Plot: What’s it about?
The three girls had heard the urban legend of Bloody Mary countless times, a young woman who killed in a tragic accident. The stories claim that if her name is recited three times, she will return from the other side to exact revenge on those who call her name. Not just the speaker, but everyone that person is close to, in vicious fashion, no less. Even so, as the three girls called out her name three times, they didn’t expect the legend to be true, but they soon learned the truth. The girls are soon taken hostage by some local jocks and by the end, only girl has survived the ordeal. Soon however, the school is plagued by a series of fatal accidents, all related to people the survivor is close to. As more and more bodies pile up, the fierce wrath of Blood Mary gets even more brutal with each passing death. But how can anyone stop Bloody Mary’s rampage, since you can’t kill what is already dead?
This is the third volume in the Urban Legend series, which started with a solid movie and sank down with a less than impressive sequel. So would Bloody Mary scare some sense back into the series, or is this just another dire attempt to cash in? As it turns out, this isn’t so much a sequel, as the film takes a generic urban legend and tries to create a ghostly thriller. The Urban Legend franchise has been about slashers, not ghosts, so this turn of events was quite a disappointment. A few scenes have touches of the original, but the focus is more on the kind of eerie horror found in The Ring and its ilk, when I wanted slash and burn. In other words, the gore quotient is rather low, but you will see a couple memorable kill sequences. I hope this isn’t the final nail in the coffin of the series, as Urban Legend deserves one last shot to redeem the franchise. I wasn’t taken with Bloody Mary, but if you’re a horror buff, then it is worth a rental.
Video: How does it look?
Urban Legends: Bloody Mary is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. Of course, this was a lower budget production and that often means lessened visuals, but in this case, that isn’t true. The image is very dark and shadowy, but this transfer handles it all with ease, quite impressive work. I did see some grain in a couple of the darkest scenes, but on the whole, the print looks as clean as can be. The colors don’t make too much impact, but come through as intended, while black levels are rich and sharp at all times. A few minor issues aside, this is a great looking effort and I have no serious complaints to make.
Audio: How does it sound?
The included Dolby Digital 5.1 track has solid overall presence, but lacks the depth and range I expected. The surrounds are used at times, such as the annoying off camera laughs, but they don’t have much power, so it often seems thin. I think this is the kind of movie where an eerie, atmospheric audio option would enhance the experience, so I was let down to an extent. The track is solid however, with clean and well presented dialogue & sound effects, even if the front channels shoulder most of the load. This disc also includes a Portuguese language track, as well as subtitles in English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, and Thai.
Supplements: What are the extras?
This disc includes a promotional behind the scenes featurette.
