Review Urban Legends: Bloody Mary (2005): Like an SNL parody with worse acting and direction.

genre: horror, mystery

The first two parts in the franchise were decent slashers that had their fair share of thrills and suspense. But this third part is almost like an SNL parody with worse acting and direction. 

I tried several times to go along with the vibe of the film, but I simply couldn't get into it. I was expecting this to be similar to the first parts. But here is an example of the film student not understanding the assignment. The whole point of the Urban Legend was to have it seem there is something supernatural going on, while in truth you have a killer who capitalizes on this notion. Here the supernatural phenomena are blatant and intended. And these are done so poorly, they lose their effectiveness. It's nor creepy nor scary. Urban Legends: Bloody Mary also is a direct to video production and it shows. Everything looks and feels cheap. They couldn't even be bothered to do proper night sequences which already breaks the immersion, but to then outright show the ghost in all its ugliness never leaving any doubt about it is a rookie mistake. Sure, some of the deaths were amusing, although the reaction to these deaths were awful.

And that brings me to the acting. It's bad. In a horror film like this, it is to be expected that actors don't take events all too seriously, so any goofiness is expected. But most of the people in the film react to the deaths like it's an everyday occurrence. Or worse, they don't really care that much. Your schoolfriend died in the most horrible way ever? Though! You have to go to school anyway. Nobody is really going to be bothered by hearing their classmate has been burnt to a crisp in a tanning salon. Some spider laid its eggs in the body of your friend and the baby spiders all decided to come out? Oh come on, don't be so sensitive. They also seem to skip the whole crime procedural part and bury the dead right after it happens. There are times, when I do think they could skip those sequences. Then again, the lack of has demonstrated that they do help convey a sense of dread and uneasiness. It's here where the actors can show how they are affected by the horrible deaths and how awful everything is. Kate Mara has one expression through the entire film, and Ed Marinaro probably never was told they were already filming.

The supposed twist you never saw coming is downright insulting. So I am not even going to waste words on it. This is a terrible film and not the, it's so bad that it becomes good kind. There is no connection to the first two parts, apart from a scene from the second part being played in the background. Yeah, I doubt people are going to make that connection. Avoid like the plague!