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Generation In-Between: A Xennial Podcast
Xennial co-hosts Dani and Katie talk about their analog childhoods, digital adulthoods and everything in between. If you love 1980's and 1990's pop culture content, this is the podcast for you!
Generation In-Between: A Xennial Podcast
Urban Legend Rewatch: What's Actually True?
Have you heard the one about the babysitter who was stalked from inside the house where she was working?
Do you always look in your backseat first before getting in your car to drive?
If you've ever wondered if Pop Rocks plus soda really WOULD explode your intestines, you might be a Xennial who heard an urban legend or two while growing up... and we are too.
On this episode, we discuss the 1998 classic Urban Legend, with stars like Joshua Jackson, Alicia Witt, Rebecca Gayheart and Tara Reid.
After watching, Dani did some deep dive research to discover which urban legends mentioned in the movie are based on real life true crime or supernatural incidents.
Keep it here on Generation In-Between for all your nostalgic Spooky Season content!
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Hello everyone and welcome back to Generation Inbetween, a Xenial podcast where we talk about all kinds of things from being 80s kids and 90s teens. My name is Dani, hi, I'm Katie, and today we have a big episode because it's a rewatch and a research heavy episode. Yes, very spooky season. All the vibes. Where's your pillow? Do you want your pillow? That thing makes me start sweating as soon as I look at this furry. It's so cute, though oh my God, look at that which is really fun. It's like we're back in the 90s in a 90s girl bedroom and we're just having a little chit chat. I'm holding my pillow. I love it anyways.
Speaker 1:So we re-watched the 1998 movie. I don't know, would you call this a slasher? I guess yes, because of the way people were killed. I guess there were different ways, but cody cody defined that for us, yeah, last year, and now I don't remember what he said. Basically, you have to use an instrument that slashes. So if it's a movie about someone shooting people, that wouldn't be a slasher. Okay, if that makes sense. So that's really it. That's the whole definition. That's it. That's the definition. Now, this film did have people die other ways, but it did have slashing, okay.
Speaker 1:So the movie is Urban Legend. So we're going to talk about the movie first and then we're going to kind of dissect the urban legends that are depicted in the movie. Yes, we're going to talk about if they're real or not or just where the origins started. Urban legends fascinate me. That is like a bit of folklore, because it reminds me of the game Telephone Uh-huh Like you played when you were a kid, where you're like because you tell somebody something and then they say it, but it grows a little bit different each time. Absolutely, it's exactly like that. But what's interesting to me too, that folklore component you were just talking about and I thought they did a good job with this in the movie is how people from different places will have the same story, which is a little more common now, because everyone might have seen the same TikTok video or whatever, true, but like back in the 80s, 90s and definitely earlier than that, you could have a person from California that knows the babysitter story, right, and then someone from Indiana who knows the same story, and they're like it happened to my sister's friend's cousin, right, yeah, and they, yes, it's telephone. So sometimes the details do differ, but it's odd how they kind of all form similarly.
Speaker 1:Yeah, before we get too far, I brought you something. Okay, I'm so excited. Now it's under the pillow. Can I find it? Oh my God, what? Okay For those on YouTube and those listening oh, it's under the pillow. It's hidden under your pillow. Can I find it? Ta-da, oh my God, what is it? For those on YouTube and those listening oh, it's hard to see, I can't see it. They look like little pieces of candy corn, okay, but they're not. It's freeze-dried candy corn. Ooh. So our local oh, it's like the astronaut ice cream. I love Surf and Turtle. You're in Satellite Beach, florida, so cute. Please come frequent them if you visit Makes freeze-dried candy so you can get like the normal ones, like Skittles and stuff.
Speaker 1:And we went last night. Her whole family went, believe it or not, all seven of us went. Holy bajolies, I know I was like everyone we're going at this time and I'm not because my teens, I'm like you only get ice cream if you come. I am bringing nothing because it stresses me out to drive home with ice cream too. Oh God, I hate it. I'm like no, no, you're going to eat it. And everybody came.
Speaker 1:But we got this freeze dried candy corn. Oh my God, it's pretty good. I think you're going to like it. I'm going to eat it. It looks kind of weird but I'm going to microphone she crunchy. Pretty flavorful though it tastes kind of like. I mean, it still tastes like candy corn. But it takes a second. That's what I was thinking. You have to take a couple bites and then you start to taste it. I think I prefer regular candy corn better. Well, and I'm sorry for those of you that hate candy corn for this reason, because it's probably going to give you a sensory like discomfort. But part of the joy to me of candy corn is that waxy texture. Oh yeah, me too. And and people who hate it hate that. And the freeze-dried takes that away. Yeah, it kind of takes away. It tastes fine. Yeah, it's fine. Yeah, it's fine. So anyway, well, I'm glad I've tried that. Yeah, so that was it. I love me some freeze dried sweets because it reminds me of so.
Speaker 1:I think I may have told this story on here, or I know I've told it to you in person. When I was a kid, my dad was an oceanographer at the Stennis Bay Center in Biloxi, mississippi Okay Bay, st Louis, I guess, is really where it was and they had like a visitor center where you could go and you know kids would do field trips and stuff. But when we go with him to work, we'd always beg him to take us down there to the gift center and buy us astronaut ice cream, of course, because it is so delicious. My favorite was the neapolitan one, because you got the strawberry, the chocolate and the vanilla and I love that shit. Um, anyway, so what a fun little treat. I know. And and now you can just get like freeze dried everything all the time, I know, and that works. Because I needed a boost, because I told Katie this morning I was like I'm dragging ass.
Speaker 1:We were like so impressed with how good we looked in our video last week which people might be like, um, either a hair look good or yeah, we were like, wow, we look great. We had like a just sleek black on. We both had makeup, because usually one of us has our hair done and the other one has makeup, or one's wearing makeup or one's not done anything. Yes, which is fine, because we're we busy gals. We show up as good as we can each day and this is a podcast, and this is a podcast. We just added the video component. I mean, we used how we used to look jesus, no, ma'am, ma'am, no, ma'am. I'd be wearing some pajama pants up in here. People are probably like what did they used to be, but we were so proud of ourselves.
Speaker 1:And then I texted Kay this morning. I was like I slept maybe an hour and a half. We're not getting a repeat of last week and I am dragging ass and I figured out you want to know what the perfect storm was, what? So I get anxiety, insomnia anyway, but I haven't had it in a while because I drink magnesium before bed, but I don't do it every night because it's citric, so sometimes it irritates my stomach. Got it? Middle age, guys. This is where we are.
Speaker 1:But I don't usually have caffeine the second part of the day. But Wednesday is my busy, crazy day because I have my dance, 75-minute jazz, and there were only four of us there yesterday. So you working hard, oh my God. And then I teach musical theater fitness in the night and then I have like regular life. So I'm like tired on Wednesday. So I was like you know, I should probably have some more coffee, like it was like three o'clock, okay, three o'clock guys. I hardly ever have caffeine after about one.
Speaker 1:And then last night I had a glass of wine Notice, I say a glass of wine because that's all it takes to fuck up my sleep. And then I didn't drink my magnesium. So those three things. And I didn't realize any of that until it was three 30 in the morning. It was too late to do anything about it. What are you going to do? And you didn't realize any of that until it was three 30 in the morning. It was too late to do anything about it. What are you going to do? And you can't take caffeine back, which is no, you have to just wait.
Speaker 1:Sometimes, by the time I realize it, even if it's just during the day, and I'm feeling like, yeah, something like there's nothing you can do, you just have to let it run its course. Yeah, it's just wait. Sometimes I mean, I will take if I know that I, if I can like predict, if you've had, if you struggle with sleep problems, you know what I'm talking about. If I can predict, oh, I'm going to have a hard time sleeping, I'll take some melatonin gummies and that'll usually help that. That'll usually at least get me to sleep. I usually won't help me stay asleep, but it'll help me at least get a little sleep. But I can't. You can't take melatonin at three thirty in the morning, no, it's too late. You're sleeping till noon or one.
Speaker 1:So I'm a corpse today. That's about what it looks like. You look great, and look at me with my seventy five percent of my body covered with a giant pink pillow. I also look great, and the rest with a notebook. Well, all we have to do is sound great, which we'll see, because we had a little issue last week. But we're going to. We're going to get it together. Okay, you probably heard us, but we were blown out a little because we didn't adjust our. The technical thing won't bore you with the details, but we didn't adjust our volume for our new covers, which are thinner than our old covers. But now we have adjusted and we're going to be just fine. It's going to be fine't worry about that little distraction that led to more distractions. That's what we do here.
Speaker 1:Let's get back to, let's talk about urban legend. Urban legend, all right. So the movie came out in 1998, and I didn't write down what month. So I graduated high school in 98. So I don't remember if I was still in high school or in college when this came out. I'm pretty sure I was in college. I know I saw it at the theater because I used to love slasher movies and I would be there all the time. So if you haven't seen it, here's the basic premise A college student suspects a series of bizarre deaths are connected to urban legends. That's pretty much it. Which college student suspects that? I don't know it's the red-haired girl? Oh she, yeah, okay. College student suspects that I don't know it's the red-haired girl? Oh she, yeah, okay, not paul, natalie, just natalie, okay, I guess that's the official summary. So, speaking of red-haired girl, let's go ahead and talk about the cast first.
Speaker 1:Um, jamie blanks is the director of this movie. Um, he's australian. Yep, he's also a composer, and he's more known for his music composer, composing. I said composuring. The score of this film was really good. I don't know that he necessarily did it, but he did. Oh, he did. I think so. I think so. It was really good.
Speaker 1:He actually tried to direct I Know what you Did Last Summer, which came out the year before, but it was given to Jim Gillespie year before. But it was given to Jim Gillespie. But the producer kept him in mind though, for his next teen horror movie, which happened to be this one. Cool. So it just goes to show you never know, you might not get that one, but you might get the next one. Sometimes a no leads to a yes. I love that. Sometimes, what is it saying? Sometimes a no is just not right now, a no is I'm not right now, is just not right now and knows I'm not right now. Yeah, I saw one the other day that said sometimes a rejection is a redirection. Yeah, and I fully believe that. So there you go. He's only directed six films, okay, one of which was another teen horror movie called Valentine, which came out in 2001.
Speaker 1:That actually had a bunch of Zennial peeps it had. Okay, how do you say this man's name, david Boring B, actually had a bunch of zennial peeps it had. Okay, how do you say this man's name? David bort boring? Oh, he played angel on buffy. Boring. Oh, my gosh, how do you say that? Rihanna's? Okay, that's probably boreanaz. He played angel on buffy the vampire slayer and was also in that other. Like crime show bones. There it is bones, I know you would know. Um, denise richards was in it, nice, and katherine heigl, okay, but I, I'd never seen it. I've never seen it.
Speaker 1:So let's start off with the red haired girl that I talked about, the redhead Alicia Witt, who played Natalie, and while I'm watching her I'm like where do I know her from? And then I remembered when I went to IMDb. She was in the TV show Sybil. She played her daughter, jo Sybil. She played her daughter. Oh, if you ever watched the sitcom in the 90s, it was on from 95 to 98. She played Sybil's daughter. I think her name was Zoe, actually even, but anyway, she was also in the 1984 film version Dune. That was her film debut. She was in lots of TV movies and lesser-known films, but she was also in Mr Holland's Opus in 1995. If you ever saw that with Richard Dreyfuss, 1984. How old was she? She was little. Okay, yeah, she was little. And then she was also in Vanilla Sky in 2001. Okay, with Tom Cruise.
Speaker 1:So she's this. You're going to love this. She's a classically trained pianist, wow, yeah. And her music she actually you should look her up. She has a beautiful voice and her piano playing is amazing. And they describe or I don't know if she described her music like this or somebody else, but I'm going to give you the quote.
Speaker 1:Her music has been described as sharply personal, boldly melodic pop originals in the Carole King Billy Joel vein Okay, that's good company. And if you know that and look it up, that is what it sounds like. That is what it sounds like, okay, absolutely, it's such a good description. And it's also described as touching, lost and found love ballads. Oh, adorable, that's cute. Anyway, she was actually speaking of singing. She was on the mask singer. Oh, really, yeah, dandelion. And the first. Anyway, she was actually speaking of singing. She was on the mask singer. You know, really, yeah, dandelion. And the first episode she was on she won for her rendition of somewhere over the rainbow. I know I forgot to look that one up. I will have to look that up because I love that song and I bet that was really good and you'll also love this bit of trivia.
Speaker 1:She's been in 10 Christmas movies, like Christmas Christmas movies or like Hallmark, I think, like Hallmark-y Lifetime. I bet I've seen some of those you probably have, yeah, and most of those have her original music in them. What? Yeah, this is amazing. I know I was like, look at all this fun stuff I'm finding out about Alicia Witt. I have to find out more about Alicia Witt. Yeah, so moving on to. I'm on katie's computer again, guys, and I struggle. Okay, oh my god, you can use the down button too. I know you don't want to, I'm gonna. No, I know it doesn't do it. It doesn't do like it goes too fast. Yeah it okay. Okay, there we go. So moving on now.
Speaker 1:The next female in line is rebecca gayheart, who played Brenda, who we all know as the Noxzema girl, yep, who has the best skin ever. Here's a funny thing. Oh, by the way, there will be plenty of spoilers in this episode. Oh, yeah, by the way, this is crazy, and I still can't get out of him if he was lying to me or not. So Cooper watched this with us, which I was surprised because this is the first horror movie he's actually sat through. Okay, okay, beast 13. So, whatever. And I was like okay, like, I don't know if you're going to like that.
Speaker 1:The only thing we did was the roommate scene where she walked in and she's getting it from behind. We were like and turn your head for a second. Yeah, that was. That was a lot, that scene.
Speaker 1:As soon as she came on screen, cooper goes. Well, she looks creepy. I bet she's going to do something bad. And I'm like did you look that up on your phone, Right, I forgot who the killer was. I was going to ask you, did you remember? I forgot.
Speaker 1:I thought it for a while it was the journalist, which you're supposed to think. It's different people. And then I thought it was the professor, but then I'm like that's too obvious. And then I thought maybe it was her the redhead, but then I'm like that's impossible. And then, as people, and then I thought maybe Tara Reid, and then, as people, started like dying off and it was whittling down. But then, but then my brain was playing tricks on me, because my brain and so see, that's good, yeah, that is my brain's like no, because she was in the scene swimming when the killer came in and I was like wait, but that wasn't, it wasn't the killer. And so it was like, right before she turned on her that I was like it's definitely her.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, she played crazy very well, she was real good, she was good. And I mean I think here's the thing about Blue Eyes they're very angelic, but they can be super creepy too. And that hair, the hair Ooh, they made her hair go crazy, mm-hmm. So okay, here's some. I just, by the way, for all these actors, I just put their Xeniel credits like things we would know them from because they've been in tons of shit, but only stuff that's relevant to like what we would know them from. Obviously she was the Noxzema ad, so we all grew up using our Noxzema, hoping our skin would look like hers, and being severely disappointed Most of us.
Speaker 1:Yes, she was in eight episodes of 90210 in 95. I can't remember who she played. She was in Scream 2, 97, which was right before this. She was in Nothing to Lose, also in 97. Jawbreaker, 99. That's a good one. And then she was in a video for Train for their Meet Virginia song. I did not remember or ever know that, 1999. Meet Virginia yeah, she was Virginia, obviously. Okay, I love it.
Speaker 1:Unfortunately, what people remember, rebecca Gayheart for now is her infamy when she hit a nine-year-old kid who was jaywalking across the street and he died. I mean, it was a tragic accident. Unfortunately, what happened was he was crossing the street, not in a crosswalk or anything, but several cars had stopped in front of her. She went around them, not knowing why they were stopped, and hit him, yikes. So, um, I thought she was. It was like an alcohol related, it wasn't, it was just a tragic accident.
Speaker 1:So the parents filed a wrongful death suit against her, rightly so so, and she paid for all his hospital bills and funeral expenses. And then, um, but she pleaded no contest to vehicular manslaughter, yeah, and so she got sentenced to three years probation, a one-year suspension of her license which really isn't that long, guys, for killing a kid. Yeah, that's not's not that long. Um, a $2,800 fine, which, hello Right. And then she had 750 hours of community service Again, not that much. And then she was ordered to make a um, a PSA, okay, about, I guess, safe driving, I'm sure like paying attention.
Speaker 1:So that's what everybody remembers her for now mostly. That's really hard, I know, because it's like I mean, it's tragic. It's tragic, it's not obviously like, even when I hear manslaughter, which, like I think the legal definition of that is like accidental, but even when you hear that I know it's like manslaughter, I know it's like, oh, that sounds terrible. You know, I know, gosh, I was going to ask you because and I guess I had forgotten about that accident she wasn't so much tough and then she wasn't. That's why and now does she do anything, I feel like I might follow her on Instagram.
Speaker 1:Yeah, she's still like she's married to that one guy who wears t-shirts. Yeah, the guy with hair who wears t-shirts that guy, no, no, mick Steamy from Grey's Anatomy. Are we for sure about this? We may want to backtrack ourselves. I'll look it up. But Eric, something, eric, whatever. Oh, I know who he is, I just don't know. I'm almost positive. You might be right. Maybe they got divorced, maybe, but they definitely were married at some point. She still does stuff, but she did have a little hiatus.
Speaker 1:But listen to this, this fun bit of trivia she played the role of Shelby in the Broadway production of Steel Magnolias in 2005. That's cool. That's a good role for her, but I was like she was pretty old to be playing Shelby, because Shelby's like 1920-ish. Yeah, okay, so no, that's not him. Is that him? Katie's on the? That's not him. Oh, I'll find him.
Speaker 1:Don't all right, we'll look at. Don't worry about it, don't get too distracted. We got a whole episode, do we do? All right? So now we're gonna move on to another uh face known from the 90s and that's jared leto, who played paul. I can remember, did you find it? Yeah, yeah, she's married to Eric Dane. Okay, it said they've been married since 2004. All right, there we go. Yeah, so here we go. So now we're going to talk about Jared Leto. So, okay, get out of that rabbit hole. Sorry, someone's asking about their lesson. See, I shouldn't have picked it up. I know that's what happens, but I'll, because it's so far away. Anyway, let's do it.
Speaker 1:Now we're talking about Jared Leto, who played Paul. Yes, who we all. Ok, did you? You may not have, because I know you lived a little different life than I did back in the 90s. Did you watch the show, my So-Called Life? No, ok, we are going to watch that. It only lasted one season, I know I would love it. Oh my God, yeah, let me tell you that my friend in high school at the time we were freshmen in high school when that show came out Perfect timing Her and I loved that show so much. Shout out to you Her name is Katie, but it's Katie with a Y.
Speaker 1:Anyways, when we saw him playing Jordan Catalano, we were like collective gasp Beautiful young man, beautiful young man, beautiful. And he had that hair, that nineties hair. Oh, come on. Anyway. So that's where most of us were introduced to Jared Leto, um, and he was on that show and 94 ended in 95. Unfortunately, uh, he was also in the movie how to make an American quilt and 95. He was in Prefontaine, 97. I think that's the one he won an Oscar for. No, it was Dallas Buyers Club. That's what he won an Oscar for. He was nominated, he was and he was fantastic. I bet he was really good.
Speaker 1:He is a method actor and he has gained and lost so much weight for roles. It is insane. Everything I was reading about him was like he gained 50 pounds for this. He lost 35 pounds. He did this and that Insane. He was in the Thin Red Line in 98, fight Club in 99,. Girl Interrupted in 99, american Psycho with my boy, christian Bale, in 2000, and then Requiem for a Dream, also in 2000. I could keep going, but I'm not going to. We're going to stop at 2000. Cause, y'all know all this.
Speaker 1:Um, he actually moved to LA in 92 to pursue music and we know he's in a little band called 30 seconds to Mars. They're actually really good. They're really good. Yeah, um, he's a great singer. Um, and he just started taking acting roles, um, on the side to make money while he was pursuing a music career and he's such a good actor, I know, and he's beautiful, which helps. It does help, it does help.
Speaker 1:And once he was Jordan Catalano, it changed everything for him. That sky, I mean, you get the MTV audiences, you're done. That's it, especially in the 90s. Nowadays, I don't really know, I guess it would be like TikTokok maybe. I don't know youtube, I don't know, I'm so old.
Speaker 1:Um, so, his band, actually, he formed in 1998. I forgot that. His brother's in his band with him. Okay, which is fun. Um, his brother's name is shannon. And then their other band member is tomo millet millichavik. How do you say that, milosevic? I can't see it. Oh, tomo Milosevic, milosevic, milosevic. I think I'm the worst with pronouncing names.
Speaker 1:Okay, so 30 Seconds to Mars were actually inducted into the Guinness Book of World Records in 2011. Wow For holding the longest consecutive concert tour spreading. This is crazy. Over 300 shows over a two-year period. What, yeah, they just like. For two years, they just kept going, we go. Yeah, that's so many, so that, look at them. World record holders. I love that. And every time he's got a lot of tattoos and every single tattoo he has is related to his band. Cool, I know fun little random trivia.
Speaker 1:Okay, moving on, michael Rosenbaum played Parker. He was in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil in 97, but what you probably know him from is Smallville. He played Lex Luthor on the TV show Smallville, that's it. I was looking at him and I could not place him because as Lex Luthor, he didn't have any hair, correct? Okay, I see it now. That show was on for 16 years. What? 2001 to 2017. Hello, I watched it. I did too, around 2003, maybe for a couple seasons, just like in college and when I moved, I think I cause I watched the WB or whatever it was on. It was a good show, but I definitely didn't follow it for 16 years. Yeah, good show, wowzer. He actually, interestingly enough, has a pretty extensive voiceover career in animation. Okay, I was like all right, but yeah, most people know him as Lex Luthor from Smallville.
Speaker 1:He actually was the first actor to shave his head for real to play the role. Nobody before him had done it. Okay, yeah, they just kept it shaved. So no, they wore like a bald cap. Gene hackman did not shave his head, and I'm saying he did. He did. Yeah, they being his hair people just kept it shaved close. Okay, yeah, so he's the first one to commit. I would do that if I ever had a role like.
Speaker 1:I saw this funny interview with um oh my god, what's her name? It's leaving my brain redheadhead. Emma Emma Stone the other day about a role she just played and she had to shave her head and I asked her if that I can't remember how they worded it, but, like, the press asked her if, like, the hardest part of the movie was shaving her head and she was like what? No, that was the easiest part. You just shave your head. No, and I didn't even do it myself, someone else did. What do you mean? Like all you do is shave your hair? That's really cool. I would totally do that. That's so cool.
Speaker 1:I love her, oh my God, because who cares? Who cares? All right, anyway, this you'll love. He's from Indiana. Okay, he goes back to Newburgh, indiana, do you know? To participate in an annual wiffle ball tournament with his old high school friends. That's so cute. That feels like a now and then movie. I know, I know them as an age and all the different directions their lives took them. I know. I love that. I do too.
Speaker 1:Okay, so now we're going to talk about Tara Reid, who played Sasha, which we already talked about, her on American Pie. So we won't go into huge detail, we'll just mention a few tidbits and move on. So you know her from the Big Lebowski. That's where she got her big break 98. Cruel Intentions, 99. American Pie. 99. Dr T and the Women, 2000. Josie and the Pussycats 2001. Van Wilder, 2002. My Boss's Daughter, 2003. Van wilder, 2002. My boss's daughter, 2003.
Speaker 1:Um, did we talk about how she was once engaged to carson daly? I remember that, I know, talk about it, and it was during his, like her big heyday and his big heyday on trl. They were engaged, which is a big thing. You know they were an it couple. She actually was the first person to appear on multiple covers of maxim. Remember when maxim magazine was the first person to appear on multiple covers of Maxim? Remember when Maxim magazine was the big yeah. So you're saying other models hadn't done a couple. She was an actress, not a model. So I see, yeah, so she was the first one to be on multiple ones.
Speaker 1:Okay, cause I mean she's not come on, she is Everybody be loving Tara Reid. Uh, here's the funny fact. And then we'll move on, cause we already talked about a lot about her before. Do you know that she is in all five of the sharknado movies? I love that, though, because you know she probably is just like. I'm just going for it. Give me the paycheck, I'm just going for it. I mean, it's can't be a dumb, and probably a really good time. It's probably a lot of fun. It's probably a really good time. Yeah, um, I know we're gonna talk about our thoughts about the movie, but I thought that this was funny that she was.
Speaker 1:We've got another case we've seen this in other shows and movies that we've watched where it's a sex positive young woman, yay, but like she appears to know so much about, like, sexual health and intimacy, and I'm like are you, are you 19? I know 20. So it did make me, and I know at the time it was just meant to be edgy, and so I was like, okay, I get it, but I was like this is a little cringy, that it's so like, here's what you're going to do in this situation, which is really awkward, sitting there with your 13-year-old son while they're talking about swallowing semen. And we were like, okay, a little strange, it was a little weird. And then we get to our boy, joshua Jackson, who played Damon. Now we talk about him a lot on here. I love him, but now we're going to talk about him a little more, let's do it. So here's some of his credits. So we all know him from.
Speaker 1:Our first sight of him was the mighty ducks movies, where he played charlie. Charlie, right, yeah, I think so. He was in mighty ducks, the original in 92, d2 and 94 and d3 and 96. You can't have a mighty ducks without him, they cannot. Or keenan thompson correct, you just can't, you cannot. Uh, he also wasream 2 in 97. I don't remember him in there. I don't either. Now I have to watch it. But he did all that before Dawson's Creek, because Dawson's Creek was in 98. 98 to 2003, on the creek, urban Legend he filmed which I have a little tidbit about his hair in just a second In 98.
Speaker 1:He was in the movie Apt Pupil. Do you remember that movie? No, oh, it's creepy and it's good. He was also in Cruel Intentions, which is great, because I think it's so against every character he's ever played. He plays Blaine. Yeah, oh, it's so good, 99. He was in the Skulls in 2000. And then he was in the movie Gossip in 2000. All very good movies of the time. If you haven't seen them, we probably need to rewatch them at some point in time. Yeah, I was just thinking we should rewatch Cruel Intentions for sure. Oh, such a good movie, yeah, oh, my God, ryan Felipe, oh, let's go. Oh, yeah, that too, okay.
Speaker 1:So in 92, he actually played Charlie in a musical version of Willy Wonka. Oh, like on stage. Yes, yes, yes, and this is the. I forgot. I found this. This is the craziest connection to something in my life. Are you ready? I'm ready.
Speaker 1:His first on-screen appearance. Do you remember me talking about my number one scary movie? Is this movie from 1980 called the Changeling? Yes, okay, it's about a little kid ghost called the Changeling? Yes, okay, it's about a little kid ghost.
Speaker 1:He appeared as a baby in a. His credit was baby in a pram. He was only a few months old on that movie. What? That was his first movie he was in. Oh, so he's literally been acting on screen since he was a baby.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and the way he got that role was his mom was the casting agent, okay, and she. He was like with her and, um, they just needed a baby for like one scene and he was only a few months. I think he was like six months old. I love it. That's so. Isn't that crazy? And also like how cool to have a mom who's a casting agent. Like he's such a good actor, anyway, I know, but like to have that connection to be able to like take what he's like naturally good at and have kind of the connections to maybe get some of that, make some of that happen. That's pretty cool.
Speaker 1:Although, what if you're a casting agent? I know what you're going to say, because I had the same thought and he sucked. I know, like what would you do, I mean, if you were a wise one? You just direct, you just have them like do other stuff and be like this is my thing, this is your thing. Maybe he'll do print ads, yeah, yeah, yeah, Just smile, just smile, just smile, look cute, yeah, okay, I didn't know this, but he's originally from Vancouver. Did you know he was Canadian? I did not know that. Yeah, he is. Also, I knew he was tall, but he is 6'2". Oh, that's real tall. That's tall. That's a whole foot taller than me. Yeah, that's so tall. That's really tall, okay. So this was the funnest, funnest trivia fact I found.
Speaker 1:So in 2010, he held and hosted the satirical PaceyCon. Okay, all right. He did it directly across the street from a comic-con he he wore a bowling shirt, like that Pacey wore all the time, and he handed out like fan fiction about Dawson's Creek written by Dawson's Creek fans to those waiting. He went to the comic-Con entrance and did this. This is awesome. I know it's amazing. Footage of the event was actually recorded for a video entitled PaceyCon, which he was filming for Will Ferrell's Funny or Die Celebrity Humor website.
Speaker 1:That is so great. I didn't look it up yet, but we need to because I just I feel like that's so Pacey, like it really is. It's like, oh, like you're in line for an event. Well, I guess I'll have one across the street and bring you my stuff. I love it. I love that. That's so good. I love celebrities who can laugh at themselves, and James Van Der Beek is also very good at that, very good at this. I know you haven't watched Don't Trust the Bee yet Not yet, but he does it in other stuff too. He's so good at it. I just love that. They take these cultural icons and pick fun at themselves. It's very lovely, okay.
Speaker 1:So now we're moving on to Loretta Devine, who played Reese, the security female lady. You know her because she was in a lot of TV shows on the time. She was on A Different World, amen, murphy Brown and the show Cop Rock, because she can sing, and I'll tell you more about that in a second. Okay, she also blew up pretty big when she was in the movie Waiting to Exhale in 95 with Whitney and Angela Bassett. Yep, she was in the Preacher's Wife in 96. She was in the I think this was a TV movie but it was pretty big Introducing Dorothy Dandridge in 99. Also was in the sequel to Urban Legends called the Final Cut in 2000. And she was also in what Women Want in 2000. And then she was in I Am Sam in 2001.
Speaker 1:She played the original Laurel in Dreamgirls on Broadway, oh my God, 1983. Oh my God, she originated the role. That's amazing, right? Yes, can you believe that she's got such a good speaking voice that, like a unique one too. I was about to say I see your next note, I know her from Grey's Anatomy, yeah, and all those things, but like Katie, snuck ahead reading Be in the moment, don't look over here. Well, I was going to say it if you didn't have it, but you have it. But yeah, I remember her. She's the chief's wife in Chief, weber's wife in Grey's Anatomy. Yeah, she did. She won a primetime Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in a drama series for her recurring role in Grey's Anatomy Interesting, so she's hella talented, obviously Real good. And yes, she's so recognizable Not necessarily that you would see her and be like, oh yeah, she was in this, this and this, but just like you know her, you're like, oh yeah, she's funny, she's great, and the voice too.
Speaker 1:I remember I love the movie Waiting to Exhale I did too. And that soundtrack, oh, that soundtrack was so good, I just loved all those women together. You know, I think when you have a movie like that and you have like cast friendship movies, if you get that chemistry right, the movie could be shitty. But if that friendship chemistry is on point, yeah, like Crossroads with Britney Spears Okay, no, I was just waiting for an opening Two years Finally found it. You cannot compare Crossroads with Britney to Waiting to Exhale with Whitney Girl. Get out of here, all right, anyway.
Speaker 1:So moving on to Dean Adams, that was the actor John Neville. He passed away in 2011. You know him from a few things he was in Baby's Day Out in 1994. He was in Little Women as well, okay, same year. He was in the Fifth Element in 97. But what a lot of us know him from is the X-Files. I know our friend Jen out there is probably like, yes, he was on eight episodes as the well-manicured man. So some characters I know you didn't ever watch X-Files, some characters that was their name. They had the smoking man and they had the well-manicured man. He was also in the X-Files movie. We got to get you watching X-Files. I've got to get you watching it. It's so good.
Speaker 1:He actually did a whole lot of theater work. He was awarded the OBE, which stands for Officer of the Order of the British Empire, wow, in the 1965 Queen's Birthday Honors list for his services to drama back in 1965. Yeah, yeah, girl, yeah, oh, my god, this is fun. His career exploded in his 60s because he was cast in a film called the adventures of baron munchausen in 1985. And so that's kind of when his film. Well, his like screen career, yeah, so between him and then the one we had in the Lost Boys episode, the grandpa it wasn't like they were suddenly actors at that age, no, no, they just kind of saw more mass appeal that you know, you just most. You know you just got to get those grandparent roles, I guess. But you just most, you know you just got to get those grandparent roles, I guess. But look, listen, I'm waiting. He got waiting. He got an award from the queen for his services to drama. I love it. I mean, hello, I want an award for services to drama, I mean from anyone, but the queen would have I'll make you one Nice Restriction From anyone. I'll be like, thanks, that really what I meant. You said from anyone. I'll make it for you, okay, and then we get.
Speaker 1:We cannot not talk about Robert Englund, who played Professor Wexler, who we all know as Freddy Krueger. Now, okay, I forget sometimes that he's a really good actor, even though we only know him as Freddy, but hello, he was a really good actor as Freddy. He's been in all the Nightmare on Elm Street films, except the 2010 remake. Why, I don't know, oh, I didn't, I never saw that one. I know everybody out there is like oh, guys, why don't y'all know your stuff? No, no, I just I was just curious, like if it was like an age thing or he didn't, I don't know. Visit it or remake was the same, because I never saw it. So, yeah, I don't know. I mean, it's literally the remake.
Speaker 1:So maybe the whole point is to have a new actor. Yeah, but look at this, he's appeared in 75 films. That's, that's a lot. So we think of freddy krueger, but we're saying that's how many films? Maybe I think it's eight. So that's another at least 65 films in addition to that, yeah, wow, that's wild. Yeah, 75 films. And then he starred in four TV series and he's guest starred in hundreds of hours of TV shows, dang Especially. That's a career, especially in like the 80s, early 90s, when he was Freddy Krueger. Of course that's who he was Right. Okay, of course that's who he was right, okay, so, anyway, that's all the tidbits about the actor.
Speaker 1:So now we'll talk about. Now what we're going to do is just some random tidbits from the movie. We can talk about what we think about the movie. When we're finished, I'm going to go through the urban legends in the movie and we'll talk about the origins and all that. Yay, okay, I can't wait for that.
Speaker 1:So, before we start with random trivia, did you like this movie on a rewatch? I loved it Because you've seen this. I've seen it. Yeah, like I said earlier, I did forget who the killer was for a little bit. That's hilarious. But then, once she went crazy, I was like, how did I forget that? Because it's so iconic, like the eyes and the hair and all the things. Because we old, that's why, because we old, I'm like who knows.
Speaker 1:Well done, I thought the writing was really strong, the music was really good, the cinematography was really good. They did a lot with like storms and darkness, and because they were different locations, I thought that was cool, like they were on the road or the side of the road or the gas station, but now they're on campus, like I don't know it. Just I felt super like it, just like go, go, go, go go. And then they're at the pool and that whole scene's so scary because she's swimming, she can't hear and so you're nervous. Then, yeah, I just felt like it um, really was like engaging the whole time, okay.
Speaker 1:So now the question is, katie, oh, I know what you're gonna ask. I know well, guess what you said on air that you were gonna do this and we are gonna call you out every time. Did you watch this uninterrupted? Oh, that's not what I thought you were gonna. Oh, I thought you're gonna ask what star rating I gave it. Oh well, no, that's coming out at the end. Um, no, ah, sure didn't again. Didn't you guys make katie those memes? Because make me those memes, it's I don't a lot of movies for spooky season.
Speaker 1:I know, I don't want excuses. No, I don't want to hear it from you. I'm because I'm gonna tell you, and our listeners will agree, if you can't find in seven days, 90 minutes uninterrupted, your shit's too busy. Ok, that's fair, you agree, that's fair enough. Right, listeners?
Speaker 1:I know you don't want to hear my excuses either, but literally I had jury duty this week, so that is a whole day gone from my life forever, like they kept me all day to, thank goodness, release me at the end. I didn't have to come back the next day, but I was there from eight to five and then taught all night, and then that was a Monday, and then Tuesday hits and it's like now I've had no Monday and now it's Tuesday. And today, by the way, is Thursday. Granted, I had the weekend and all that stuff too, but there's always something going on. Granted, I had the weekend and all that stuff too, but there's always something going on.
Speaker 1:See, listen, listeners, I need y'all to back me up on this. She owes it to you for 90 uninterrupted minutes and she is me and she owes it to herself. Let's be real, mostly that I mean, you know. Anyway, okay, well, whatever you did, watch it. I did, and I really liked it, and that's good. Star rating. Okay, here we go. She can't do fives, let's do it at the end. Let's do it at the end. You've already seen it.
Speaker 1:I want to say I want to think about it. I want to think about it and I also want to know how closely it tied to the urban legends. Oh, okay, alright, alright, alright, that may sway me. Oh, okay, all right, all right, all right, that may sway me like, wow, that was a really smart movie. Or, okay, all right, all right, we'll save it to the end. That's fine. Okay. So this film was shot over the course of 53 days, all right, so a little longer than the past ones we've talked about. 53 is a. We're in different spots, so you know, all right.
Speaker 1:So this came up in my house the coat that the killer wears. Cooper was like why are they having a coat the whole time? Here's why, guys. Okay, the killer's outfit is based on the fact that the film was originally planned to be in the wintertime. Okay, Okay, it was just when the weather was, because I think they filmed it like in the fall time and when the weather was too warm they were like you know what, let's drop the winter aspect because I didn't want to do all the fake snow and the outdoor scenes and get extra wardrobe and coats, so. But they just kept the coat on the killer cause they already decided on it. Okay, and it's an easy way to disguise. It is, and the and the so deep that you can't see the killer's face. Yeah, yeah, um, the coat was good. Yeah, I did too. Um, okay, this, by the way, this is all just random, I did not do it in order.
Speaker 1:The SUV driven in the beginning of the movie, where she's in the car, was supposed to be a land Rover. Okay, because those were super popular in the back of a land river. That's a minor detail, I know. Swing that ax man. Okay, fun bit of trivia, brad Dorif, who played the stuttering gas station attendant at the beginning, he played the role of Billy Bibbit, who also had a speech impediment in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest in 1975.
Speaker 1:But he's also the voice of Chucky from Child's Play. So does he actually have a speech impediment? Oh, they just keep casting him as someone with a. I guess, well, think about it. Not everybody can. That's a skill I guess it's hard to emulate that. That, right, you know what I mean, right, but yeah anyway. So that's fun little story again. Voice of chucky. So this movie had the voice of chucky and freddy krueger. That's crazy. I know, I need to re-watch it, but not all at once, just like 10 minutes here and there. Okay, so this is.
Speaker 1:This is why Joshua Jackson's hair was blonde. Okay, him and Tara Reed both shot their scenes in Cruel Intentions shortly before this, and he just kept his hair blonde for the Urban Legends shoot, just in case he had to go back and refilm, okay. So he didn't want to dye it back and then dye it again, and I think that's why he has a shaved head in Dawson's season, because I think it was after this and he just shaved the bleach blonde out. I think you're right. The timing sounds right. I think that's right. So look at us solving hair mysteries. Hair mysteries of the 90s Okay. So whenever they find the Encyclopedia of Urban Legends the book, the author is listed as Charles Breen and also the doctor on Tasha's bottle of lithium is also listed as Dr Charles Breen. That guy is the production designer. You go, charles Breen. He's like I'm going to be in this movie. I forgot to mention Tosh.
Speaker 1:Now, I don't remember the actress's real name, but she was on Roseanne. She played the next door neighbor. Oh, okay, yep, you know how I'm talking about. Yeah, and we never got a good look at her cause she was always in the dark. I know, and I made that. That's the oldest thing. I am old, everyone, it is me but I was like squinting, like what does this person look like? It's so dark in there. She's goth, I know. So apparently goth people never use lights, I don't know. Well, I mean, yeah. Anyway, this actually was one of the first films to feature the brand new blue Pepsi cans. Yep, they were introduced in 1998. So this is the first time you see him on film. Hey Pepsi, historical moment. Okay, this is kind of fun.
Speaker 1:Tara Reid actually performed her own stunts during her chase sequence, including the fall over the staircase landing. She had on a little harness thingy. Whoa, I know, look at you, girl. According to her. The stuntman who performed the scene that was chasing her used a real axe. Why, I don't know, that seems risky. What if you trip and fall Girl for real? I guess he was probably far enough behind but we could cut him. He could, yeah, but he's a stuntman, so I guess I know what I know.
Speaker 1:Okay, so according to Michael Rosenbaum, who played Parker he was on he has a podcast as well, called Inside of you, which that's weird. I didn't ever say that out loud, so just now, alright, I don't know what it's about. Nope me either. Okay. He said Jared Leto had a miserable time making the film and he rarely talks about it. Why, we don't know why. Why he's like disowned. He even like has publicly disowned it. If people ask him about it, he won't talk about it. I wonder what was going on with that. I don't know. I don't know, but it was confirmed by michael rosenbaum inside of you. God, I wonder what that's about.
Speaker 1:I typed that down and didn't even until I said it out loud, I was like, oh, okay, okay, I'm gonna check it out If I had to. Guess it's like a talk show where he gets to know famous, like celebrity friends or something, and they're finding out, like, what makes them tick. It could be a lot of things, but also I could be wrong. Oh my God, I saw the funniest. This is so gross but it's hilarious. I saw the funniest mom meme the other day and it was like a quick reel or something. And it's the moment you realize everybody in the house has been inside of you. That's pretty good. I didn't get it at first and then I was like, oh, that's great, all right. And if I have to explain that to you, then you got to go do some learning, all right.
Speaker 1:So here's another little tidbit. The Latin motto of the university, which is on its emblem and a few scenes, actually translates as the best friend did it Ah, smart little little Easter egg there. Um, and the last little thing I have before we get into dissecting these urban legends Brenda I don't know if you picked up on this is seen wearing a blue ribbon around her neck at the end, or it's like a scarf or ribbon. That is a vague reference, yes, to the story about the girl whose head falls off if she removes a ribbon, although in the story we know it's a green ribbon. Yeah, okay. So that was the last little tidbit. Okay.
Speaker 1:So now let's talk about some of the urban legends. There were actually a lot, so I may have missed some. Some of them they just quickly mentioned and moved on. So, yeah, there were a lot and some were based on real life stories, but they changed a little and some are unfounded and some you'll see. So they're not in order.
Speaker 1:I started to go in order and then I quit, but let me tell you what that this sent me down so many creepy ass rabbit holes. I was glad it was daytime. I was scaring the shit out of myself. Oh my God, oh, that was also yesterday. Maybe, that'saring the shit out of myself. So like, oh my God, oh, that was also yesterday. Maybe that's also why I couldn't sleep, yeah, probably. Okay.
Speaker 1:So the backseat killer Opening scene Person in the backseat I definitely remember hearing about that. Yeah, and a lot of these are in the scary stories book that we read. That one is, and the light, the high beams stories in there too, and this one the backseat killer and the high beams it's the same Are sometimes related, right, because people are trying to warn her that people that she's passing on the highway are trying to warn her because they can see the shadow that somebody's in her backseat, right. So those are kind of intertwined a little bit. This tale started circulating as early as the 1960s, but there was more widespread recognition in 1982, when somebody wrote a letter to Ann Landers about it, like warning people saying, oh, this happened to so-and-so and so-and-so's and she proved it false or whatever. Oh, wow.
Speaker 1:It has been speculated, though, by several sources that it may have been inspired by a vaguely similar case that took place in 1964, in which an escaped murderer hid in the backseat of a car only to end up being shot by the car's owner, who happened to be a police detective. Oh, yeah, so kind of related, but not really, but it's not it. I mean it was in the 60s and this is when this tale started getting circulated. You think of. I mean, in the history of time there has probably been someone in a backseat who's attacked someone driving and potentially someone else warned them because they saw it first. I feel like somewhere at some point that has probably happened.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you know a lot of, a lot of the urban legends are like cautionary tales, right, and we talked about this with scary stories, and he even has a forward or maybe it's an afterward and and one of those books the author of those scary stories books Um and it. They have to do with a lot of like vulnerability of women and like violence against women and things set up to make women scared to be alone. Yeah, so look at patriarchy, even in urban legends. I haven't said that word on this show in so long, guys, but this is this is an example of how that happens. Ok, so that that one is like could be maybe founded in truth Question mark.
Speaker 1:Then we have Bloody Mary. Yes, so the most interesting thing about this one, I was like why are they standing in front of the door? You're supposed to be in front of a mirror, right? Hello? It's been around for a long time, except it's a little different. It's been around since like the early 20th century.
Speaker 1:It didn't start as really Bloody Mary. It started as like this divination ritual by young women where they'd walk backwards in a dark house holding a candle and a handheld mirror, yeah, and they were supposed to like gaze into the mirror as they were walking backward to see a glimpse of their future husband, or they would see a glimpse of the Grim Reaper in the shape of a skull, meaning they were going to die before they got married. That's in the Great Comet, is it? Yeah, sonia, let's see Sonia and Natasha do that with mirrors and candles, and they sing about seeing their future husbands Interesting, yeah. Well, there you go. I haven't seen that show, and that's in 1812. Yeah, so you know. So, anyway. So that's kind of how it got started.
Speaker 1:But the more modern thing, ritual urban legend that we know is, is chanting Bloody Mary three times into a mirror in a dark room or like a dimly lit room with a candle, and then she appears either friendly or demonic, yeah, and sometimes even climbing out the mirror yeah, ok, which has been the mirror, yeah, okay, which has been depicted in a bunch of horror movies. The question is, is this based on a real life person named Mary Could be. There is a legend, a Japanese legend as well, that's kind of similar and I'm going to so mess this up. Hanako-san, I think, is what it's called, okay, and that theirs is about the ghost of a young girl named Hanako who haunts bathrooms, kind of like Moaning Myrtle in Harry Potter. I know different versions of the story include that she is the ghost of a World War II era girl who was killed while playing hide and seek during an air raid. Some say she was murdered by a parent or a stranger in a bathroom, or that she committed suicide in a school while she was being bullied. Dang, I know, okay, and most of the time she is said to have been wearing a red skirt or a red dress. Okay, so they kind of have their own Bloody Mary. Yeah, okay, but anyway, so is Bloody Mary real?
Speaker 1:Could be in Japan and here, two people that they think Bloody Mary could be is Mary of England, who is the daughter of Henry VIII. She was like the super Catholic person who had, like, over 300 Protestant people burned at the stake. Yeah, for going against her. So that's how she got the nickname Bloody Mary, which you learn in history class. That's Catherine of Aragon's daughter. Yes, yes. And then also there's a lady I found this and I was like what? Or some say it's a lady named Mary Worth, who has been identified as either I know, a woman who killed slaves who were escaping an underground railroad Horrible or a woman burned at the stake during the Salem witch trials. I guess it was a common name. I mean, yes, so, so back then too. So there you go. Ok, yes, so. So back then too. So there you go, okay, I mean, in the like, um, eurocentric versions of this mary could be two really kind of evil bad marys, or one that was falsely, falsely accused of whatever, or maybe not, but shouldn't have been killed for her abilities if she had them, right, okay.
Speaker 1:So again another question have you ever played Bloody Mary? Oh yeah, did it ever happen? Scared the shit out of me. Nothing ever happened. No one came crawling out of the mirror. It's like that game light as a feather, stiff as a board.
Speaker 1:We're doing Ouija boards on our next episode, guys. I'm so glad you're researching it, not me, because I'm terrified. I'm actually really happy to do it and we'll talk more about this next week. Okay, on our next episode, guys. But I was. We weren't allowed to have them and I wasn't allowed to like play with them. So it's kind of fun to like.
Speaker 1:Yeah, now really get in the weeds on it. Do you have one? Uh-uh, do you? No? Oh, no, girl, why? I don't know. I thought maybe you bought one out of rebellion as an adult. Maybe I will. Okay, before next week. I mean, if you can buy something at walmart, I'm pretty sure you can't summon the dead with it. I feel like that is correct, but I probably should get one just even for my research like to be able to like, look at it and be like this is what they're talking about. Don't bring it up in my house. I mean, we could bring it to this room, okay, oh God, I'm scared already. Look at, I'm nervous. She gets like shimmering. You guys get nervous, okay, all right. So anyway, moving on.
Speaker 1:Okay, this is the creepiest story because it is founded in real life, and this one you know about already yeah, this is the babysitter with the call is coming from inside the house. Another one of the scariest movies I've ever seen is the movie when a stranger calls, which came out in the seventies. Which is this urban legend now, and some, some of the versions of the urban legend. The kids die, the murderer kills the kids, some he doesn't, he's just in the house. It's just scary, yeah. And in some he kills the babysitter.
Speaker 1:Yes, the babysitter, yes, well, this actually is founded in a real life true crime event that happened in 1950, uh, in Columbia, missouri, um eighth grader, janet Christman, was babysitting for a three-year-old. He was already asleep when she got there. Um, there's not a lot of details of what happened next, like in the next few hours, but when the baby's parents arrived home at 1.30 am, they found her strangled to death. She'd also been sexually assaulted with an iron cord and she was lying next to a phone that was off the hook. She did try and call the police in the middle of her struggle, but all they heard on the other end was her screaming and they were unable to trace the call. Right, this was 1950, guys, so the technology couldn't like give them an address or, yeah, um, so there's no evidence that the murderer called from inside the house. Obviously, again, this is 1950, so probably not um, and the three-year-old was safe. He never even woke up, wow, which is scary beyond belief. And to this day the case remains unsolved. Yeah, they never did find the right person and I I listened to a podcast about this a while back, but I I remember part of it too was someone had been calling her house, not the place she babysat.
Speaker 1:Oh, I didn't see that for like the weeks leading up to it and like her and her mom and maybe a sister were getting kind of like inappropriate calls that I think they did report, but again, and the police were kind of like on it as much as they could be so. So that's really scary because it's obviously she's targeted, it's not a crime of opportunity. It's like someone either followed her or knew she would be there at that time by herself. Yeah, that's scary, that's like our kids age. That's so scary.
Speaker 1:All right, moving on to a more silly one that not true at all is soda and pop rocks. Yeah, everybody knows this story. I forgot about the mikey component of it, me too, but I do remember being scared of the and I love how, uh, joshua jackson's character like fakes it on the floor. So funny. And because it's joshua jackson, I mean obviously I've seen the movie too. Yeah, I was like, obviously he's faking, yeah, he's such a jokester, but yeah, a jokester, that's a jokester, that joshua jackson, he's a jokester, he's adorable.
Speaker 1:Um, all right, I couldn't find exactly how the rumor started, especially with the mikey component, but the rumor in general. I couldn't really find the origins of it, but it actually did cause sales and pop rocks to decline so much that in 1979, general foods wrote letters to school principals with an open letter to parents, uh, saying like our candy will not hurt your kid. And they also put full advertisements in major publications and they sent the inventor of Pop Rocks on a road campaign to explain the ingredients and reassure that kids would not explode while consuming the product. That is a lot of work, I know. I love Pop Rocks. Obviously they're still with us today.
Speaker 1:I don't like them. They hurt. They do hurt a little, but I have sensitive teeth too. So, like a Pop Rock and a sensitive tooth Girl, but I guess, like, if I were General Mills, I would have just probably moved on. That's a lot of work.
Speaker 1:Like y'all are General Mills, you can make anything you want. Why are you so worried about this candy? Maybe, maybe it's more like well, how dare they accuse our candy of? Oh, probably kids. So it's not just the candy itself, it's a branding thing. Yeah, I get that, I mean, but anyway. So solve my own question. That is not true. Which? The movie told us that too? Yeah, because they did it, but I still like I mean it does make the popping more with the carbonation. Yeah, you know, um, okay, then we get to the dorm massacre.
Speaker 1:Now this one has been told on various college campuses. Sometimes it's like halloween, sometimes it's valentine's day. It's been in lots of movies. Unfortunately, it is based on a real life story, a real life event, so it started circulating in the 60s based on the murders of the serial killer, richard Speck. On the murders of the serial killer, richard Speck. Y'all know I do not like true crime stuff, so I'm just going to breeze over this, but he violently murdered eight female nursing students in their home, 1966. There was a ninth student in the house that survived because she hid under a bed and was able to kind of like describe as much as she could him and what happened, yeah, and it was awful, real bad, it was terrible. And I of like describe as much as she could him and what happened, yeah, and it was awful, real bad, it was terrible. And I was like, as I was reading about it, I was like, why do I know this story? It's been used in a lot of TV shows and movies, but specifically it was in the second episode of American Horror Story, the first season, which I did watch, okay, and it's a great show, but that was hard to watch because two of the ghosts in the murder house were nursing students Got it, and I believe the story of that too is that people continued to come home in the middle of it, oh, I don't know, like they weren't all there.
Speaker 1:I didn't go into details, but then they like came home. Oh, yes, do you see what I'm saying? Yes, oh, they weren't all there at once. Yeah, correct, right. And so then you, even more, are like, oh God, I wish you wouldn't come home or whatever. Yeah, and he, I mean, he like tortured them and sexually assaulted them and it was terrible, and I'm not going into all that. But so it wasn't a dorm, but house. That was, yeah, housing students, sure, and it was close to a college campus in chicago, right, and so that was the basis of the dorm massacre. Okay, it's just been changed a bit from university to university, so that's one is real. Oh, I know, um, I kind of would rather the pop rocks to be real. Yeah, seriously, okay.
Speaker 1:So the parked car boyfriend death, this one the movie kind of mixed together a few variations of the story, so in some of them it has a hook. Have you heard the one with the hook? And the hook is outside the window, the scratching and all that. But it always involves the boyfriend leaving. For some reason In the movie he had to leave to pee. There's one where the car breaks down and he has to leave to get gas. Um, sometimes it's him being hung and the feet hitting, sometimes he's upside down and it's his fingernails scratching. He's still alive. I know lots of different variations on that. Um, this one also is suspected that it's based on several true stories.
Speaker 1:There was a string of murder cases that took place in Texarkana in 1946. Dang yeah, often referred to as the Moonlight Murders. It was a spree of four unsolved murders taking place in the late winter and spring. A serial killer known as the Phantom of Texarkana, phantom Killer or Phantom Slayer I don't know why he has three names. He does Attacked eight people over a period of 10 weeks and unfortunately, five of those victims did die, but not all of them did.
Speaker 1:That serial killer targeted male, female, male, female pairs in remote locations. Obviously they were parking, so that was his target. Um, and the first three attacks took place on lover's lane or similar desolate roads. Yeah, that's another one. I mean, obviously you're telling us the true story behind it, but that's another one that feels very cautionary. It is, yeah, and it is about premarital sex and leaving women alone and don't go off parking places. You're not supposed to be. It's like all the things, but valid, I mean, yeah, valid. Valid to the extent that, like you always have to be very aware of your surroundings and you're just generally going to be safer where there's more people around, or at least someone knows where you are, or whatever. Yeah, so yucky, yucky.
Speaker 1:So let's move on and talk about other stuff. That's not true, all right, so true. So the? Aren't you glad you didn't turn on the light? Yeah, that also, combined with another one the humans can lick too. Story what? So?
Speaker 1:The version of that story, the one in the movie, is her roommate's getting murdered while she's sleeping. Yeah, and she doesn't realize it till the morning, where it's written on the wall, aren't you glad? And trying the other one, there's a story, and it's told several different ways, but bottom line is the girl, a girl, goes to sleep. There's an escaped prisoner on the loose, so she lets her dog sleep in the room with her and the dog is at the foot of her bed, and so she'd wake up thinking she heard something, and she'd put her hand down and the dog would lick her hand and she knew she was fine. Well, in the morning she woke up and the dog's dead, and it says humans can lick too. So the scary murderer, oh my god. Yeah, I've never heard that one. Yeah, oh, and also, aren't you glad you didn't turn on the light? Yeah, because the whole time he was, it was him. Yeah, gross, I know. So. Anyway, it combined those two and they've been told bunches of different ways, both of them.
Speaker 1:The origins are unknown, but these, all these tales, likely emerged in the 70s, and again they reflect fears about mortality, responsibility and the anxieties of early adulthood yeah, when you're out on your own, especially as women, yeah, living by yourself, yeah, but your dog or whatever. Interestingly enough, in the 90s, snopes remember Snopes? Yes, they found a similar tale that dates all the way back to an Englishman's diary from 1871. Wow, yeah. In it, the diary keeper, dearman Bershaw, retold a story he heard at a party of a man whose wife woke him up in the middle of the night, urging him to go check out a sound, and he told his wife it was only the dog reaching out his hand. He felt the dog lick his hand, but in the morning all his valuables were gone, and so, wow, yeah, he clearly had been robbed. Everything was gone, and apparently it wasn't the dog Right, oof. So everything was gone and apparently it wasn't the dog right, oh. So there you go. So again. But that was a story a man heard at a party, right, so this is not true.
Speaker 1:A police report, or right, like, yeah, and nobody will ever be painting shit on my walls because everything wakes me up. I, you cannot, you cannot, and I'm usually not asleep, and if I'm, I never sleep deeply, so you cannot. If you cannot and I'm usually not asleep, and if I'm, I never sleep deeply, so you cannot. If you are ever in a place with me, I got you, you're safe while you're sleeping, you will hear it, cause I always tell my whole family I will save us all. If there's bad weather, if there is somebody breaking in, I better hope I got something to do, because like to help with we have.
Speaker 1:Have I told you about the womp stick? No, oh my God. Oh my God. That's so funny. So we are. We do not have guns in our house. Everyone, we are anti-gun family, that is.
Speaker 1:I'm not going into all that, but Charlie has underneath this the bed. We've had this forever. We had like an old like. I don't know if it's a broom handle or a Swiffer handle, but it's just the handle. Okay, what time, when we were moving, I was like why is this always under the bed? And he's like it's my womp stick. I'm like, I'm sorry, you're who what? He said my womp stick. So if I need to womp somebody in the middle of the night, it's right there. Not a horrible idea? Not a horrible idea. I feel like I need one. Get you a womp stick. Okay, a womp stick, guys. Anyway, it needs to be on my fucking side of the bed because you need one. He ain't gonna. I'm gonna whomp him to wake up. Anything better than a womp stick is two. But no, you have one and he has one both sides of the bed, or four, you each have two. Oh my god, okay, so we've only got a couple more.
Speaker 1:Uh, the dog in the microwave, don't worry, it's not true, thank god. Um, I couldn't find specific origins of how this started. They, it's believed it started around the late 70s, when microwaves were becoming popular, and um, there are like a bunch of different variations of this tale. It's not related to a true story, but the urban legend itself is actually about an old lady who tries to dry her wet poodle in the microwave and then he explodes, right. And this one is believed that it's about the dangers of new technology, right, but I mean, hello, that's like the entire show of black mirror. So, yeah, have you watched any of those yet? Yeah, you'll see, it's all about technology, right, and just like common sense.
Speaker 1:Even when microwaves renew, you would think people would know not to put pets in there. Well, girl, who knows, people still put foil in a microwave named my oldest kid. One time I was, like what are you doing? Uh, like no, I guess, if we don't actually say it. But I mean, I feel like you wouldn't have to say that about a pet. Well, maybe, because I mean, I mean, if it's a normal thing that you put on food, there's also been stories about this before microwaves existed, about people with, with fires and stoves, and so, okay, every era has its thing. Yeah, it's also I did read some commentaries that we're talking about that.
Speaker 1:Maybe this is also about, like, the dangers of getting getting elderly, of becoming elderly, which is kind of shitty. Yeah, that, like, your judgments may be clouded simply because of your age, which is not. Yeah, I mean, I have a lot, okay. So, like I said, there was a lot in this movie. So the kidney theft, the the up doesn't work, so you have to use your hand. What do you mean? The up doesn't work, up arrow? Oh well, that'd be good to know. Okay, kidney theft an hour? And I'm like, by the way, I know that doesn't work. Uh, this is this one's interesting the kidney theft situation.
Speaker 1:This one started circulating in the early nineties, mostly by email. Isn't that funny, god bless, yep. Um, it spread so much and you remember how, when you first had emails do you get like chain letters and you'd forward it to everyone. You must send it or something bad will happen to you. This was kind of part of that era. Um, it spread so much panic in people that organ donor programs put out official statements telling people do not believe this story, like it cannot happen.
Speaker 1:It's also medically impossible. Okay, also, the whole story about waking up, because the urban legend is you wake up in a bed, like you go to a bar or a party, somebody gets like drugs, you and you wake up the next morning and you're in a hotel or just a bathtub, somewhere full of ice, with a note that says and you have a scar, and it says your kidney's been removed, call 911 immediately. Blah, blah, blah. Basically, organ selling on the black market. Well, that's very silly and, um, medically impossible and it has nothing to do with after an organ is removed from your body. It's how it is transported to someone else's body. So nobody recovering from organ removal surgery is put in a receptacle of ice. Yeah, that doesn't even make sense. No, it doesn't. So, like, first of all, no, right, so the organ donor programs were like hello guys, this doesn't even make sense. Like, why would you be at a VMI? Right, like hello, so that one's not true. Yeah, okay, which? Yeah, and I mean it's a weird one.
Speaker 1:Organ removal is very nuanced and it's very hard, and not every organ matches another person. You have to have the right correct blood type, and if you just meet a stranger in a bar, they would know nothing about that, right, correct, they could be going through all that for an organ that they couldn't even use for whatever purpose. Right, yeah, okay, anyway, got it. So, not true? The ankle slashing under a car? Now, this has been in lots of movies, not necessarily under cars, under beds, kill Bill, uh-huh, it's been in a lot of different things. I still am scared of this, me too. I like can't like the whole point. The whole image of somebody grabbing your ankles is just so scary. Um so, okay. So according to Snopes, again, they did a lot of research on our religions back in the nineties. Thank you, snopes.
Speaker 1:I know variations of this one have been around since the fifties. It's not really based on a real life story, but there are plenty of like realistic dangers of being in a parking garage, like getting robbed, carjacking, carjackings, and like distracted drivers. So this is probably just an extra cautionary tale of like be aware when you're alone and in a parking garage. But this is another one that capitalizes on women's fears of being alone and getting attacked. Um, this one also is sometimes related to the flashing headlights initiation. So the flashing headlights, one kind of goes into multiple categories of urban legends, which brings me to that one.
Speaker 1:Okay, so the gang initiation, flashing headlights. I remember when I started driving being told not to flash your headlights at people because of this hundred percent, literally. This was started back in the eighties and originally it was about motorcycles and the hell's angels gang. Okay, so originally it was don't fly the motorcycles wouldn't. It was said to believe that Hells Angels would not have the headlights on of their motorcycles. Okay, and then you would flash them and then they'd come kill you to be initiated into the Hells Angels.
Speaker 1:Not true, in fact, the Bloods street gang were so irritated by this they actually held a press conference. I'm not even kidding. Well, they had one representative, it wasn't like the whole gang. Yeah, they actually held a press conference in the early 2000s to get rid of the slander, even saying that the police started it to make them look like criminals. The police started it to make them look like criminals, like they had. The guy, the representative of the gang, read an email that was circulating about this, this gang initiation, saying that police put it out to put crimes upon them that they were not doing. I mean, maybe, yeah, so anyway, there's no evidence that this has ever happened or why this even started being circulated in the first place. Yeah, so anyway, there's no evidence that this has ever happened or why this even started being circulated in the first place. Yeah, weird, I know.
Speaker 1:And again, I feel like in the history of people driving cars, I know Someone probably has like flashed another car to turn on their lights and something's gone wrong. It doesn't have to be a gang initiation, but it could be that that person you're doing that to just is unstable. And they are like, hey, the first person that does this. I am going to try to run them off the road or do something, or road rage, like why are they flashing their lights at me? And then it turns into a whole thing, like I feel like somewhere at some point. But how it got connected to a gang initiate. I mean it is just to to scare non-gang members to make them more afraid of these like criminals. I feel like whether that's on purpose or not. Yeah, now I will say something.
Speaker 1:While we're sitting here talking, something popped in my head. I remember one time I don't remember if it was my mom or my sister, but I was in the passenger seat, in the front seat, when I was like a teenager and one of them was driving and Tara, if you hear this episode, remind me if this was your mom and we were on the interstate driving somewhere and this two guys pulled up next to us and they were like you know, roll down your window. And they were like something's wrong with your tire, something's wrong with your tire. And my mom was like thanks, I'll check it next. Like thanks, I'll check it later. I'm like mom, pull over. And she's like absolutely not. Like if somebody tells you to pull over, you wait, like cause we were just on the interstate, there's nothing around to get to an exit, go to a well-lit gas station or whatever, which we did, and it was fine. And that's super scary. Same with like your headlights out or whatever, and it might be and it might be, but that's fine If it's still drivable, then just get somewhere safe before you check it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because it was the two of us and my mom, like I'm a small person, she was even smaller than me, so she looked very young because she's so little, right, like they don't know, she's some grown-ass lady. And or maybe it was my sister, who also is small, she's smaller than me, kind of tallest at five, two giant. I know um, who also looked, and I was young, right. So they, I don't know, I don't know what was going on in their brains, but it's scary to think about. It is, and you know, that's why they say the same thing about, and and there's actual proof of this urban legend the person pretending to be a police officer too. I know that actually there's multiple cases of that happening, and even now. So if you are by yourself or just any time you think you're getting pulled over or lights are flashing or someone flashes a badge, get to as public a place as you possibly can, and real life police officers will never try to pull you over in a place that's not well like safe for both of you. Correct, correct, right? The side of, like a dark, desolate highway is not the safest spot for them either. Right, yeah, okay, agree, so that's all my things.
Speaker 1:So let's talk about notes. I don't have a lot. I don't. Either I just have a couple and you hit on most of them, or I already brought them up. Yeah, we chatted about them.
Speaker 1:I already said I forgot who the killer was. Oh, I just said that. I mean, I get it, it's for the story, but the gas stations were so like. I don't remember gas stations looking that old and decrepit in the 90s. Oh, oh, yeah, really, you must not have lived anywhere. Weird, yeah, there were some creepy ones, really, yeah, okay, in fact, I remember driving home because I lived five and a half six hours from home when I was in college and most of it was like I went to school in the northern part of the state and had to drive down to the southern part. Well, a lot up in the northern part I had to drive through was very rural and there was some. There was places I would not stop. In florida there's probably, oh, yeah, and I mean in indiana, where I was from sure you just probably never, just never, stopped at any of them. Yeah, never had to. Um, I said to, I already talked about the thing I said about tara reed's radio.
Speaker 1:Oh, when the roommate is in the chat room, oh yeah, that was fun, like a little flashback, yeah, and also a cautionary tale. Yeah, she's like what room are you in Yours? Yeah, I know Chat rooms be scary Because, like it was a reminder of a oh, that's funny, that's what they used to look like and like the usernames used to be like that, but then also like like literal strangers finding out where do you live? Well, I live here and I live here. Granted, apparently the killer already knew where she lived and was already there, but but still it was like a reminder. Oh yeah, talking to strangers on the internet is scary sometimes. Yeah, super scary.
Speaker 1:Oh, wait, in the very beginning did you recognize the song that was playing in the car. Oh, and he changed it. Turn around. Oh, yeah, no. In the very beginning of the movie, yes, I was like oh, that's funny. When she was singing along Because he's in the back seat, I was like that's hilarious. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I missed that.
Speaker 1:When I I knew this movie very well, this was one I had on like vcr tape maybe, or dvd that I would put on at random times. I'm like I I was like remember I remembered the entire movie. That's awesome. I mean, is it? Yeah, like I didn't remember who the killer was not a skill that it matters like um, so the part I was talking about with the radio is later when joshua, he goes, oh God no. And turns it off, which is a good joke. That was a good one. I like that one. Let's see, I pretty much said everything I had. Oh, when Brenda. So Rebecca Gayheart is talking about Paul Jared Leto's character, and she's like me and Paul would be so hot. I put Leto's character and she's like me and Paul would be so hot. I put Leto Gayheart together would be hot. Yeah, like, could it? Maybe they did that, maybe they did, I don't know. Maybe they did that.
Speaker 1:Okay, why is there always like rain and lightning in horror movies, I know, did we notice that? Just the sound effect of it is so stimulating, I feel like, because weather is scary See, weather's scary but also the sound of it and then the sound when she's in the pool. That scene is so memorable because it's like a white noise and it is scary. And I know it had nothing to do with sharks in pools, but it was giving that. It was giving that like it's dark in here, we can't see the shark. It's giving the shark is coming after you inside, yes, and you can't hear him or see him. Oh my god, her. Do you remember? I don't know, have you ever seen that old cyanide live skit with chevy chase, where he's the land shark? Yes, oh my god. And he knocks on the door and they're like who is it? Pizza delivery? Oh my god, giant shark. Yeah, oh my god, that's really funny. I love that.
Speaker 1:I've seen like I'm sure it's photoshop, but I've seen like the memes, um, and it says like only in florida, and it's like an alligator, like standing up ringing a doorbell, and it's like ding dong, motherfucker, or whatever, and I was like wow, that's scary. Oh, but they can't climb fences. They can. They can ring your doorbell. You better watch out the window before you open that door. Man choice, so scared alligators. I mean they're terrifying. No, they are, they're dinosaurs, they're dinosaurs. They literally are dinosaurs. Oh my gosh, um, oh.
Speaker 1:And I did say what happened to alicia witt and rebecca gayheart, but you already went over all that, because I feel like I've seen everybody else in a hundred different things. Yeah, but those two not as much for a while. But but we, we, we reviewed all that. Oh, I will say, remember how we talked about I know what you did last summer and that the guy tried to do that movie. There were coats in that movie too. It was raincoats. The killer had a raincoat, a yellow one, yeah, yeah, yeah, and like boots, so luscious. I don't know what they're called, but they look like that. So it's like okay, interesting choices, 90s, come on. Can we not have some other? Maybe like an original idea? Yeah, anyway, I don't know. That's all I wrote. I was just, I was just vibing with this. Look, you went over a lot of things. I know, I told you I, you're not playing, I was not playing around.
Speaker 1:Awesome Hours and hours of life devoted to this episode. Everyone, you're welcome. Yeah, thank you. And, on a personal note, thank you because I was supposed to do the urban legend research, which I would have absolutely loved, but between jury duty and filling in for people at my studio this week, I would have had to get up at like 3 am probably to do it. Maybe two If you have to get up at 3 am, but look, you were up anyway. Well, I didn't, you had already done it. I already did that. You wouldn't have done it daily. But look, guys, we're going to keep on Katie and we're going to keep making her have uninterrupted time so she can Because, listen, when you did make the uninterrupted time, didn't you enjoy the movie way more?
Speaker 1:Yeah, what was it? Fast times? You only did it once. I think it was once, I think it was fast times. No, varsity blues, varsity blues. Yeah, you're right, two times 10 AM on like a Tuesday, but still. But it was wonderful.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and then you, especially with scary movies. Yeah, I agree, I feel like scary movies are so much better with people to scream and holler because you get that endorphin high. Yeah, which Katie and I are trying to figure out. If we can go see Halloween Horror Nights sometime, I think we should go. We got to. I think we're going to be scared out of our minds. We might just have to go on like a very weird night. I agree, like a random week. It's okay with me Strange ass time and be just be tired to dress up and stuff. Oh, of course it's going to be really fun, of course, of course, all right, well, that's it All right. Well, thank you, danny, and thank you listeners, for joining us.
Speaker 1:This spooky season we have, and then we have another rewatch after that. So stick with us and, um, if spooky season's not really your thing, never fear. Dawson's creek live every week plus we have over 120 episodes now. So if you're new, you can go back. You can learn about pagers and books we used to like although you know what some of our older episodes. Have you gone back? Uh-uh, it's funny. Well, I wouldn't say rough, but we were trying to figure out what we were doing, so like we didn't have a format really yet it was just like random shit.
Speaker 1:Here we are some stuff. I'm like, why did we do an episode on that? Like which one? Like the first time we went thrifting and, yeah, had nothing to do with with with anything. It was so funny. I still love our dogs versus cats. Oh yeah, that's a good one, though. That was one of my favorites to date. Just to do that was a fun one. My sister my sister texted me and was like y'all need to do eighties beauty products. I said we've already done that and I was like, wait, no, we didn't. We did nineties, we did beauty and fashion trends. And so she was sending me this list of stuff. I was like, oh, okay, we'll revisit and do that. We'll loop back. There is no end to the cultural things we can look at between books and movies and fashion trends and food and drinks and urban legends All the things. Please leave us a review wherever you are listening, and we will see you next time, guys here on Generation Inbetween. Bye.
