Review: 'Killer Legends'

Title: KILLER LEGENDS
Year: 2014
Director: Joshua Zeman
Writer: Joshua Zeman
Starring: Joshua Zeman, Rachel Mills

KILLER LEGENDS is a fascinating look into the history of urban legends and myths. Along with the assistance of Rachel Mills, director Joshua Zeman takes us on journey to discover the origins behind four popular urban legends. The idea is to see if any of these legends are rooted in truth.

The four legends in question are The Hookman, the Candyman, the Babysitter and the Man Upstairs and The Killer Clown. Odds are you're familiar with the tales one way or another. If you're a horror fan like I am, you've seen all four adopted hundreds of times in a wide variety of ways. There's a good chance you don't know the truth, however. I certainly didn't and as a result I found this film to be quite eye opening.

From a horror fan perspective what’s really interesting is how so many horror films that are seemingly unrelated can be traced back to the same urban legend. The most common thread seems to be that films that are 'based on a true story' are almost always based on different elements from various true crime stories. Tying these urban legends to horror movies is hardly the key here and I don’t want to lose focus. The use of horror films is just one of the many elements Zeman and Mills use to dig deeper and get as much true information as possible.

A common theme Zeman and Mills encounter as they go from town to town investigating the various legends is that as each one is told of the years the story slightly changes. It’s like one giant game of telephone. Each time someone passing the legend onto someone else they had their own twist. These retellings coupled with the movie adaptations eventually mold the legends that we all believe to be the truth.

The real shocker comes when Zeman gets his hands on police reports and crime scene photos. Turns out the real life stories that inspire the fiction are often times much more disturbing than anything we could ever imagine. Perhaps that’s why the stories are changed so much? Maybe we’re just trying to protect ourselves from the horrifying truth?

Every town handles their myth differently. Texarkana, Texas was devastated by a series of murders in the 1940’s by someone dubbed as “The Phantom Killer.” The killer attacked 8 people, killing 5 and was never caught. 30 years after the last killing a movie loosely based on “The Phantom Killer,” THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN was released. Since 2003 Texarkana as celebrated this movie by screening the film at Spring Lake Park every year around Halloween. Spring Lake Park happens to be the location of one of “The Phantom Killer’s” double murders.

The story that really left my jaw dropped was that of Ronald Clark O’Bryan, aka The Candyman. On October 31, 1974 O’Bryan turned the legend of poisonous Halloween candy into a devastating reality. Before viewing this movie I was unaware of Ronald O’Bryan so when the film first mentions him I had no idea how his story would end. If you’re in the same boat as I was, don’t look O’Byran up. Watch KILLER LEGENDS and see his story unfold. You won’t believe it. I certainly didn’t.

KILLER LEGENDS is a chilling and tough documentary to watch at times. The subject matter is not an easy one, but it is important and incredibly fascinating to see how these true crime stories eventually turn into the things of legend and morph over the years. Scarier and more disturbing than almost any horror movie you’ll ever see, I truly can’t recommend this film enough.

Rating: 5/5

*KILLER LEGENDS will be avaialable on DVD from Breaking Glass Pictures on July 1, 2014.