September 22, 2000 -- It hasn't been that long (February of this year) since I saw "Scream 3" and yet here it is again, albeit in a less polished form, with a new name, "Urban Legends: Final Cut." As in the prior film we have grisly murders taking place on film sets. While this isn't as good as it predecessors, including the original "Urban Legends" movie it does attain a kind of grotesque, campy humor.

Since the action takes place at a film school there is a lot of misdirection in the story. Something startling happens and then we find out moments later it was only a dream, or it was a sequence out of one of the students' own horror films, or it was a practical joke played by one student on another using makeup effects.

And who is the real killer, anyway? The movie, like most films of this genre, makes it hard to tell, by making sure that all of the suspects are off camera during all the murders. There are more red herrings than useful clues and the the real killer is always some minor character that doesn't figure into the plot until the final scenes, when he reveals himself to be a killer and proud of it, ha ha ha! Like the scream movies, the killer also wears a mask and loose-fitting clothing so you can't even tell if it is a man or a woman.

This particular film features largely forgettable characters played by forgettable actors. To be fair, it is hard to form much of an attachment to characters when they get stabbed and killed before the third reel. One returning character from the first film is that of the lady cop, Reese Wilson (played by Loretta Devine). Amy Mayfield (played by Jennifer Morrison of "Stir of Echoes") is the main character, a film student being stalked by a killer, along with her friends. The killer is wearing a fencing mask and a loose-fitting black coat as a disguise. Of course such an outrageous costume would draw attention, but the killer never appears in public places, or during daylight. Each victim is conveniently alone, just waiting to be attacked.

One scene I liked features Amy seeing a light flickering in the school tower. She immediately goes to investigate, alone, unarmed, knowing there is a deadly killer on the loose who is looking for her. Does she call the police? Of course not. In another scene, the killer attacks Amy and grabs the video tape which shows his murder of another student. How does he know she has the tape? He doesn't. It is the nature of such killers that they are always in the right place at the right time.

Amy and other students are vying for the "Hitchcock Award" which guarantees Hollywood success. At the end of the film, the theme to Hitchcock's old TV show is played over the credits. It's a nice touch, but this is certainly no Hitchcock film, and neither were any of the films the students were working on. The master of suspense would not stoop to schlock horror like this. "Urban Legends: The Final Cut" rates a D+, and let's hope this is the last one.

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