Recently I've been rewatching the movies I was obsessed with as a pre-teen and teen. Being a '90s kid, a lot of them were teen slasher movies that rode the coattails of Scream, with Urban Legend being one of the more successful examples. Even though I loved it at the time, I haven't rewatched it in at least 18 years. Here's how the experience of revisiting it went down...
1. I don’t remember much about this movie except for Rebecca Gayheart’s amazing hair.
2. This is quite a ~spooky~ opening.
3. Omg I forgot Tara Reid is in this!
4. I feel like so many of these ‘90s movies start with a car driving along a winding country road in the dark, with dramatic music playing.
5. Remember cassette tapes?!
6. This girl screaming along to “Total Eclipse of the Heart” in her car is very relatable.
7. Especially because she keeps getting the lyrics wrong.
8. I’m just waiting for her to die. They’re totally going to pull a Drew Barrymore in Scream.
9. Of course the creepy guy has a stutter. What a gross cliché.
10. Ohhh wait I think I remember this. He’s locking the door to protect her, not attack her!
11. “SOMEONE’S IN THE BACK SEAT!” Okay I have chills.
12. That was such a good opening tbh.
13. We get it, Tara Reid’s character likes sex. I bet she’ll be the first to die.
14. “Get away from the volcano before it erupts.” Is that a direct reference to American Pie?
15. Oh wait, this came out before American Pie.
16. JARED LETO.
17. Omg Parker is Lex Luther from Smallville!
18. I think Natalie (Alicia Witt) is the only person to ever look that good with brown lipstick.
19. This is like the peak of Jared Leto’s pretty boy years.
20. Is the "student pulitzer” an actual thing?
21. Wait, Brenda (Rebecca Gayheart) transferred to this college because of the Bloody Mary myth? Seems suss.
22. JOSHUA JACKSON. With bleached hair!
23. There are so many jump scares in this.
24. Oop there’s an unexpected sex scene.
25. Oh gosh the painful days before earbuds.
26. Remember when business shirts were, like, ~in~? I had a blue one just like the one Brenda is wearing.
27. Joshua Jackson saying “yeah baby, yeah” is my sexuality.
28. Brenda thinks he’s actually dying and she just, like, kicks him away instead of trying to help him.
29. As if you couldn’t tell that he’s joking though.
30. Jared Leto is really nailing the over-eager student journalist schtick.
31. How would they have gotten any of this information about that girl’s death?
32. I can’t remember who the killer is. Is it Joshua Jackson? Or that Parker guy?
33. These dorm rooms are gigantic.
34. I’m SCREAMING over this argument between Natalie and her roommate over the phone line being clogged by dial-up internet. It’s taken me right back to being 13 again..
35. Wait, Natalie was friends with the murdered girl? Why did she hide that fact?
36. Lmao @ them playing the Dawson’s Creek theme song in this scene with Joshua Jackson.
37. He is definitely lying to get into her pants.
38. What a scumbag.
39. This is a VERY un-Pacey role.
40. YAS NATALIE, PUNCH HIM.
41. Hmmm I think he’s definitely the killer, hey.
42. Oh nope, he’s being murdered.
43. Unless that was a TRICK.
44. No, he’s definitely dead.
45. OR IS HE?!
46. Is that seriously the killer’s outfit?!?! Hahahahaha that is ridiculous.
47. Hmmmmm is the killer Jared Leto?
48. Oh no, they arrested the poor gas station attendant.
49. Rebecca Gayheart’s hair with the zig-zag hairband is everything.
50. Why won’t any of them believe Natalie?!
51. Tbh that’s pretty realistic. Sigh.
52. This is the second movie I’ve rewatched that’s referenced the whole Richard Gere gerbil thing. Lol.
53. I really thought Rebecca Gayheart was the main character, but Natalie is getting way more airtime.
54. Lol @ having to go to the library to look up urban legends instead of just getting lost in a Wikipedia hole for five hours.
55. “Gothic guys on campus looking to hook up.” Lmao.
56. “Tell me what room U R in.” First of all, I'm cackling @ "U R". Second of all, the reply is definitely going to say “yours” and then BAM she’s dead.
57. Yep.
58. Omg, she’s literally gonna be killed right there while Natalie is in the same room, oblivious?!?!
59. Wait, is Rebecca Gayheart the killer?
60. Or she’s one of them? Is she part of a team?
61. I vaguely remember her, like, pulling down a hoody to reveal she’s bad?
62. “I dropped journalism ethics.” Yeah, that doesn’t surprise me, pal.
63. I mean the teacher is OBVIOUSLY not the killer.
64. This school seems very dodgy
65. Oh good, a storm.
66. This is not a funny prank, guys.
67. Oh yeah, okay, this is all about revenge, right? Was it Rebecca Gayheart’s boyfriend or brother that Natalie and the other girl accidentally killed, or something?
68. That’s why she transferred! Revenge!
69. Rolling my eyes so hard that they still think the teacher os the killer.
70. This Dean is the worst.
71. *shudder* Getting my ankles slit like that is like an irrational fear of mine.
72. That was such a gross death scene.
73. Don’t make the dog chug beer! Poor doggy.
74. Tara Reid looks so hot in this.
75. Jared Leto, you’re wrong, buddy.
76. At least he finally believes Natalie.
77. ZOOT SUIT RIOT! OMG I have not thought about this song in 20 years.
78. Hmmm I think maybe Parker is involved with the murders somehow?
79. This phone call is very Scream.
80. NO! NOT THE DOG! NO NO NO NO NO.
81. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.
82. Fuck how did I forget this?!
83. I must have blocked it out.
84. Well, I guess Parker is not on the murder squad.
85. Oh shit the Pop Rocks.
86. This is rather awful.
87. Oh no Tara Reid, run! Run!
88. Oh dear.
89. Wait is SHE one of the killers? Because we didn’t actually see her body.
90. It’s definitely not Jared Leto. I think.
91. So much of this plot wouldn’t work now because it hinges on the lack of access to phones.
92. Brenda, people are literally being murdered and you’re worried about your crush?!
93. YAS THERE SHE IS, PULLING BACK THE HOOD, I KNEW IT!
94. She is so unhinged.
95. He was her boyfriend! I was right!
96. Why is this scene going on for so long though? I know she’s obviously not going to kill Final Girl Natalie, will Jared Leto just hurry up and rescue her already?
97. OH YAS IT’S THE SECURITY GUARD!
98. OH NO NOT THE SECURITY GUARD!
99. Lmao Brenda still wants Jared Leto?!
100. Was he just standing back there listening the whole time?
101. “You’re cute, Paul. But you’re not that fucking cute.” I’m cackling.
102. Oh good the security guard is still alive!
103. Of course Brenda got shot right out the window.
104. “This will all become a legend too, you know.” Girl, all your friends were just murdered, why you so chill about all of this?
105. HOW DID BRENDA SURVIVE THAT FALL?!
106. Rebecca Gayheart has done so much maniacal screaming in this.
107. Yo are you gonna make sure the bitch is dead this time orrrrrr???
108. SHE IS STILL ALIVE! With diff hair and makeup!! Omg!!!
109. Is she just moving from campus to campus now?
110. Tbh I’m v into the fact that this had a female killer.
111. I can’t believe I forgot so much of it, lol.