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"Have you heard the story about the guy that had his hair in dreadlocks? … He
went to the doctor with an earache and died three days later. It was further
determined that there was a family of poisonous spiders in his un-kept hair and
one of them crawled in his ear and bit him. This happened to a friend of
mine…honest to God!"
"What about the one about the group of girls that did a séance? They called
up some ghost by the name of "Winter", who said she would kill the next living
thing that entered the room. The girl's dog walks in, drops on the ground and
starts making these weird noises, next thing you know, it just dies! They say if
you ever call up "Winter" then you end the séance and you end it quickly! My
sister told me that it happened to her friends one Sunday when her parents were
away…really!"
Everyone has heard an urban legend or five in their time. They vary from
topic to topic and even go as far as to attack certain companies, food
franchises, or even certain singers/bands. Where they start is usually unknown
but they can be passed on from generation to generation, which inevitably makes
them completely different than the original story after 20 years of passing it
on. They vary in each country and culture and are not usually confused with real
historical facts. The reason for this is because an urban legend lacks facts
and/or evidence and often plays on our humanistic fears. Admittedly some urban
legends have a tiny hint of truth in them, but trying to find that truth in
amongst a story is harder than you'd think.
Hollywood has played with the urban legend concept and produced some
entertaining movies in the process. The good thing about urban legends is the
flexibility of them. This means a filmmaker doesn't have to be too worried about
how accurate the legend is going to be because there are so many variations and
so many alternative endings to these stories. It really leaves it open for much
creativity. So no one can say, "That movie has it so wrong cause this is how it
REALLY went…" With urban legends there is no right or wrong. They are just
stories, fables, and the more graphic, the more full on the stories get…the more
we like them! So here are some urban legend movies done over the years…and what
legends they refer to.
 Candyman (1992)
Directed by: Bernard Rose
Written by:
Clive Barker
This movie is fantastic! If you haven't seen it then you really need to. It's
about a woman that is doing a thesis on urban legends, and in particular
"Candyman", for her College diploma. Candyman was once a man of middle class,
his talents however, allowed him to mix with the upper classes. He was a painter
and paid well for painting the portraits of all kinds of people in all levels of
status. He was asked to paint the portrait of a young virgin in which they fell
in love. She soon fell pregnant. The father of the girl arranged a group of
brutal hooligans to kill him as punishment for messing around with his daughter.
Candyman was caught, tortured, his hand sawn off, his body covered in honeycomb,
and then stung to death by bees. So now, after his brutal death, he is a legend.
He thrives off the fear of others and needs victims to keep him famous. If you
call his name 5 times in a mirror he will appear behind you and kill you with a
hook he has in the bloody stump. As the College student learns more about
Candyman, she is woven into a world of death, pain, and absolute terror.
It's got a really witty ending and some brutal murder scenes that are really
chilling. Clive Barker had only a small part to play in producing it but it
honestly reeks of his work. It's more of a ‘gothic tale' than a full on horror
movie. However, it's impressive and one of the best urban legend movies
around.
So what legend is it based on?
Ever heard the tale of "Bloody Mary"? This is a
golden oldie this one! There are that many variations, it's just not funny. The
oldest and most simplified version is that, if you call "Bloody Mary's" name
into a mirror 13 times then she is meant to show up behind you and scratch your
eyes out. Another is that of "Hell Mary". You say her name into a mirror 7 times
and Satan appears. Other variations include chanting and spinning. Some say Mary
shows you your death while others say she predicts the future.
Origins:
There is no firm origin of little Mary. I have heard a few different stories
and all rather interesting and definitely imaginative. A lot of people confuse
Bloody Mary with the serial killer Elizabeth Bathory that was around in the
1500's. She was said to have bathed in the blood of young women to keep her skin
looking young. There is no evidence to show that Bloody Mary originated from Ms.
Bathory though, so it has been long since discredited. It is said that the
mirror symbolizes a portal in which anything from another dimension can pass
through. Some say that Bloody Mary is that of an old ancient witch that was
tortured and hung for practicing black magic and using mirrors in particular
during her rituals. The "witch" theory seems to be the most common for Mary,
with hundreds of slightly different versions all over the globe. An example of
this is the story of Mary Worth. She was said to have lived in Massachusetts in
the 17th century. When alive, her face was hideously disfigured by dark red
scars. Children in the Village called her "Bloody Mary" because of it. Being
witch season and the times surrounded in superstitious beliefs, Mary was accused
of being in league with the Devil, and was hung. One night, not long after
Mary's execution, a group of children decided to play at conjuring. They set up
a mirror against the wall and sat in a semi-circle around it. Then they all
began to chant, "Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary…" When they had chanted the name for
the 99th time, Mary appeared in the mirror. Her face was more hideous than ever,
and her hands had turned into claws. She reached through the looking glass to
tear the children's faces. Shrieking and screaming, the terrified children
stumbled away from the mirror. Although Bloody Mary disappeared that day, her
spirit remains, waiting for someone to call her name. (Thanks to http://www.unsolvedmysteries.com -
author ID: 48251)
Another variation I have heard is that Mary was a young and
beautiful girl back in the 17th century also. The other girls in the village
were dangerously jealous of her and one Sunday, after church, a group of girls
followed Mary home. They leapt out in front of the horse and cart that she was
travelling on. The horses were startled and jolted to a stop. Mary was flung off
the carriage due to the sudden motion and banged her head pretty bad on one of
the carriage wheels. Her hair got caught in the wheel, and as it began to turn
from the spooked horses moving in front, she had her hair torn out, her face got
incredibly scratched up and she was soon crushed by the cart's wheel. It is said
that just before little Mary's body gave in to death, she screamed at the
onlooking girls that stood there, mortified with horror. She swore she would
have her revenge. It is said that all the girls that were involved in the prank
that day died mysterious deaths within weeks of the event and Mary is still
waiting today for anyone who dares to whisper her name. As I said, there are
hundreds of variations, I could write a whole feature on Bloody Mary alone…these
are just a few for you to get the general idea.
One of my friends actually was stupid enough to do the "Bloody Mary" ritual.
She told me about it a couple of years ago and I still remember her haunted face
when she did. I honestly think she was telling the truth! She said she waited
until midnight and made sure her parents weren't home. She took a candle into
the bathroom and called "Bloody Mary" six times into the mirror. She saw
nothing. She stood there, in the dark, for 15 minutes she said and didn't see a
thing. She gave up and went to bed. The following morning she got up and went to
shower. While getting undressed, she turned the shower on and the hot water
steamed up the room pretty fast. Then she said she felt really light-headed and
rested her head, just for a second, against the quickly fogging shower screen
door. She couldn't put into words really well what happened exactly but she said
she saw blood on the shower screen door she was leaning her head on and she had
this horrible feeling she was going to die. She staggered out of the room and
went to check on her sister. Her sister said she was as white as a ghost and
they agreed to talk about it and rest for the remainder of the day. It really
scared the hell out of my friend and she is certain it had something to do with
what she had done the night before. She believes that she summoned Mary, and
Mary was about to show her… her death.
Please feel free to post any "Bloody Mary" stories or other urban legend
experiences you may have had or heard about in the forums! It's a fascinating
legend that a lot of people have experimented with.
 Urban Legend (1998)
Directed by: Jamie Blanks
Written
by: Silvio Horta
This movie literally turned urban legends into something fashionable! After
its release in 1998, the births of urban legend sites were happening all over
the Internet. People were discussing their favourite stories as if it was a
sudden new trend, and to be honest, I really don't think the hype has died down
that much. People realised these stories can be scary! "Urban Legend" is based
on an on campus killer at Pendleton College. This killer is taking urban legends
and making them reality. There are a lot of legends throughout the film and it's
very well done. Anyone who has an interest in the topic has to check out this
one!
So what legends are in the film?
Well, let's see…you have the killer lurking in the back seat of the car, the
dangling boyfriend scratching on the roof of the car, "aren't you glad you
didn't turn on the lights?" the gang highlight initiation, the wet dog and the
microwave, pop rocks, the ankle slashers, and the liver being removed. So let's
make our way through these, shall we?
"S-S-Someone's in the b-b-b-back seeeeeeeat"
Well, you all know how the movie version went. The woman is driving, she
needs to pull over for gas and the gas station attendant is rather strange and
it is pretty safe to say that she is totally freaked out by him. She agrees to
go inside when he says there are "problems with her credit card" where he
proceeds to tell her that he has seen someone lurking in the back seat of the
car. In the actual urban legends around the net, she stays with the attendant
and the police arrive to drag the serial killer out of her car and take him
away. However, the movie "Urban Legend" needed a body count, so the axeman fits
in just fine!
There are many variations to this legend. One is that the attendant pops the
hood and tells her that someone is in the back seat when he calls her attention
by saying, "I hear strange noises from the engine that you should hear". The one
I prefer most is the woman that is coming home late one night after stopping for
gas. She notices a car behind her and it follows her for quite some time. She
speeds up at the lights but the car speeds right through them with her. She
turns corners and it turns with her. Finally she arrives home and she races to
the door and dives in her husband's arms, screaming about someone stalking her.
The car that was tailing her pulls up and a man gets out to tell her that he saw
someone climb into her car at the gas station and he wanted to warn her. It is
said that they are gang members that need body parts off of women, or need to
kidnap women to be accepted into the gang they are on trial for. Variations also
include gang members hiding under cars and slashing their ankles as they are
putting their keys in the lock. Once the gang member has the woman down, he can
hack her up into tiny pieces and take what he needs back to his new gang.
Origins:
A man clearly made this one up! This legend has been around since the 60's
and you notice how the poor, innocent, dumb female needs the man to help her
out? It's highly sexist, but it's only a legend and it has never once proven to
have actually happened. So I guess us girls can rest easy. There is no clear
origin for this legend, they can't seem to track down who made it up, or why,
but it has been published in many books and used in many short stories over the
years. They say it's just to warn people, make sure they are careful, and to
lock their car doors at all times. Even my mother used to tell me to make sure
even my driver's door was locked in case some bum climbed in at the traffic
lights. I guess even I have always had it at the back of my mind.
Scratching on the Roof
I will refrain from using the movie versions too much as it's more
interesting to hear about the variations you haven't heard. This one, like the
others used in the movie, has many different versions. The basic story is about
a girl and a guy driving at night. They have car problems and the car stops in
an isolated spot so he decides to go get help. He tells her to lock all the
doors and not get out until he returns. Within hours she grows worried because
he hasn't returned, she then starts hearing noises…it's an odd drip…drip…drip.
She curls herself up, scared out of her mind, and waits to see if her boyfriend
returns. When morning finally arrives she wakes to a policeman shouting. He is
calling out from in front of the car to see if anyone is there. He pulls her out
of the car and asks her calmly not to look back. When they get closer to his car
she turns her head and starts screaming. She sees her boyfriend's decapitated
head sitting on top of the car's antenna. The dripping she heard the night
before was his blood dripping onto the roof of the car. Variations include her
getting out of the car and the boyfriend is hung upside down from a tree, his
nails scratching on the roof of the car with blood dripping from his slit
throat. Another variation is that the police arrive while her boyfriend is gone
looking for help. She hears a tremendous bang on the top of the car and the
police tell her to get out of the car and step away from the vehicle. She does
so slowly and turns to look at the car when she is far enough away. She sees an
escaped lunatic on the roof of the car, banging the roof with her boyfriend's
severed head. And of course, there is always the "Urban Legend" version, where
it's the feet scraping on the car and not the head, nails, or blood drips.
Origins:
This one has been tracked back to the mid 60's to a fisherman in the USA.
They say that this one probably is another "warning" legend. Especially in the
60's when killers were lurking around "Lover's Lane" type areas and preying off
of teenagers who would be making-out in cars. Many serial killers have done the
same, and are still doing so today. These areas are rather remote so it makes it
easy for anyone with negative intentions to do their slaying, make lots of
noise, and get away easily. This legend is much like many others in that the
woman is helpless and needs a man to fix it all. I am reading variations now
though, that have the girl venturing out herself which signifies the changing
society I think, and what is more acceptable now that wasn't in the 60's.
"Aren't you glad you didn't turn on the light?"
Some of the original legends are not as extravagant as the movie version.
This one is one of those. A girl is sharing a room at college with another girl
and she is studying late one night. Rather than waking her roommate, when she
returns to her dorm for a book, she leaves the light off and leaves quietly.
When she returns several hours later, she turns on the light to find a message
in lipstick on the mirror, "Aren't you glad you didn't turn on the light?" and
her roommate is dead. Variations of this are, "Humans can lick too"
that I will get to later in the feature.
Origins:
There is no point of origin for this one. No one even knows where it began
but it is, in fact, one of the most widely talked about legends. It is spread
and often believed on most college campuses. It plays on the "living away from
home" notion. It also plays on the "survivor of a killer" notion. Nothing is
scarier than moving away from home for the first time except knowing you were,
in fact, in the room with a killer and managed to survive.
The Gang Light Initiation
Police send out warnings to people telling them that when they are driving,
they shouldn't flash their headlights to people that don't have their own
headlights on. It is found to be a gang initiation where once you flash them
with your headlights, they see you as a target. They then shoot at you, run you
off the road, or in some cases…make you pull over and…kill you.
Origins:
They say this one started in the 80's with the rise of the Hell's Angels
Bikers gang. Rumours started to flare and it managed to travel across various
states, changing a little every time. There was actually a time where this
rumour was in hysterics. In 1993, rumours got so intense that it was assumed an
"initiation weekend" would happen on September 24th and 25th. Of course, the
weekend went by without a hitch. This rumour has had some pretty vicious hits
since then, again in 1994, and again in 1998. There has unfortunately been a
couple of "copycat" cases for this legend where, on two accounts, people were
shot at when flashing at someone that didn't have their headlights on.
Dog In Microwave
This one is just hilarious. An old lady has an electric bench top oven for
years, and it eventually breaks down, as most electrical appliances usually do!
So she replaces it with a new state-of-the-art microwave oven. Having used the
electric oven to dry off her little show dog after bath time for many years
without harming him, she proceeds to do the same, not knowing that there is any
difference between the two. She places her dog in the microwave after its bath
this time, and it explodes in front of her eyes. Variations include her suing
the company that made the microwave and winning due to there being no label on
the machine and another is that she comes home and dries out her dog with the
new microwave after a quick walk in the rain. In that version, she is drying her
own hair when the dog explodes and the microwave door flies across the room at
her with half the dog still attached to it.
Origins:
The microwave version came about in 1976, but the idea of old women using
electrical appliances, like conventional ovens or clothes-dryers, to dry their
pets had been around for years before. They go as far back as stories about cats
creeping in wood fired ovens or even babies being washed in tubs that are placed
on old ovens while the mother goes off to do something else. When she comes
back, she finds her crispy cat or boiled up baby. Cases have actually happened
about animals getting killed in electrical appliances but they are always acts
of cruelty. Only in the urban legends do the owners have no idea what they are
doing. It's pretty clear that the legend feeds off the idea of "lonely old
women" that are attached to their pets unconditionally and, of course, the fear
of new technology and the extreme mistakes that people could make.
Mixing Pop Rocks with Pepsi
A kid goes to a birthday party, eats six packets of pop rocks, then six cans
of Pepsi, the two substances combined cause him to explode from the inside out
and he dies a tremendously violent and painful death. So pop rocks were taken
off the market.
Origins:
This one first came to surface in the mid 1950's. Mixing carbonate candy with
carbonate soda seemed to have invented the conclusion that you will die of
carbon dioxide overload and your stomach will explode. Mikey seemed to have fit
the bill and got slapped with the urban legend. Kids could recognise him and
some could even relate to him. He was a name, yet no one really knew anything
more about him than the commercial. So it was perfect for the legend to spread
with. Several hot lines were put into place for worried parents to call about
the product and even bulletins went out for the product to ease any concerns.
Pop rocks and Pepsi are, and always will be, safe to eat together.
Waking up in a bathtub full of ice…and one of your kidneys has
been removed!
A teenager goes to a party. He meets up with a girl he's never met before but
is keen on none-the-less. She invites him to another party close by and they end
up alone in one of the rooms together. When he wakes in the morning he remembers
little of the night before. He is stark naked, in a bathtub, lying on crushed
ice. He looks down on himself and "Call 911 if you want to live" is written
across his stomach with lipstick. He used the phone that was left by the bath
and he rang 911. He told the operator his situation and she asked him to get out
of the tub and look in the mirror. He saw nothing until he turned around. Then
he described to the operator the two surgical slits on each side of his lower
spine. She told him to get back into the bath and wait for the ambulance.
Apparently, he is still in intensive care at hospital awaiting an organ donor.
Both his kidneys could have been sold for about $10,000 each on the black
market. Either that, or it was medical-students looking for "practise
subjects".
Variations include a businessman that's given a spiked drink at a
bar while travelling through Vegas and wakes up in a bathtub and the rest is
pretty much the same.
Origins:
This one is actually fairly new. It started popping up on the net around
1990-1991. By 1996, the story changed somewhat in the addition of the lipstick
on the man's stomach. By 1997, a "hooker" version came out and the story seemed
much dirtier, implying that dirty instruments were used. Believe it or not, www.snopes.com tracked this one back to a Law
and Order episode that aired in 1991. These stories are apparently loosely based
on real stories as the writer gets his ideas from real cases that he reads in
the news. The original story was that of a Turk man that went into hospital for
one operation and came out with a kidney missing, in which the hospital gave it
to another patient. However, even this story has varied widely, depending on
whom you hear it from. This legend, like the gang light initiation, has taken
some nasty hits. It has been published in newspapers as a genuine warning in New
Orleans. This legend is still circulating actively from word of mouth and the
Internet and new changes are continuing to develop the legend into something
else. Apparently you can also see this legend come to life in Michael Smith's
1999 short film Ice Bath.
 When a Stranger Calls (1979)
Directed by: Fred
Walton
Written by: Steve Feke and Fred Walton
A female high school student arrives at her babysitting job for the evening,
thinking it will be like any other. The children are already asleep in bed when
she arrives so she sees the parents off and gets comfortable on the couch.
Within an hour she receives a strange call from a man who asks her if she's
checked on the children yet. The babysitter thinks nothing of it until he keeps
ringing…and ringing…and ringing. Traumatized, she calls the police only to find
out that the calls are coming from inside the house. The police arrive to find
the madman upstairs, he has murdered the children horrifically and they realise
he was coaxing the babysitter to come upstairs so he could kill her too. The
story then takes you further. The madman is put into jail. He further escapes
and lives on the streets for a while. He then sees the face of the babysitter in
the local paper. So he returns, but this time…it's her own children that are the
ones in danger. It's not a bad little film. It's pretty disturbing but the
acting isn't bad and the storyline is rather interesting. You have an ex cop
that's trying to "pop him" you see how hard the guy's life is, out of jail and
on the streets. You also see just how bloody strange he really is. I think it's
definitely worth the watch, especially if you are into psychological thrillers,
things that are a little different, or if you are simply a fan of urban
legends!
So what legend is it based on?
This one is a classic! It has stood the test of time and is still being
spread around today. A babysitter arrives at her job and starts to watch
TV as the children sleep upstairs in their bedrooms. She starts to receive phone
calls. It's a man laughing hysterically, then he says "I'm upstairs with the
children, you better come up!" The babysitter thinks it's a joke so she hangs up
and thinks nothing of it. Then he calls again, laughing more crazily, repeating
his words, and he hangs up. She rings the police after the 5th call and tells
them what's happening. They tell her to try and keep him on the line and they
will investigate it. When he calls again he seems to know what is going on and
hangs up before she can stall him. The next call is from the operator. She tells
her to get out of the house immediately as the calls are coming from the
upstairs extension! As she runs to the door she hears someone running down
the stairs and she flings open the door and lands straight into a policeman's
arms. They soon discover the madman got in through an upstairs bedroom window.
He has killed both the children and was intending to kill her too.
Origins:
This one, like the scraping on the roof of the car legend, has been traced
back to the 1960's. It is sort of an ironic legend to teach teenagers the
importance of growing up and responsibility. The babysitter is threatened by a
teenage girls' number one necessity…the telephone! She is also forced to take
responsibility for her own safety and the children's. She may fail, but the
lesson is still learnt. Also check out Black Christmas (1974), which also
features college girls getting spooked by threatening and crazy phone calls
while they all get slaughtered off, one by one. Urban Legend (1998), mentioned
above, also has horrors' very own Robert Englund recanting the story to his
college students during an "urban folklore" lecture.
 Campfire Tales (1997)
Directed by: Matt Cooper, Martin
Kunert, and David Semel
Written by: Martin Kunert and Eric Manes /
Screenplay: Martin Kuner, Eric Manes, and Matt Cooper
A group of teenagers find themselves stranded deep in the woods after a car
accident. They decide to make themselves warm by lighting a fire as well as
telling spooky stories to one another. The stories happen to be three urban
legends that are told with a slightly modern twist.
So what legends are in the film?
The opening skit tells an urban legend also, even though it's technically
before the actual movie starts. The opening legend is that of the hook dangling
from the car door handle. The legends that are in the actual film are…scratching
on the roof of the car, which we've covered in Urban Legend, as well as "humans
can lick too", and another one about a ghost. This is an anthology film so be
warned, it's not just a movie from start to finish, it's broken up into several
parts. It's a good fun flick though.
Hook on Car Handle
A guy and a girl go out to "Lover's Lane" and get cosy in his car. They start
getting intimate when a newsflash broadcasts over the radio. It is warning the
local area about a crazed killer that just escaped from the local mental asylum
and has a hook as a hand. The girl, very shaken up, wants to go home. The
boyfriend persists, in fear of not getting some, but she sees something
glistening in the woods and really starts to panic. So he agrees to take her
home. He speeds off to get her home fast and they pull up in her driveway. He
gets out and walks around to open her door. He reaches for the door handle but
stops, paused in terror. She opens the door herself and starts screaming as she
sees the bloody hook, hanging from the car door handle.
Origins:
Once again, and like the story with the scratching on the roof, this one
stemmed from the 1950's and 60's. Lover's Lane was a popular spot for serial
killers to prey on easy victims. It was out in the middle of nowhere, easy to
see a car all by itself, and even easier to get away without anyone catching
them. This actually makes this particular legend one of the oldest legends
around. Some of the first killings out on Lover's Lane areas began in the mid
1940's in the U.S.A. and this legend was born shortly after. So yeah, this is a
moral based legend. If the girl hadn't of said no that night, they'd both be
dead. Since she only said no after being spooked, you can tell what the story
was meant to do. It's to warn teenagers to be careful. Her denying him forced
him to speed off and evidently saved their lives. Also check out Candyman
(mentioned above), Meatballs (1979), and I Know What You Did Last Summer
(1997).
Scratching on the Roof
This one has already been covered in Urban Legend but this film did it
slightly differently, so I'll tell you what this film did with the legend. A
couple on their honeymoon are driving through a remote part of America in a
mini-bus. They are told by the local policeman not to go out of their bus at
night and he seems very worried when he tells them this. Sure enough, the bus
breaks down and the husband decides to go for a walk to get help. In the
meantime, the policeman is mysteriously, and horrifically, killed by something.
The husband finds the tracks and then is attacked too. Meanwhile, the wife
experiences something banging and shaking her mini-bus while she sits inside,
terrified, waiting for her husband to return. Finally morning arrives and police
escort her out of the mini-bus and ask her not to look back. Of course she does,
and her husband is hanging, upside down, blood everywhere, and his wedding ring
is scraping on the roof of the mini-bus. The boobies, lovey-dovey talk, and gore
make this one a little more modern, but overall it's essentially the same story.
They imply that whatever did it was a monster, and that there is more than one
of them. However, it's open to your personal interpretation.
"People Can Lick Too!"
The movie gives this old legend a real modern twist. It sort of combines two
legends in one actually. A young girl comes home and jumps on her computer. She
chats to a friend and is more than happy to confide in her, openly telling her
that she has the house to herself for the evening. Her parents go out for dinner
and her sister sneakily goes out also, without babysitting her younger sister
like she's asked to. The young girl has a shower, lets her dog in, and slips
into bed. After she becomes comfortable she hangs her hand down the side of the
bed and her dog licks it. Knowing it's okay with the dog there, she goes to
sleep. A few hours later she is awakened by a noise. She goes downstairs to
investigate but finds nothing. She then wanders back upstairs, climbs into bed,
and flings her hand down again to feel a wet tongue on her fingers once more. At
this point, she glances in the mirror and sees the words "People can lick too"
written across it. Also, in the reflection she sees a man, licking her fingers,
with the decapitated dog on the floor next to him. The "her" on the Internet
was, in fact, a "he" and a madman.
Origins:
This one is closely related to the college student that was glad she didn't
turn on the light. It originated around the same time and for all the same
reasons. The girl got away. Instead of a roommate getting killed, this time, it
was her dog. It's still a story about someone getting away because the madman
chose the dog over her, so that the girl is living to tell her tale. It touches
on being home alone and being a survivor in a situation they had little control
over. Variations include her waking in the morning to find the gruesome
discovery, or waking up to a dripping noise, in which she investigates to find
her dog hanging in the bathroom, throat slit. The mirror once again contains the
message meaning that before she fell asleep he was under her bed and the dog was
dead all along.
This legend also touches on another legend about a killer finding his
victims on the Internet. Stories have been floating around the net for
years, telling you not to speak to certain screen names on any chat program. The
warnings have been around since the Internet began, merely to warn people not to
give out too much information. The warning became reality in 2000, when John
Edward Robinson was arrested for the killing of 5 women in Kansas, and linked to
many more. He was said to have lured them over the net, earned their trust, and
then murdered them on confrontation. He has been long since put away and, as
much as it's still not a good idea to tell people where you live, the danger of
getting killed really is slim. Internet luring takes a lot of time, a lot of
effort, and a lot of perseverance. Not many serial killers have the stamina to
keep up such a sham. It's just not in their "nature" so to speak, but that
doesn't mean we can rule out the possibility all together can we? "Campfire
Tales" did a good job of merging these two legends and adapting them to
screen.
The last ghost story within the movie is not from an urban legend. So I won't
spend too much time on it. It is basically a supernatural tale about a man who
needs somewhere to stay. He finds an old house and the place seems normal at
first but then things begin to happen. Finally he flees the house and takes the
woman that lives there into safety. Only she doesn't appear to be what she says
she is. Admittedly the last story in this movie is the least captivating of the
three. Although, if you got through the first two, you might as well watch the
final one too!
 Alligator (1980)
Directed by: Lewis Teague
Written by:
Frank Ray Perilli (story) and John Sayles
"It lives 50 feet beneath the city. It's 36 feet long. It weighs 2,000
pounds…and it's about to break out!"
"Alligator" is a must see, and based on another very old urban legend. The
movie is about an alligator that is flushed down the toilet. The parents realise
the child has the gator and it gets flushed so it's not in their care. As the
alligator grows older, his home becomes the sewers and food is plentiful due to
the city's waste. That waste includes animal experimentation victims such as
dogs and cats that have been pumped with chemicals by a company trying to change
the world. Not only are the dead animals being dumped in the sewers on a regular
basis, but the chemicals make the gator bigger, faster, and smarter than any
gator you've ever seen. When he comes up to the surface, the city above becomes
one big platter. The movie is great! It's fun, it's cheesy, and it's worth a
watch…at least once!
So what legend is it based on?
Well, isn't that obvious? If you haven't heard this one then you've been
living under a rock! Apparently there is a family of alligators that live in the
New York sewer system (or any other major city's sewer system for that matter)
because kids buy them in pet shops and don't realise how big they are going to
get. When they get too big, they are released into the sewers.
Origins:
This beauty goes right back to the early 1900's! http://www.snopes.com managed to track down
news articles back to 1905. Some articles went as far as to say that full police
searches were being conducted after an alligator was found in someone's front
yard. Because the legend is so old, it really is hard to tell how it began. It's
believable that it was some anonymous tip that ended up getting printed in the
papers, because when it comes to deadly animals, the press just love it! They'll
print anything and the public gobble it up, thinking that everything in the news
must be gospel. Despite the fact that it's so common for people to neglect the
care, and responsibility, of the pets they buy…this legend is not true! It has
been put in the papers so many times over the years with photos of people that
actually testify to seeing one of these huge buggas crawl back in the sewer
after they spotted it. But seriously guys…alligators? Pet stores? And how on
Earth could they survive down there? Yup, it's a clever legend but it's
completely ludicrous to believe it!
So there you have it, the main movies based on urban legends. I won't advise
you to see Urban Legend 2, and there is a When a Stranger Calls Back, but I
personally haven't seen it. These stories are just so much fun and I really
think we are going to see so many more of these ideas being developed and put
onto film in the future. So many of the craziest fiction ideas have actually
begun with the tiniest snippet of truth…and sometimes…just sometimes…it's a bit
more than that! I'm going to leave you now with a few of my favourites, they
haven't been put onto film yet but I still live in hope…
Stray Dog or Sewer Rat?
A family travel to a tropical destination for a holiday one year and while
walking the streets, a little dog begins to follow them around. They give it
some food and the daughter decides she wants to keep it while they are there. So
for the next couple of weeks it sleeps with her, eats with her, and she pampers
it like it's her own. When time comes to leave, she doesn't want to give it up.
The parents, not wanting to upset the child, decide to sneak it through customs
and bring it home to meet their current cat and dog. Things go back to normal at
home and everyone returns to work and school. After the first day back, the
mother returns home to find both her cat and dog brutally mutilated. Her new dog
wanders in and, scared that it might be in shock, she decides to take it to the
vet. The vet tells her straight, the new dog did the damage, not because it's
rabid or it's nasty…but because it's actually a Sewer Rat that you would find in
tropical countries.
Welcome to the AIDS Club
A guy goes out drinking one night and meets a really hot girl at a bar. He's
amazed when she asks him to go upstairs into one of the inn's rooms with her, so
he accepts gratefully. She wastes no time in showing her affection and it turns
out to be the best night of sex he has ever experienced. When he stirs in the
morning, he's not thinking about the protection he failed to use. But when he
opens his eyes and looks across the room and sees "Welcome to the AIDS Club"
written on the mirror, he begins to regurgitate in regret.
Lost Bride
Newly weds decide to spend their wedding reception in their brand new house.
After the wedding, they all meet there and have a few drinks. A little drunk,
one of them decides to play "hide and seek" in the huge, unfamiliar house. The
groom is chosen to do the finding and everyone runs off to hide, including the
bride. The groom counts out loud and gradually finds them all, but 2 hours pass
and his bride is nowhere to be found. After 3 hours of calling for her, he gets
mad and refuses to participate in her "games" anymore. After 10 hours, he is on
the phone to the police. They do a full search and find nothing. Devastated, the
groom moves out of the house, thinking she'd left him after what he thought was
a beautiful day. Months later the new owners move in, they clean the house up
thoroughly and move to the attic, as it's the last room to clean. When they
flipped open an old trunk they didn't expect to find anything in there…let alone
a mummified woman in a bridal gown! They decided she must have climbed in the
trunk to hide, accidentally got herself locked in there, and died from
starvation.
Hitchhiker
A guy, driving late at night, notices a little old lady on the side of the
road trying to hitch a ride. He feels sorry for her so he pulls over and lets
her in the back seat. She struggles in and sits quietly. He studies her old and
dirty features and feels suddenly uneasy about her. She says she was lost and is
thankful for the ride to rest her legs. He continues to study her, and continues
to feel more and more uneasy. He cannot explain why but decides to listen to his
feelings and pulls over again and makes her get out. When he gets home he thinks
about the incident and tells his girlfriend. She then wants to see the car so
she goes outside and opens the back door. Sitting on the floor is a small sack.
She opens it with him to find an old rusty knife, some rope, and a small saw.
They called the police right away and they had apparently been looking for this
woman for months. The guy was just thankful he listened to his intuition.
Wedding Day Revenge
A bride and groom sit happily at their bridal table. The speeches are coming
to an end and the microphone is handed to the groom for any final words. He
smiles broadly and says that he has a surprise for everyone at the wedding. All
300 guests at this huge function have a "present under their seats". Everyone
proceeds to reach for what he's left for them and photos start to appear in
their hands. Then the gasps follow…the photos are that of the bride and the best
man, in a very saucy position. The bride begins to cry as the groom continues to
explain how he has had his suspicions for months and has been aware of the
affair that went on right through the wedding preparations. Rather than ending
it there, he hired a private investigator and plotted his revenge. Not only was
the bride absolutely humiliated in front of all her family and friends, but her
parents didn't talk to her for months as they paid the $15,000 to make the
wedding happen in the first place. The groom had the divorce papers in her
letterbox within days.
Body In Mattress
A couple on vacation decide they can't stand the smell of their room anymore
and complain to management. Cleaners are sent in to strip the room, in which
they find a body of a dead girl stuffed inside the hotel room's mattress. This
one has actually been recorded as being true. About 5 bodies have been found
stuffed inside hotel mattresses across the globe, and the movie Four Rooms
(1995), in which Tarantino co-wrote, displays the story rather well. Check it
out. It's a great film and a hell of a lot of fun.
*** HUGE thank you to Barbara Mikkleson and http://www.snopes.com I have no
hesitation whatsoever in expressing how I feel, that her site is the best urban
legend resource on the net! I strongly recommend everyone to have a visit, it's
full of stories, pictures, and she'll tell you what's true and what's not. I
just had to express my appreciation and congratulate the work they put into
their site. I couldn't have pulled this off without Snopes!
***
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