URBAN LEGEND (1998)

Predictable, but enjoyable late-90's SCREAM clone.

There's a killer stalking a small group of college students, but instead of just hacking and slashing, the killer uses different urban legends like calling from inside the house, killer hiding in the back seat and headlight flashing to kill his victims. URBAN LEGEND isn't groundbreaking, but watching it again I got a little nostalgic for the simpler 90's, pre-SAW slasher films filled with cheesy alt-butt rock, no cell phones and funny looking internet sites...then again if you'd ask me what I thought of this film back in 1998 I probably would have said "It sucked balls." Oh well, I guess I'm getting old.

Zero gore, zero nudity, nearly all bloodless kills, low body count, 90's fashions, Alicia Witt looking hot as fuck, Jared Leto looking dreamy as fuck, Tara Reid looking only half busted, Danielle Harris dressed up as a Hollywood version of a goth (mmmmmm), Brad Dourif cameo, Freddy Krueger as a professor. For a horror movie, URBAN LEGEND is pretty shitty, but for entertainment it's passable and I got some good laughs out of it. Worth wasting your time with if it comes on cable and you're too drunk/high to change the channel.

Part 2 - Urban Legends: Final Cut (2000)
Part 3 - Urban Legends: Bloody Mary (2005)

A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (1984)

It's hard to believe, but once upon a time (long before the guitar gif, the video game scene, the 900 number, the Satanawful rap video, the cheesy one-liners, the sellout brand marketing or the soulless remake)...Fred Krueger was actually a serious character!

I'm sure you already know the story to this original horror classic (a child molester is cornered by a group of vigilante parents and burned alive..now, years later, the children are teenagers and he's back to haunt their dreams and kill them) and have seen it a dozen times, but what struck me the most while re-watching this film, for this review, is it's actually pretty dark and Freddy is kinda scary! I'm sure back in 1984 this movie was freaking mainstream audiences out!

That said, I'm still disappointed in Freddy's complete lack of sex drive, you would think that...since he was a fucking sex pervert...that maybe he'd still be trying to get his dick wet with some unwilling teenagers, but nope.  I'd love to see A SERBIAN FILM-style "reboot" of the ELM STREET franchise with Freddy being a total perv.

Anyway, even though it's kinda dated and the ending reminds me of HOME ALONE, I still love this movie and that's not just the nostalgic feeling of being raised in the 80's talking. A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET is a well made film and one of the most influential horror films of the 80's.

Required viewing for horror fans.

Part 2 - A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985)
Part 3 - A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)
Part 4 - A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988)
Part 5 - A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989)
Part 6 - Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991)
Part 7 - Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994)
Freddy vs Jason (2003)
Remake 1 - A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)

That cat poster is dope.