Writer: Paul Harris Boardman, Scott Derrickson (Screenplay) Silvio Horta (Characters)
Starring: Jennifer Morrison, Matthew Davis, Hart Bochner, Loretta Devine, Joey Lawrence, Anson Mount, Eva Mendes
Plot: A film school is the center of a fresh spate of killings based on urban legends.
Tagline – It was an urban legend that started it all. Now it continues on the Alpine University campus…
Runtime: 1 Hour 37 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Good Late Night Movie
Story: Urban Legends: Final Cut starts as we head to a new university where the students are film students making a horror movie, Amy Mayfield (Morrison) comes from a line of famous film makers adding the pressure to excel, meeting Reese (Devine) the returning security guard that wouldn’t accept the silence after the events of the first movie, she give Amy the idea for her project, a serial killer using Urban Legends.
With Amy’s movie started it doesn’t take long before the cast start getting picked off, Amy must work with twin brother of highly regarded student Trevor Stark (Davis) and feisty security guard Reese to solve the murders and get her film done on time.
Thoughts on Urban Legends: Final Cut
Characters – Amy is the young filmmaker studying at university looking to find an idea for her project, she gets that idea from Reese, a horror film where the killer uses Urban Legends to kill the victims, she must deal with jealous students who feel she is stepping on their genre, young artists who want to make a name for themselves and soon a serial killer that wants to use the Urban Legends for their own killing spree. Sadly, she is the only character we truly get to know much about, we have the Stark twins, with the student one killing himself which draws his brother to learn why, the returning Reese who is the connection between the two movies, still the most entertaining character and many other students and professor who either work on or help plan the film Amy is making. This biggest problem with most of the supporting characters is that they don’t seem to understand horror movies, even though they are making one.
Performances – Jennifer Morrison takes her first leading role here, she is good for horror, as this role is the only one that seems to understand horror films. Matthew Davis in twin roles is solid enough as they are both in different mood settings through the film. Lorette Devine is the best character to watch once again. We have an early role from Eva Mendes here to which is a highlight.
Story – The story here follows the events of the first film which have been swept under the carpet, now a film student learns of the idea and decides to make a movie based on an Urban Legend killer. This is understandable and should work because we like the idea of meta in movies, the problems arise when this film students that are making a horror movie don’t seem to understand the rules of horror movies, add in the fact that we only have certain kills in the film being based on urban legends while others are crimes of opportunity. When it comes to the slasher side of the film we don’t get as many suspects this time which does disappoints, but everything works well enough for the film if you want a late-night movie.
Horror/Mystery – The horror in this film does follow most of the same trends, we have the urban legends being the designs for most of the deaths, though the mystery in this film falls short because we don’t believe that any of the suspects could be guilty.
Settings – We keep the university setting, with a lot of the sequences taking place in the created sets and giving us behind the look locations for horror movie production.
Special Effects – The effects are mixed because we do get to see a lot of cheats behind how effects can be made with a couple of characters, when it comes to the real kills things are good without being anything special.
Scene of the Movie – Reese is excellent to watch.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Most of the characters don’t understand how horror movies work.
Final Thoughts – This is a solid enough sequel, it gives us plenty to enjoy when it comes to late night horror which can always be enjoyed by the right audience.
Overall: Solid sequel.
Rating