Another day, another reboot. This time it’s the slasher film Urban Legend; an early 2000’s series where a maniac with an axe played off the “legends” of horror tales and killed his/her victims off one-by-one. The first kicked off the character of Jared Leto, who went on to win a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Dallas Buyers Club. Many considered Urban Legend to be the poor man’s Scream, and it wasn’t particularly much of a box office draw.
However, it did spawn two more direct-to-DVD sequels: Urban Legends: Final Cut and Urban Legends: Blood Mary. The final film came out nearly 20-years ago without much fanfare, but horror is typically a cheap genre to make. Naturally, executives want to cash on a pre-existing franchise that isn’t costly. That isn’t the confirmed reason the series is getting a reboot, but it’s the thing that makes sense as Urban Legend was a forgettable series of films during the slasher craze era. Does this horror reboot necessary?
The Premise Of Urban Legends Has Potential
The series was rather forgettable, or in the case of Urban Legends: Final Cut, really, really bad. On the other hand, the premise always had potential be something unique within the horror genre. There’s some fun in tapping into the true crimes aspect and recreating them for modern times. The problem is that the first two films never capitalized on that aspect of the premise. It was simply your stereotypical slasher where a psycho goes around and kills young and “innocent” college students.
Bloody Mary was different and that’s why it stands out as the best. Granted, the plot can be confusing at times, and the story feels disconnected from the first two films, but it leaned into the more folk lore premise and it was a solid outing. If the reboot can expand on that by steering clear of the generic slasher tropes and taps into an interesting horror myth then they could have something special on their hands.
Urban Legend isn’t on the level of Scream or even I Know What You Did Last Summer, so they should have the ability to shake up the concept that still plays with the themes of the series. Plus, horror has greatly evolved these days. Though we still get our fair share of slashers, the generic serial killer mystery just won’t cut it in modern times.
The Reboot Does Not Need To Be Connected To The Original
The only connection there needs to be is based the premise on the true crime aspect. I know that I’m being pretty mean to a series that is a harmless watch overall, but there’s a reason it wasn’t a box office juggernaut. Audiences simply weren’t interested in the umpteenth version of Scream. There could be some fun in bringing back Jared Leto to the fold. It’s likely he won’t take the role because this type of horror might be beneath him. Then again, he did do Morbius. Still, small easter eggs are fine, but Urban Legend is the definition of why reboots should exist.
The purpose for reboots should be to bring out the best of films that had a promising concept/idea, but it’s execution didn’t live up to the hype. There’s a clever concept here that can be deeper than what the original series presented. It can play with the horror tropes and subverts expectations by crafting something bold that standout from modern horror. I’m not looking for Urban Legend to be Silence of the Lambs or Get Out level of goods, but the right filmmaker can really bring out the best of this ho-hum series.
Is An Urban Legend Reboot Necessary?
If I was an executive looking to reboot a horror series then Urban Legend would’ve never crossed my radar. However, if someone pitched a strong idea that elevates the original premise then it’s an instant yes for me. We can’t forget that the reason studios did up old films is to tap into the old fans and bring in some new ones. That makes me nervous as the studio may opt to the follow the path of the first and second film. In reality, Urban Legend doesn’t need a reboot. It doesn’t have the uniqueness of a Final Destination or A Night on Elm Street, despite it’s premise having loads of potential. Hopefully the reboot turns out to be something truly great.
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