6 Chilling Horror Films Based on Urban Legends

Let’s start with a true horror classic. Released in 1979 and starring Carol Kane and Charles Durning, When a Stranger Calls is best remembered for its opening sequence, in which a babysitter is watching two young kids sleeping upstairs. 

A man keeps calling on the house phone, asking her why she hasn’t checked on the children. Ultimately, she enlists the help of the authorities, only to discover that the calls are in fact coming from a second phone line inside the house. 

The rest of the film isn’t quite as memorable, but that beginning remains one of horror’s greatest uses of an urban legend. It’s enough to make you never want to answer the phone again. 

All right, I’m going to say something that might be a bit controversial: I actually think the sequel to When a Stranger Calls is the better movie. If nothing else, it’s much weirder. 

It starts with a similar setup of a babysitter, this time played by Jill Schoelen, dealing with a man who keeps knocking on the door; she tries to turn him away, only for her to realize later that the man is somehow already inside. From there, however, the film takes some very strange turns, as the killer is never apprehended, and he starts to stalk the babysitter once she’s in college. 

Both Carol Kane and Charles Durning reprise their roles from the original film as the first traumatized babysitter and the investigator working the case, respectively, and this is where When a Stranger Calls Back really shines: it unflinchingly explores the lasting effects of trauma.

Although it was made for television, premiering on Showtime in 1993, this movie definitely lives rent-free in my head, and I wouldn’t want it any other way. 

Based on a Lois Duncan novel of the same name, I Know What You Did Last Summer is such a millennial horror staple. It almost seems strange now to think that something as ubiquitous in pop culture as this film series actually started as part of a much older urban legend, but it’s true: the killer with a hook for a hand dates back decades. 

It’s a simple image, but it’s one that sticks with you. According to Snopes, it’s been such a part of the cultural consciousness that it even appeared in a Dear Abby column in the 1960s as a warning to teenagers headed out to the local Lover's Lane. 

The 1997 film makes the most of the legend and, in doing so, creates a franchise. If you haven’t watched the original in a few years, it’s definitely worth revisiting; it’s a fun, snappy slasher in the era where Scream made horror so immensely meta and cool.  

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: the original Black Christmas is the perfect holiday film. Like so many horror movies, the setup is simple: it’s Christmastime, and one by one, the girls in a sorority house are picked off until Final Girl Jess (played by the amazing Olivia Hussey) contacts the police, and they trace the obscene phone calls she’s been receiving the whole film. 

Spoiler alert for a film that’s over fifty years old: the calls are coming from inside the house. Released five years before When a Stranger Calls, Bob Clark’s Black Christmas made great use of that old urban legend, and ultimately established the slasher formula that we all know and love today. 

While I would most definitely recommend this film as mandatory December viewing, Black Christmas doesn’t have to be seen only once a year; it’s worth watching even now, with the warmer weather upon us. It’s truly that much fun. 

The cursed video has been part of the cultural lexicon for years, existing in one form or another, possibly since the dawn of celluloid. What’s so fascinating about the cinematic power of Ringu, however, is that the cursed videotape urban legend became even stronger because of the film's existence (as well as the novel series it’s based on). 

Now it’s hard to even think about a cursed video without imagining Sadako (or Samara in the 2002 American remake) crawling out of the television screen. By now, most of us know the story of Ringu: you come across a weird VHS that contains unsettling images, and then seven days later, you die. 

Unless, of course, you introduce the video to someone new. It’s a strange and haunting setup for a book and film series that’s now been around for a quarter-century. Needless to say, horror is much better for it.    

For me, this was the movie that started it all for my love of urban legends. As a teenager, I was obsessed with this 1998 film, and for a brief period of time, I set my sights on becoming a historian who specifically studied urban legends (around this time, I also wanted to become a rock and roll historian, so I definitely had a thing for really niche history careers).

But truly, Urban Legend has got it all. From the killer hiding in the backseat to the dog being cooked in the microwave, the film manages to take all the familiar folkloric tropes and put them on fiendish display. 

Plus, with a fantastic 90s cast that includes Alicia Witt, Joshua Jackson, Tara Reid, and Rebecca Gayheart, this is such a nostalgic comfort movie at this point. If you’ve never seen it, be sure to add it to your streaming queue as soon as possible. 

Featured image: Still from TriStar Pictures