Shudder Day: Urban Legends- Final Cut (aka Urban Legend 2)

 Let's end the Month with a Sequel that somehow did better and worse than the Original.

Before it went Direct to DVD, we got...

In a Film School (a year after the last Film), we follow a young lady played by Jennifer Morrison.

She's the Daughter of a Documentarian (who is sadly not Werner Herzog), but doesn't want to follow in his footsteps.

Instead, she's inspired to make a Horror Film after talking to the Security Guard- the same one from the last Film, who says that she got fired during the coverup.

So now she's going to make a Horror Film about Urban Legends...in a Sequel to a Horror Film about Urban Legends...called Urban Legends.

Clean up that nosebleed- we have some dead meats to deal with!

This random lady is friends with Morrison's would-be-boyfriend, so she's abducted and killed after being subject to the 'Waking up in the tub with your kidney stolen' UL.

The majority of the kills take place during the production of Morrison's Film.

After a day of shooting with a terrible Actress (who is also going to Film School?), the lady is killed by the murderer going full Peeping Tom.

Ironic, considering that the Film is a love letter to Hitchcock and many people claim Michael Powell's Peeping Tom is *better* than Psycho.

Why the Fencing Mask though?

The killer goes after Morrison next when she gets too close to the truth.

She gets a video tape of them killing her Director of Photography, so he scares her dressed as...Mac Tonight?

Without the evidence, he can keep up the killing.

The arrival of her would-be-boyfriend's twin (another Hitchcock homage) doesn't do much to save her Special Effects Guys and Eva Mendes.

Mendes- like Reid in the last Film- is killed off-camera, which feels like a twist setup...but isn't.  At all.

Can she unmask the killer?
Will this one also deliver some failed Sequel Bait?

Stream it now to find out.

A Sequel that is both more fun and definitely dumber in many ways.

The obvious thing- this Film isn't really about Urban Legends all that much.
It is actually about someone MAKING A FILM about Urban Legends...which is just the last Film.

In this case, the Film turns much into Film Tropes and is all about Filmmaking.

I'm a Film Nerd, so it worked for me.
I can't speak to whether or not this works for you.

As a Slasher Film goes, it checks all of the boxes.
It has the kills.
The dead meats.
The tension.
The Set Pieces.

Honestly, from a purely aesthetic point of view, this one is better.  It has a variety of Sets, as opposed to just different locations on a real College.

(It uses a different College and Sets)

That said, the overall quality and commitment to Theme is a bit weaker than the first Film.  So this one is possibly more fun (if you like the Film stuff), but not as good.

That said, it was Directed by John Ottman, who has won an Oscar (for Editing a Bryan Singer Film, mind you), so I can't look down on it too much.

A Sequel that thankfully does some things quite differently.  That said, the whole 'Urban Legend' thing takes a backseat to Film Homages.