The cult Australian film-maker Jamie Blanks has died aged 54. He was best known for Urban Legend, the 1998 horror starring Jared Leto, Alicia Witt and Joshua Jackson.
On Friday morning, Blanks’ family issued a statement on X announcing his death:
“It is with great sadness that we confirm our beloved Jamie passed away suddenly at his home in Melbourne, Australia, on Monday.
“His death was unexpected, despite some ill health in recent years,” they wrote. “It comes at a time when Jamie was preparing to direct another film. He was still very active supporting other film-makers and developing his own projects.”
Born in Melbourne, Blanks’ breakout came with Urban Legend, a pulpy slasher about a series of murders on a New England college campus. The film was a hit, grossing more than $70m worldwide and inspiring two sequels: 2000’s Urban Legends: Final Cut, and the 2005 direct-to-video reboot Urban Legends: Bloody Mary, starring Kate Mara.
Blanks followed up Urban Legend with the 2001 horror Valentine, which saw actors David Boreanaz, Denise Richards and Katherine Heigl pursued by a knife wielding killer who wears a cupid mask. It fared less well commercially, but the film has become a cult favorite.
Blanks followed Valentine by directing the 2007 Australian horror Storm Warning and 2008’s Long Weekend, a remake of the 1970s film of the same name that starred The Passion of the Christ’s Jim Caviezel.
In his later years, Blanks focused on composing and soundtracked films including the 2012 sci-fi movie Crawlspace and the 2025 indie slasher What Are You Afraid Of?
Blanks was considered to direct 1990s horror classics including Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer, but lost out on both opportunities to more seasoned directors.
On his film-making style, Blanks told an interviewer: “I tried to learn a lot from John Carpenter in terms of keeping things simple, I tried to learn a lot from Sam Raimi about how to keep things fun, and I tried to learn a lot from Kathryn Bigelow about how to make things really stylish.”
Urban Legend has become a particular favorite for fans of the 90s teen slasher genre. In an interview to promote her role in 2024 horror Longlegs, Alicia Witt said that she was thrilled that Blanks’ film was still attracting new fans.
“I am so thrilled that people are now discovering it,” she said, adding that she would love to star in a sequel. “I very much want to revisit [my character] Natalie in particular. She’s occurred to me many times over the years because both Natalie and I have grown so much. Who Natalie is 25 years later, how that might be similar to who I am 25 years later … I would long to play Natalie Simon again.”