Killer Legends

July. 01,2014      
Rating:
6.2
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Trailer Synopsis Cast

Delving into our collective nightmares, this horror-documentary investigates the origins of our most terrifying urban legends and the true stories that may have inspired them.

Rachel Mills as  Self
Joshua Zeman as  Self

Reviews

Cubussoli
2014/07/01

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

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Listonixio
2014/07/02

Fresh and Exciting

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Lachlan Coulson
2014/07/03

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

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Fatma Suarez
2014/07/04

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

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gil-191-414728
2014/07/05

I really enjoyed this piece! Rachel Mills and Joshua Zeman do an excellent job of examining several urban legends and the crimes that may have inspired them. I would really like to see them turn this into a series that explores true crimes and studies the twisting of the facts by the general public. Rachel and Joshua take a first person role in examining the facts and perceptions surrounding several high profile murders that spawned or at the very least bolstered urban legends such as the man with the hook, the babysitter and the caller and 'killer clown'. Their objective look at these is very believable and I think would do well in an ongoing examination of other high profile crimes and how facts get twisted in the retelling.

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HeadBanger
2014/07/06

Don't want to give anything away concerning this film. You can find it on Netflix right now. I didn't know what the movie was about and thought it was insightful. Got to learn about cases I have never heard before. This movie is worth a watch if you are into the horror genre. I might watch this one again once Halloween rolls around. I did think the main commentator sounded a bit cheesy at times. I hope they create more films like this about other urban legends. Some of the clips they used I hadn't seen in a while and somewhat creeper out while watching at night. This movie might bother you more than others just because of the real life cases and those that talk about living during those time periods of hysteria.

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Ja64
2014/07/07

Joshua Zeman's KILLER LEGENDS is a worthy follow-up to his highly-acclaimed horror doc CROPSEY. KILLER LEGENDS features chills, laughs, and 85 minutes of pure entertainment. Having been a horror fan for my entire life, I've always loved being scared by serial killers created by the craziest minds working in the horror genre. However, I never considered that many of these serial killers and insane stories were rooted in reality. Zeman and Rachel Mills clearly did an enormous amount of research to make this film simultaneously stimulating intellectually and wickedly entertaining. Each segment of KILLER LEGENDS is engaging, chilling, and more compelling than the one preceding it. My personal favorite was the "Candy Man" segment because it hits the closest to home and features the biggest twist. It's also the most disturbing. This segment is so horrifying and relatable (if that's even the right word) because most of us have been trick-or-treating and had heard about tainted candy. The fact that tainted candy killed a kid under the circumstances that it did is really horrible (you'll see what I mean).Mills and Zeman's passion for the material really shines through and makes this film a winner. They obviously love this material and Zeman seems to love the kinds of films he makes - he has now explored the true-life roots of urban legends in two documentaries. This makes watching them incredibly entertaining. We feel his passion as we watch. I would highly recommend this to fans of horror, documentaries, and, of course, CROPSEY. This is a documentary for those who don't like documentaries.

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Drew Grimm Van Ess
2014/07/08

This was a screener that I was really looking forward to. If there's something I love, it's a good horror-based documentary. I love learning, and there's nothing better to learn about then anything horror. In this case, Killer Legends, takes you all over the place, from Texas to Missouri, to Chicago investigating and finding the truth behind some of the cruelest urban legends. I've seen a lot of narratives before, but never one that dug to find the ugly truth that inspired some of the most chilling stories ever told. So this was a treat, and it's incredibly well made.Joshua Zeman (Cropsey 2009) and Rachel Mills (American Pickers 2012) take you on a journey that makes you face the harsh reality that real life is far worse than any scary story made up. Also, that any tall tale is always based on some truth, which is always more horrifying. When watching, I couldn't help but reflect how screwed up we are as a species to do the things we do. Killer Legends shows you that you don't have to be scared of the monster in your closet, or the creepy clown doll under your bed, because human beings and what they're capable of, trump all else.We learn about The Hookman, and the danger of sex amongst teens. In 1946, a killer known as The Phantom murders four couples on Lover's Lane, claiming five victims. He was never caught, and the incidents have been dubbed the Moonlight Murders. These killings are what inspired the motion picture, The Town that Dreaded Sundown, because The Phantom always wore a mask.Then we get schooled about the Candyman urban legend, where a man gives poison to children in Halloween candy. The sickening truth behind this involves a father poisoning his son's pixie stick, in order to claim the child's insurance policy. Though some still believe him to be innocent, he was given the death penalty via lethal injection.The Baby-Sitter is one of the most disturbing urban legends by far, as this documentary will teach you that in Columbia Missouri 1950, Jannet Christman was strangled to death with an iron cord. We learn there was a similar strangulation in 1946, only two blocks over from where Chistman would be killed just four years later. Both are said to have probably known the antagonist, because there aren't signs that there was a struggle.The clowns are possibly the most unsettling of all the stories told. We delve into the psyche of why clowns are so creepy, and how it's the perversion of innocence. I didn't even know there was a name for those afraid of clowns, but now I do. It's called coulrophobia. We learn about random kidnappings and sightings all involving men dressed as clowns, to lore children in. And of course, John Wayne Gacy, and his 29 victims are mentioned.There's no point in me ruining all the specific details, so I'll stop there. But, I sincerely liked this feature. The time and effort that went into making it is undeniable. Joshua and Rachel did their homework in this eye-opening docudrama. If you like finding the grit and dirt behind scary stories, there's no reason not to watch it. It's very knowledgeable and informative, as well as unsettling.Killer Legends hits DVD July 1st, so check it out. And beware of the truth.

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