Post by Mr.HoRrOr on Aug 22, 2005 11:23:30 GMT -5
Plot:On a prom-night dare, a trio of high school friends chant an incantation, unleashing an evil spirit from the past with deadly consequences.
Cast:
Kate Mara
Robert Vito
Tina Lifford
Ed Marinaro
Michael Coe
Lillith Fields
Nancy Everhard
Audra Lea Keener
Don Shanks
Brandon Sacks
Hailey Smith
Olesya Rulin
Haley McCormick
My Thoughts:Decent third entry which lacks in a few areas.
Review:After "Urban Legends:Final Cut" was shiskabobed by basically everyone who saw it,how could you blame the people at Sony/Phoenix Pictures for releasing "Urban Legends:Bloody Mary" direct-to-video? They obviously thought that the second film was recieved so badly that not enough moviegoers would be willing to take a chance and spend their money to see "UL 3" in theaters."Urban Legends:Bloody Mary" tells the tale of a girl named Mary Banner who during homecoming 1969 was along with 2 of her friends the victim of a date rape attempt gone bad...by who else? But those pesky jocks we've all come to know and hate in our high school days.The jocks managed to capture her 2 best friends after slipping roofees into their drinks but Mary manages to escape after she figures out what they're up to. One of the jocks chases Mary down before she can tell anyone and during a struggle winds up severly injuring her in a freak accident.Being the real braintrust that he is,he stuffs her body in a trunk and goes about his merry way.Just one problem,Mary isn't dead,and thus she suffers a slow and horrible death via suffocation.Fast forward some many years later and a group of girls are discussing the Mary Banner incident.Legend has it that should you speak her name 3 times she appears.The script takes a bit from the Bloody Mary legend but alters the legend since it's actually 5 times you have to recite her name,not 3 as suggested in this film.Upon the third mention of her name Mary appears in one of the films few well done scenes.It's actually the only really freaky scene in the movie.It's soon after this that the lead girl Samantha and her friends vanish but not at Marys hand,but rather at the hands of a bunch of jock football players who kidnap her and her friends to get revenge for an embarassing article she posted about them in the school newspaper.This is a film where pretty much everyone gets whats coming to them at the hands of the supernatural entity named Mary Banner.I doubt anyone could find themselves feeling the least bit sorry for the group of kids who are systematically killed off by Mary in this movie,I certainly didn't.There are 5 total kills in this film of which 3 are great kills that stand out and are worth mentioning.One death by tanning bed,another by spiders,another via electric fence (one of the funniest kills I've seen in awhile).So whos killing these kids,and why?Those are the questions the two main characters Samantha and David played by Kate Mara and Robert Vito aim to answer mainly in an attempt to clear their names since most in their small town think Samantha and David were seeking revenge for the earlier kidnapping incident and are responsible for the rash of murders.We already know whos doing it, despite an effort by the film to swerve us in a scene where they use newspaper clippings to connect "Urban Legends:Bloody Mary" with the other two films that came before it "Final Cut",and the original "Urban Legend"."Urban Legends:Bloody Mary" spends most of it's time having the two main characters investigating the recent murders and eventually stumbling onto the Mary Banner incident all those years ago.I must say for a dtv slasher there was some great writing done with this movie.The mystery itself even though the viewer already knows the answer was still a great source of intrigue,then theres a mystery someone out there that doesn't want the mystery solved.This could've really made me give the film a higher grade but this mystery someone is given away early on in the movie and that pretty much made what could've been a great storyline into just a moderately good one.With that one important story arc which shouldn't have been given away so early being given away in the first half you would think the film would break down into a total mess by the second half.But a few new wrinkles are tossed into the Mary Banner mystery such as the revelation of why shes killing these kids,the victims connection to the ones responsible for what happened to Mary and her friends in 69,and the appearance of a character whos connection to Mary Banner may help Samantha and David find out who killed her,which all come together nicely to carry the film to it's ultimate conclusion which takes place in a snow covered cemetary."Urban Legends:Bloody Mary" is a pretty decent/good watch for a third installment. However I think "Final Cut" still surpasses it a smidge due to it's much much more graphic and overall better kills.
Pros:The snowy locations of Salt Lake City Utah worked as a great setting for this film.Surprisingly great writing for a direct to video feature,great directing by Mary Lambert,and the character of Mary Banner was a pretty cool semi-antagonist.
Cons:Here why I only thought this movie was decent/moderately good.There were things that were given away at the wrong times in the story. One was the identity of the mystery person who didn't like the kids getting too close to solving the Mary Banner mystery.That was revealed way too early.The other was the newspaper clippings connecting this film to the first two.Had they revealed the newspaper clippings at the beginning rather than the middle of the movie,it would've served better to confuse the viewer as to who exactly is doing the killings and whether they're ghost or human.The acting was also pretty below subpar by most of the cast.
Overall:Has it's flaws although they aren't extremely severe,which makes the film worth a watch.