[ No. 26 ]
Urban legend
by Ramon Lobato
We've all heard the one about the cat in the microwave, the kidney
transplant ring and the stalker in the house with the babysitter,
but I've got a new one for you. Twenty-six year old Arts graduate
from Melbourne town is entrusted with a $23 million budget and a
cast of hot young Yankees to make the next instalment in the post-"Scream"
90s horror genre, "Urban Legend", all on the basis of one 3-minute
trailer.
Alright, so it's not an urban legend -- no animals get killed,
and it didn't happen to my neighbour's fiancee's cousin -- but it
is a true story. Horror fanatic and overnight success Jamie Blanks
told me all about it.
'I was getting scripts from my manager while I was in Melbourne
and he sent me the script for "Scream", which was called "Scary
Movie" at the time,' said the affable and decidedly unHollywood
Blanks, while in town for a brief promo visit. 'I didn't get that
-- I was told Wes Craven was attached to that movie. I didn't want
to lose out to someone like that again, and there was every chance
I would if another script came along. So when I got the script for
"I Know What You Did Last Summer", I thought well I really want
to direct this one.'
Luck had it that Jamie was not to land "I Know ... " either, but
producer Neal Moritz was sufficiently impressed by his 3-minute
effort, made for a paltry $4000, that Blanks was invited to helm
the studio's next project, "Urban Legend".
Starring Jared Leto ("Last Of The High Kings") as a mild-mannered
college paper reporter and Alicia Witt as a student scarred by past
secrets, "Urban Legend" has already grossed three times its budget
in the States -- not bad for someone who's barely twenty-six.
Blanks is not the first film virgin to strike it big time. Recruited
by Simon Millar, the American agent who launched the careers of
Michael Bay ("Armageddon") and David Fincher ("Seven"), Blanks mentions
Jim Gillespie, the director eventually assigned to "I Know ...,
which was to be his first feature film.
For a first-timer, Blanks insists that he was given 'incredible
autonomy and lee-way to do what I wanted to do'. Surely his College
films, over which he had complete creative control, were a different
experience entirely from a huge project like "Urban Legend" and
its horde of meddling producers, advisers and, as Blanks puts it,
'studio sycophants'?
'There were plenty of clashes,' says Blanks. 'For example, there
was strong talk about wanting to have a rock song at the end of
the credits. I was, "Well, I don't want to have a rock song, because
in ten years time I don't want to chuck this movie on and listen
to some crap Eurotrash band playing some crappy Eurotrash song".
Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, but I'm gonna lose less and
less often as I go along, hopefully.'
Taking cues from his hero John Carpenter ('the best horror film
ever made still is "Halloween", he insists), Blank's direction of
"Urban Legend" directly references films like "The Hitcher" and
"Texas Chainsaw Massacre". Astute horror buffs may even recognise
Robert Englund, the actor who played Freddy Kruger, in a small role
as the dubious Professor Wexford. 'I had to resist the urge to make
any Freddy references,' Blanks laughs. 'You have no idea how much
of a temptation that was.'
So what does Blanks think of the second wave of horror triggered
by "Scream"? 'From the ones that we're seeing, most of them are
better than the ones that were coming out originally,' he comments.
'All the knock-offs of the "Friday The 13th" movies and the "Halloween"
movies were, like, BAD. Go watch "Spider University" or something,
and all will be proven. The new horror films are a lot more intelligent
script-wise. They're definitely a lot more advanced stylistically
than the other films were. The only problem I'm seeing is that they
may become a little more formulaic than the other films were, because
they're casting TV stars and they're trying to make them fit into
the Hollywood cookie-cutter mould, where (and "Disturbing Behaviour"
is proof of what I'm saying) it don't always work, man!'
"Urban Legend" features more than a few TV stars itself. Blanks even
includes a very tongue-in-cheek scene where an actor Josh Jackson
starts his car and the theme song for his TV show in the States comes
on over the tape deck. However, "Urban Legends" stays well clear of
the Neves and Jennifer Loves of the film world. Was this a deliberate
decision or a financial reality?
'Definitely a decision,' he says. 'They weren't cheap either! Jared
Leto -- this is the first unabashedly commercial thing he's ever done.
Same with Alicia Witt. I wanted to go for something a little different,
which isn't to take anything away from Neve. She's an incredible actress,
and she's a big part of the reason "Scream" was such a success.'
