. Ask Wexler is an urban legend search engine designed to separate the fact from the fictional and track down the origins of those oriented bodies. You can ask Wexler anything. Do people put roller blades in Halloween candy? Is someone hiding under my car waiting to slash my tendons? Can you get crabs from a public toilet seat? You've got questions, we've got answers. Ask Wexler.

SPEAKER_01 30:28

Now we obviously have a lot to get to here, but before we get into the specifics of our ratings and how we slashed this, we have the matter of gore to attend to. Alexa, what's the gore score for this movie?

SPEAKER_02 30:38

You know, I was gonna say low. Until you had an animal being blown up in a microwave. Um, and then I was like, alright, it's gotta get a medium because then people are gonna think I'm heartless. And I So you know, a medium can be a lot of things. So when you throw an animal into it that's blown up, uh, I think you just even if you don't see much of an aftermath. I mean, I didn't need an ear or an ear. Yeah, that's uh that's where I was gonna go.

SPEAKER_05 31:03

I didn't see any of it. I just saw like mush and fur in a microwave, and I was like, meh, sure.

SPEAKER_01 31:09

Still disgusting. We saw what the dog looked like beforehand, who's a very good boy, he was having a great time in college, really just working on his academics and his interpersonal savvy, and then he got microwave. The dog had nothing to do with this, it was disrespectful.

SPEAKER_03 31:24

I will say the gore in this movie is a little bit weird. It's like sometimes it's high, and then sometimes we just have like an axe smashing a window, and that's it.

SPEAKER_01 31:32

Yeah, but when the axe smashed the window, like up in the beginning, we had the flesh on the axe, and we had the gore the blood dripping down. It was for effect.

SPEAKER_02 31:41

Well, it's really interesting because throughout the shooting of this movie, Jamie Blinks, our director, sought to keep on-screen violence kind of muted and have it more implied than actually seeing some of this flesh and all the you know explicit details. There's several moments of violence written in the script that weren't filmed. Among them was a shot of Wagner's character getting their head cut off and you know, her head just going decapitated down the road. But I know we'll talk about favorite kills, but that probably would have been my favorite had it been on screen.

SPEAKER_05 32:15

Yeah, now I'm mad it wasn't.

SPEAKER_01 32:16

Oh, but I'm still okay with the fact that it didn't happen because I don't think I even needed it. I felt like this had a great amount of gore where we see some things drawn out, we see the dean with the spikes in the parking garage. Some of that stuff we really just saw really just uh get stretched out. I'm okay with the ones that were implied.

SPEAKER_02 32:34

Yeah, when his um Achilles was slit. I mean, anytime someone goes for the Achilles, I don't know what it is, but that's just I'm like, oh no. Okay, but it wasn't House of Wax Achilles slit. You know, it wasn't that bad. It was like child's play. I mean, Chris, I agree with you, but I really wish it had a little bit more gore or you could see a little bit just because I wanted this, you know, killer to be more brutal. I feel like I would have been more scared, but I realized this movie wasn't built really for it to be scary, but more suspenseful.

SPEAKER_03 33:10

Yeah, I mean, we talked about before, but that winter coat, it just really didn't instill the fear in me.

SPEAKER_02 33:17

It's because you saw it in Abercrombie. The price is what scared you, not the I I grew up in it relates to boots with a fur for some reason for me. Like Ug, like Ug boots with the this jacket.

SPEAKER_03 33:29

Yeah, and like the jackets that like they were like halfway spandex at the bottom half, so like you it was mostly like half zip and then just giant fluff, like you were skinny at the bottom and then fluffy on top. So weird.

SPEAKER_05 33:42

And still cold.

SPEAKER_03 33:43

And still cold with like odd fur in your face as you're trying to look at your hood.

SPEAKER_02 33:48

Well, although there isn't too much gore in this movie, we do have 10 kills. So I want to hear what you guys' favorite deaths are in this movie.

SPEAKER_01 33:54

Gonna go ahead and snatch Michelle because I absolutely love the opening scene. It is iconic, it is traumatizing, and I love the implication. I enjoy the suspense leading up to that kill, and one good axe, despite defying physics, loved it.

SPEAKER_03 34:10

Yeah, so Chris, you're not wrong, but my beef there was like the the scene that we get of the kill is just an axe flying through a window, basically. It's just an oddly I mean, I guess we get a little bit more, but I don't know. It didn't feel like a kill. I like the idea of it more than the actual visual of it.

SPEAKER_02 34:27

Yeah, it reminds me more of like My Bloody Valentine or something, the 3D version where it was coming out. Yeah. That's so true.

SPEAKER_03 34:35

I personally have to go for Demon. I think the idea of having someone on top of the car so that you drive away in fear to then in turn hang them is so creepy and scary and beautiful. It's it's insane. I I don't think I've ever seen a kill like that. And for me, that was something that really stood out.

SPEAKER_02 34:57

Great you mentioned that because Damon's death actually took three full days to shoot that scene, which I thought was very interesting. Yeah, that contraption is pretty crazy. They did good.

SPEAKER_05 35:06

My favorite kill was obviously the Dean, because you know I love a tendon slasher. And I thought we were just gonna get the tendon slash and then just like whatever. But then for like the dean to be hit by that car and then like run over into those tire spikes, I was like, oh shit, that was a level I was not anticipating. And also the dean was just a dick.

SPEAKER_02 35:26

I would agree with that. Paris, I'm really surprised you didn't say Tosh because nothing like seems like a sex scene but actually getting brutalized and killed.

SPEAKER_05 35:34

So I guess when you put it that way, I feel like that one was like so blah because it was like, well, it's nighttime and you don't really get any of it, and then you just wake up to the aftermath.

SPEAKER_01 35:42

Which is terrifying. It really reminded me of what Ted Bundy did in that sorority house in Florida before he was captured and then ultimately imprisoned and and given the death sentence. But the idea of like breaking into someone's home and someone is so close, and you think that at any moment you could get help, right? At any moment somebody could intervene, but you're just sleeping so peacefully while this is happening. Ugh. Now, the absolute lack of respect that followed that scene when A, she's insulted even after her death, but then B, the dean and everybody just like, what the fuck, Natalie? It was absolutely absurd and cringe, but that scene, oof, that kill, terrifying.

SPEAKER_02 36:25

Yeah, it was super terrifying, especially the way they set that up, where it seemed like it was her doing that instead. But then you get the words on the over the bed. But it was interesting because I have been in college where uh my roommate has had sex and I had to put in headphones. And let me tell you, the key is the loudest possible volume blasting your eardrums. So you know what? I could see how this could possibly happen.

SPEAKER_03 36:51

This is what really frightened me in this movie because I um have been a human in college for a very long time, but I've never lived like on campus in a dorm. And the idea of being in a room with somebody at college age where basically all people care about is having sex and having to share a room, like no personal space, I feel like I would lose my mind. And also, this was a time before AirPods with noise cancellation. Yeah. I actually just cannot imagine it, and I don't think I would make it. I don't think it's for me. I think there's a reason the Lord just took me out of that immediately, didn't send me to a four-year college to live in a dorm.

SPEAKER_01 37:29

So, what you're saying is we remake Urban Legend, but instead of a Walkman, we have Noise Canceling AirPods Pro. Got it.

SPEAKER_03 37:36

Noise canceling AirPods Pro would be the only way. I mean, like, do parents not buy their kids AirPods Pro when they go to college? Because I feel like you need to. This feels very important because I don't want my kids even hearing other people having sex. Like, I can't think of a more miserable experience at all. No wonder people hate their roommates. It's because no one should be that close in personal proximity. Like, we should have personal space. You shouldn't be sharing a room with an adult because you're adults.

SPEAKER_02 38:00

Yeah, at that point, you definitely are. So this isn't a death per se, but we have Brenda Bates, and I think my favorite visual definitely has to be when she goes through the car and down into the water. Just her falling and that overhead shot. To me, that's a remarkable shot. I love it. Cause there wasn't too much that stood out in this movie visually, but that one per se was perfect. Then you see her body floating and then the rain. It was just it was remarkable.

SPEAKER_03 38:30

So I have like a very specific little tiny moment where there was a visual that specifically stood out to me, and it is Sasha as she's running from the killer and looking into a through glass to see the killer, but her reflection is shown as the killer's face in that reflection. And it's just a second, it's towards the end, but it is one of my favorite little interesting things that they did because the whole time the killer just has this darkness as a face, you you never see anything in the hood, and she looks through and sees herself, which is literally meaningless. It it could have been a really cool, like meaningful moment, but it was just interesting to see because there had been so much darkness there, and you get to a point where you're really trying to figure out who that killer is and really see what's there, and you just see her face instead.

SPEAKER_01 39:13

Oh, so good. One of the things that I absolutely love, even looking at like the theatrics of Sasha's death, and we talked about this in in the watch-along. Tara Reed did all her own stunts that entire time. And the stunt man playing the killer was using an axe.

SPEAKER_05 39:30

Oh, real axe.

SPEAKER_01 39:31

That's terrifying. It got close. You raise a point, right, about just like what we're seeing when someone is running from a killer when they're confronting a killer. And my favorite visual element is a cinematography of the opening scene, specifically when Michelle is running from who she thinks the killer is. We get some amazing overhead shots, and there's like the drama of that scene with the gas station, the rain pouring down, and the lightning in the background. Some of those moments a little to Paris, and like we're just talking about like the beauty of that. It was stunning, and it really felt honestly markedly different from what we get in the rest of the movie.

SPEAKER_02 40:07

Yeah, when you get that there's someone in the back seat. I know that that's not a visual element, but that's adding definitely to that scene to how terrifying that was. It was so good.

SPEAKER_05 40:16

Those opening shots at the gas station were so fantastic, and really, I think the thing that you remember the most from this movie, uh, the silhouette of the killer in the back seat, as like the lightning strikes in the background, those like really weird, like sweeping, twisting shots that you get, like those overhead shots you're talking about, were like really like you said, we looked at each other and were like, oh, that was a really crazy shot. And I think that they just really set the tone for this movie. And I'm not gonna lie, it maybe was like one of the higher points of the movie, that opening scene, because nothing else quite delivered on the same level of cinematography, I think. But I remember you also mentioning during the watch along that that scene they filmed first and almost like separately, so that like they could use that to like pitch the movie. So they really like put their whole foot in that.

SPEAKER_01 40:59

They absolutely did. And look, I mean, spoiler alert, right? That's my favorite scene of the whole fucking movie. That is the thing that I carry with me from this movie. Total eclipse of the heart playing while there's a killer lurking in the backseat. Absolutely terrifying. Even the framing within that, that is a moment that really sets so much potential. Because I think some of the other urban legends we get, you know, we have Damon's death, and that was a play on an urban legend because it results in her driving and then killing him. But none of them ever felt quite as theatric. They felt dramatic. The showmanship was there. There was l there were levels of complexity that I would dare say would show that it would almost rival death from Final Destination, like the small little things that add up, but not all of them were that complex. And I think the simplicity of that opening kill, just chilling in the backseat, where nobody can see except for one guy who's trying to help, but she's understandably concerned because she's lured into at the gas station under false pretense and he cannot communicate what's actually going on to her in that moment. What a perfect storm of chaos.

SPEAKER_03 42:09

I think you're completely right. That kill, that whole scene, the whole sequence does feel completely different from anything else in this movie. For me, this isn't one of our categories, but that gives the best audio moment of this movie for me because that song playing, all you have to know is that this movie is called Urban Legend, and this song is playing that says turn around, and the whole time you're just waiting, and it's so much suspense. It's such a lovely scene. And then, like, you know, you want to think this guy at the gas station is a good guy. You know, you don't want to just judge people because they seem like a little bit creepy. I I try not to be a person that judges someone that looks creepy, rather just people that act creepy. And so at the whole piece becomes this like cinematic moment, this audio moment, this like suspenseful moment. And then in the end, he's like, There's somebody in the back. And it's like, oh my god, we all just figured out what happened. It's so lovely. I guess I'll have to give that my favorite scene as well.

SPEAKER_01 43:08

But can I also just add, and I'm sorry, I'm almost untalking about this scene, but we get her singing along to this song and like really excited about it going into that moment. And then as she's driving away, she's in this shock. She's thinking she's made it, and she's even like crying like stressed, and she's freaking out, and she's trying to bring herself down by still singing that song. She was so vulnerable, and the humanity in that moment, the relatability of like, I'm just trying to distract myself and alleviate some of this chaos that's happening in my brain. Like, what just happened? I need to get out of here. You have your favorite song on the radio, and it's just like, fuck.

SPEAKER_02 43:46

That could be anybody. Relatable enough that before all of this, she was singing in the car, happy, but you know, sometimes you just don't get all the words, and I love that part where she was just singing, but it was off key. Or She didn't know the lyrics, but very relatable, very typical. My favorite thing is just a hodgepodge of all the 90s things that are thrown in there. Two in particular is this whole internet and someone being on the phone fiasco between Natalie and Tosh. Favorite, because I totally get it. It hit me. I understood it. And that's probably why this movie feels so comfortable, because it's struggles you had back then. Very true. But also is when Dawson's Creek is playing on the radio and Damon starts walking up who was on Dawson's Creek. So, and who is the celebrity crush I had? Josh Jackson is cute with bleach blonde hair looking like Eminem somehow.

SPEAKER_03 44:41

But see, this moment didn't hit for me at all. I didn't, I would have never caught that because I was never a Dawson's Creek girl. I never was either.

SPEAKER_04 44:48

You were just singing that song.

SPEAKER_03 44:50

I don't know anything about Dawson's Creek. You can just say those words, and it means nothing to me. Not even the song, not the song, not the people, nothing. It's like when you say Dawson's Creek, I see a brown. Like I feel like the cover for the show was brown.

SPEAKER_01 45:05

That's all I got.

SPEAKER_05 45:06

I see a brown.

SPEAKER_01 45:08

I see James Vanderbeek. I see Joshua Jackson. Was Katie Holmes also in that maybe?

SPEAKER_05 45:12

Yeah, Katie Holmes was there.

SPEAKER_01 45:14

And I know what the theme song is, but I never watched it by any stretch of the fucking imagination.

SPEAKER_03 45:19

Okay, but you know what got me? This isn't like 90s specific, but this is like 90s and early 2000s movie specific. Is like, did they always have to dive into a pool? Was that a requirement for movies during this time period?

SPEAKER_05 45:31

I know, right? Like cruel intentions.

SPEAKER_03 45:33

Remember Swim Fan? As soon as they dove in, I was like, it's the 90s, thank you. I forgot for a second, but don't worry, there's someone in a pool. Like, was pool filming technology new? Is that is that what it is?

SPEAKER_05 45:47

I too have never watched Dawson's Creek, but I at least know the theme song. Uh so Alexis, they definitely laughed at that a little bit as well. Uh, my favorite scene though had to be the exposition at the end where we find out that Rebecca Gayhart was the killer all along. And while I did have a pretty strong idea that she was, because I had seen a screenshot of her looking absolutely unhinged in front of somebody that was tied to a bed, and I was like, oh my god, what is that? I didn't really anticipate that she was going to give us like a full performance, not unlike Stu from the exposition of the first Scream movie. And I thought she like did a pretty solid job of really explaining why the character's killing everybody, why she's killing people in that specific way. And then I think it also kind of took it to such a heightened place that I also started laughing, like when she was trying to figure out, like, I don't know how to remove a kidney. I figure I'll just take whatever first organ I find, and then that'll be it. And I think she just played such a really great, unhinged woman trying to get revenge. And I had never seen that side of her. I've never seen her play that kind of character before. So I found that to be really satisfying, and that was my favorite scene. Besides the own the opening, of course.

SPEAKER_03 46:56

Her transition from put together woman with beautiful curly hair to chaos crazy person with crazy curly hair was so lovely. It was it was like gentle, step by step. And finally, when we got to the end and she's just like chaos and like eyeliner, I was like, wow, you really had a journey here. And I was a part of it, and I didn't realize all the steps that were happening along the way.

SPEAKER_02 47:21

And I thought her story was convincing too. Like to me, she had enough of a background. There was this sort of thing, but I feel like she delivered way better than Natalie did in this movie. Natalie was just, you know, there.

SPEAKER_01 47:36

Okay, look, I'm not gonna lie, Natalie was my absolute worst part of this movie, but it's because of the weakness of her character. It blew me away. How was every single person in this movie upstaging her?

SPEAKER_03 47:49

Okay, but did she not have a moment in the car with Damon? Because I was like, please stand up for yourself, thank you.

SPEAKER_01 47:55

Call him on his BS because I thought that was good. Good sentences on paper, fantastic, but she failed everywhere else in the movie and it was disappointing.

SPEAKER_03 48:03

I did not feel that strong disappointment in her. I don't I don't I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 48:07

I don't think it was so strong, but it it's definitely like when you expect a final girl, usually you just see them evolve and there was no evolution. And I mean, she seemed to be going through a struggle where she was upset about what happened and talked about it, but I wasn't fully bought into that she cared. I'm sure she did, but uh enough to like put her in a spot between her and Rebecca Gayhart going after each other. Uh that being their final resolution to me did it make sense.

SPEAKER_03 48:39

I guess I do understand because it didn't feel like she saw somebody get hanged uh from a car that she was driving, and then her roommate found dead in the morning and make it look like she like slit her wrist. Like, if that were me, even just from the one, the one outing with Damon, I'm not leaving bed for days, maybe weeks. Like, I'm not okay. And then my roommate, I'm really not okay. Like I I I guess I I guess you have a point.

SPEAKER_05 49:06

For me specifically, it was when Chris told me that it could have been Jennifer Love Hewitt. That's when I realized like how much it wasn't really delivering. And for that point forward, I was just like, oh, yeah, this should have been Jennifer Love Hewitt. Or a lot of other people I think could have done a really great job with the character as well. And here's the thing at the time, I'm sure she's developed her acting skills, I'm sure she's gotten a lot better. It wasn't the worst performance I've seen all year, uh, but I was just kind of like, for a leading character, I need more.

SPEAKER_01 49:33

I need more- I need more. Is it not the worst thing you've seen all year because we watched Bunny Man?

SPEAKER_05 49:38

Uh yeah. Among other things.

SPEAKER_01 49:40

Yeah. Have we not watched Bunny Man? Who knows where this would have really ranked and shaken out when you really get down to business? But I think that's that's the whole point of it, right? Like there are characters in this movie that were unlikable, and there are characters in this movie who fell flat, and Natalie fell flat for me, and she was someone that I would have really had hoped to root for because I think the idea and the concept behind her carrying this grief and this regret and this like all this remorse, uh I I think that makes her a really interesting and complex character, especially someone trying to move forward in life with that, and like how does she carry that and cope with that on a daily basis? But I think the other thing that really stuck with me w it was kind of like a happy death day almost. It's like you get this big reveal of the killer's motives and it's revenge. Okay, fantastic. But it's also because she wants Jared Leto? Come on, like could we not leave this about your dead fiance? That's a reasonable thing to be upset about. But also you're upset because she wants to date this guy from the paper. What the fuck? Like, it was an unnecessary addition that I thought, what was it? It weakened that character, but it did add another ounce of disappointment when everything is reduced down to still being about a guy.

SPEAKER_03 50:56

Yeah, that obsession with him was unnecessary, like that whole like kiss drama, it it just didn't do anything for me. And it kind of like sidetracked the story for a bit when it really could have just been about the man that she truly loved.

SPEAKER_02 51:08

So I know in the first half I mentioned I couldn't recall this movie until two characters popped up, and it was obviously Josh Jackson, his hair, just iconic in this movie, but also it is Reese, the security guard. So, like, I don't know why she stands out. She's in this one, she's in the second one. I like her in this. For some reason, those were the two characters that brought me into this movie. Don't ask me how, I don't understand why, but I like it. It's because she's a star who pulls focus.

SPEAKER_03 51:41

Exactly. So I mentioned before I was talking to a coworker about this movie, and they were like, someone that you really like is in this movie, and they were definitely talking about Robert England. But the truth is, when I started watching this, I was like, oh my god, this woman is someone I adore because she's just like uh I don't know. I don't know what it is that I know her from, but she's just a supporting character in what feels like a million things I've seen, especially growing up, like the 90s, 2000s, I feel like was her moment. But I love her. She's just always here to show up, she's always doing something special. So I was looking for, oh, who is it that someone thinks I like? And then she showed up and I was like, oh, it's her. She she's the one, she's the special one.

SPEAKER_05 52:22

For me, that final scene with Rebecca Gayhart, uh doing her full spiel about like her dead fiance slash boyfriend. Uh, I enjoyed it, specifically from her as a character. And then when Jared Leto came in and he was like trying to like trick her or like manipulate her, and he was like, Here's the thing. I like your plan, I have some notes. And she was like, Okay, I'm listening. I found that to be like a really funny and like plausible uh little interaction. And then the way she quickly caught onto his bullshit and was like, actually, no, uh, I found that to be refreshing because I was like, Don't let her just be duped by Jared Leto and his blue eyes that are way too close together.

SPEAKER_03 53:00

So for me, my worst part of this movie is not the story that we get about why these skills are happening, but like the journey through the house of just like dead bodies. It just felt like an odd, like haunted house moment. And it also felt like uh some of the people were still alive, and I don't know if that was just me, but I felt like I could see them still breathing. I don't know. I for there was a a brief moment where I was like, oh, is this all just gonna be a hoax? And then when she woke up, I was like, oh, it is a hoax. Um, fortunately, everything wasn't, but I don't know. I I just didn't care much about like the way we got to the the the point of the story. And again, we talked about like the whole kiss and everything, all of that being sidetracked by Jared Leto, it was all unnecessary. I I don't know what those parts all kind of didn't do it for me. That was the part of the ending that I did enjoy.

SPEAKER_02 53:55

I really was disappointed on what you saw because there was to me no obvious reason on why you shouldn't put more gore in this. You know, there you have a bunch of movies during this time that have gore in it. I mean, you don't have to go saw level, but I would appreciate some sort of stuff. Take out the dog being blown up in the rack wave because no one needed that, but give us a little bit more, you know, truer gore to what you would actually be seeing. There's no there's not too much blood splatter, especially the at the recording studio. There was nothing when there should have been there.

SPEAKER_03 54:30

I just want like a little more blood on the axe.

SPEAKER_01 54:34

You know, like I want to see that axe impact people. Fun fact there is uh canonically more blood on the axe that Paris is holding in the picture of the cover art or watch-along episode than there is in this movie.

SPEAKER_05 54:46

Thank you, Photoshop.

SPEAKER_01 54:48

Not surprising at all.

SPEAKER_05 54:49

I won't go as far as to say that Jared Leto was the worst part of this movie because he wasn't in it too much and the parts that he was in actually weren't that bad. Uh, but I think it has to be either the performance from our leading lady, because it was really it stood out, uh, or the kill of Parker, where it's like the pop rocks and then like the Draeno. When we see the aftermath of that, and Chris and I were a little bit confused, there's a lot of like soap and foam, and I'm like, is that supposed to be because he exploded because of the pop rocks? And that's like all the frothy, but it looked like dish soap, it looked like a bubble bath when they found that body.

SPEAKER_03 55:32

It did. Okay, yes, the soap was weird, but the actual scene of that kill was like brutal. Like maybe that was like one of the more brutal kills that we actually saw because he just looked completely like ruined and you know, all the stuff going on. But you're right, the soap was really weird.

SPEAKER_05 55:50

Yeah, there aren't too many like terrible parts of this movie.

SPEAKER_01 55:53

Since there weren't too many terrible parts to this movie, do you think it's something you're gonna watch again?

SPEAKER_02 55:58

I definitely would. I feel like this is one of those movies you kind of pop on on a Sunday, maybe if you're cleaning or if you're blow-drying your hair like me, and just put that on the background if I'm getting ready for the day. So I don't know. I think it has rewatch value for sure.

SPEAKER_03 56:12

I love that when we're talking about like rewatchability, Alexis describes things that only Alexis does. Like on like a chill Saturday after church, I think you totally throw this on, you know, you're making protein brownies, it's perfect. Like no one relates. I I don't think I'll be like eager to watch this again, but I wouldn't be mad at it. But I I do feel like a lot of people have seen this, so I don't know when I would ever re-watch it.

SPEAKER_05 56:37

I feel like Ryan, as soon as Alexis said like a Sunday, I completely related. I feel like this is such a Sunday movie. Um, I will definitely re-watch this again. I feel like if I rewatch it like alone, I'll probably appreciate it a little bit more because Chris and I were like having a good time, like having a bunch of laughs at the movie's expense sometimes. Uh, and I think if I watch it solo, I'll probably get like a little bit more out of it on that second watch.

SPEAKER_03 56:58

Sorry. This whole episode is Chris apologizing for spoiling the movie that Paris said he saw.

SPEAKER_05 57:07

We had fun. I have no regrets, Chris. It was never just Italians.

SPEAKER_01 57:12

I would absolutely watch this movie again. I'm a little sad that it took me this long to watch it as an adult, but I will say this. I'm even more motivated to watch the sequel, Final Cut, because again, it centers around film school and it's a whole new level of meta that I just love so much. And I remember being thoroughly entertained by it. And I'm excited to see when this actually turns out in our lineup in the future. And I also want to give a special shout out. We've had uh this movie requested by a listener for us for a very, very long time, several months at least. One of our patrons Ashley finally got to nominate it with her patron power. Shout out to Nicole, happy early birthday. Hope you're satisfied with the results, Nicole, and we hope that all of you have had a good time as well, because Urban Legend earning a universal slash was something even I didn't particularly express coming into this. Now, we've had a lot to talk about here, but the conversation doesn't end here by any means. We want to know what you think. We want to know what your local urban legends were growing up, or if you have any modern ones to share, let us know. You can join in on the conversation by joining us for free and chatting with us on our Discord. You can click the link in the show notes to sign up.

SPEAKER_05 58:18

If you've enjoyed listening to this episode, consider becoming one of our patrons like Ashley. Visit patreon.com slash hackerslash to enjoy more of the show with early access, extended episodes, bonus content, live shows, and the ability to recommend a movie for us to watch.

SPEAKER_01 58:34

See you next time, folks, and remember, next time get away from the volcano before it erupts. Bye.