Movies News Talk
Although Alicia Witt's performance of Ruth Harker in Longlegs is excellent, it also reminds us to review Urban Legend, her 1998 slasher flick. The audience is on edge as Witt presents Ruth, a character who might not be totally steady. Given Ruth's revelation in one of the scariest sequences of the movie—that she is collaborating with Longlegs and the devil—the audience is rightfully suspicious. Given that much of Longlegs' finale depends on her appearing sane in front of the Carter family, Witt's performance is vital.
Reviews of Longlegs commend the movie for defying convention and producing an innovative horror flick. But horror, a genre mostly dependent on challenging audience expectations, has seen a lot of Movies follow formula. Previous horror works of Witt, Urban Legend, were disregarded without much thought because of overplayed storylines and cliches. But following Witt's Longlegs performance, her 1998 horror movie is worth seeing.
of Jamie Blanks' Urban Legend, Alicia Witt plays Natalie, the last survivor of a Pendleton University friend group. An unidentified killer chases Natalie and her friends throughout the movie; many of the murders in the movie draw on urban legends. The story of the film distinguishes it since it vividly brings to life a known dread of terrifying childhood stories. Over twenty years later, much of Urban Legend still stands true.
Unlike her restrained portrayal as a possessed hoarder in Longlegs, Witt's performance as Natalie is sincere as she works to stop her companions from dying. Though the film is sometimes attacked for its cliched storyline and shocks, good reviews highlight Witt's Natalie performance. Unlike previous final daughters, who are mostly innocent victims, Natalie is motivated by remorse from a prior mistake, paranoia, and terror.
Thanks to Scream's popularity two years prior, Urban Legend was produced during a slasher renaissance period. Many Movies of the day were keen to profit from the storyline of a mysterious killer stalking popular young people. Inspired by this, Urban Legend was written off as a copy-cat of Scream. With the backdrop of its production, the movie's measly 28% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes over the previous 26 years reflects the consensus—that of an average film. None of the films from the era received the same praise and lifespan as Scream.
But taken out of Scream's setting, Urban Legend's story seems more original than it felt. Although many movies are based on a single scary folktale, Urban Legend runs 95 minutes exploring several. Given modern technology, several of the urban legends covered in the film are less common today, but its performers still help to provide tension and shocks. Alicia Witt's performance in Longlegs is only a taste of the acting that makes Urban Legend a fun and exciting slasher playing on our deep childhood worries entertaining.
Jamie Blanks wrote the 1998 horror movie Urban Legend. Emphasizing a string of horrific murders at a New England institution, the film tracks a group of students as they discover the link between the deaths and several urban legends. Jared Leto, Alicia Witt, and Rebecca Gayheart among the ensemble cast weave tension and terror via their examination of contemporary mythology.