The Horror Show
Killer Legends
by Joshua Zeman
Joshua Zeman has been busy for a while now. He has done quite of bit of producing work co-producing The Station Agent and Mysterious Skin, which is quite possibly my favorite film of all time. He also has several various film crew jobs attached to his resume, but he is best well-known in the horror community for a documentary film he wrote and co-directed entitled Cropsey. Cropsey examined a local legend that became all too real when it took the form of a real-life murderer. Zeman continues this concept with Killer Legends, another trip to the world of fable clashing with reality.
Killer Legends takes a look at four well-known urban legends and analyzes real-life occurrences that have mirrored them. The film begins with perhaps the most famous campfire tale of all time: The Hook. Everyone who grew up in Western Civilization knows this story. A couple parked at a “Lover's Lane-esque” location listen to the radio and hear about an escaped mental patient with a hook for a hand. After hearing something outside the teen couple tears off to safety. Once out of the danger zone they find a disembodied hook hand jutting from the car door, torn from the maniac as they fled.
Killer Legends recounts the tale and gives the possible social reasons for its existence, but pays special attention to how a similar event has happened in real life. The film focuses on a specific case of serial murders that happened in Texarkana, perpetrated by a killer primarily known as “The Phantom.” Horror fans will be especially interested in this case, as it was largely the basis for the 1976 classic slasher film The Town That Dreaded Sundown. There is even a scene in Killer Legends where there is an interview with the man who began the tradition of screening the film in the actual locations of the murders themselves. He is informed that the upcoming remake (which came out in 2014) would possibly feature a reference to his work.
The first segment sets the tone for what follows. It is made clear that each chapter will delve into a legend and its real-life counterpart, and if there can be a reference to a movie that was inspired by the events, all the better. The second is the “Candy Man” concept, but not in the way you may think. Although it does reference the well-known Tony Todd film Candyman this type of story is not what the segment is about. This one focuses on the concept of children being fed poison-tainted candy on Halloween. The idea of innocent kids being shelled out contaminated treats has been a popular one, primarily with parents who have made it their life’s work to turn their children into catatonic agoraphobics. I won't spoil the real-life counterpart as it is cleverly explained in a specific way, but it's an interesting one.
The third chapter deals with the old “Babysitter Murders” concept. A lone babysitter, sitting at home having to look after a kid or two gets murdered for one reason or another. There are several movies to draw parallels to as being inspired by the concept, but it focuses primarily on one real-life case in particular.
The final segment deals with clowns. No particular well-known story in general, just the basic concept of evil or killer clowns and where they made the shift from historical comedians to children entertainers to children murderers. Several cases such as that of John Wayne Gacy and the more-recent Colorado theater shootings come up. It's more of a vague addition but fits in perfectly with the rest of the film.
I'm not much of a documentary expert, but I do know what I find entertaining. With that in mind, I found myself impressed with
I've always been fond of anthology films and seeing a documentary that follows a segmented path was refreshing. I'm not saying that my attention span is usually too short to handle a documentary about one historical subject but... my attention span is usually too short to handle a documentary about one historical subject. I've seen several documentaries in my day that I've loved such as Grizzly Man and King of Kong. But documentaries that deal with history and social attitudes and dates and times and documents and so on and so forth leave me fully aware that I am learning something and I just can't have that. I watch movies to be entertained and if I walk away with new knowledge it's because a film was clever enough to slip it in while keeping me invested. Killer Legends is that type of film. It kept me interested and didn't overstay its welcome at any point.
For fans of the docu-style TV series Urban Legends or anything of the like, this movie is for you. There is no hour-long setup or Mythbusters-style testing process. Just basic storytelling with extra flavor added in the form of movie clips and interviews with those involved. There's nothing daring or risky about it, but there shouldn't have to be. It's a neat documentary that is fun to watch. I can't ask for anything more than that.
P.J. Griffin, HMS
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