The Legacy (1979) Universal/Horror RT: 100 minutes Rated R (mild language, violence, graphic images, brief rear nudity, mild sexual content) Director: Richard Marquand Screenplay: Jimmy Sangster, Patrick Tilley and Paul Wheeler Music: Michael J. Lewis Cinematography: Dick Bush and Alan Hume Release date: October 1979 (US) Cast: Katharine Ross, Sam Elliott, John Standing, Charles Gray, Lee Montague, Hildegard Neil, Marianne Broome, Roger Daltrey, Margaret Tyzack, Ian Hogg. Box Office: $11.3M (US)
Rating: ** ½
Isn’t it funny how the current sorry state of the horror genre makes mediocre fright flicks like The Legacy look much better by comparison? Few things annoy me as much as the found footage film movement that still thrives even though few (if any) actually like these movies. The Blair Witch Project is the worst thing that could’ve happened to horror movies; it’s done irreparable damage to a once-awesome genre. Whenever I see a big stinking turd like The Gallows, I like to wash off the stink by watching a horror flick from back in the day.
I didn’t get to see The Legacy at the movies, but I read the novelization two or three times as a young teen. I finally saw the uncut version in ’94 when I picked up a used VHS copy at West Coast Video. It’s a passable time-killer dealing with the occult and a series of mysterious deaths at a mansion in the English countryside. It’s not great, but it’s not bad either.
The Legacy stars Katharine Ross (The Graduate) and Sam Elliott (Road House) as Maggie Walsh and Pete Danner, an American couple who travel to England on business. They’re interior designers and have come to meet with a potential new client who generously paid their airfare. They arrive a few days early so they can see some of England first. While riding through the countryside on a motorcycle, they get into an accident with a vintage limo owned by Jason Mountolive (Standing, The Elephant Man), a reclusive multi-millionaire who invites them back to his mansion to relax and recover while their bike is being fixed.
Just as Maggie and Pete settle in, a group of people arrive by helicopter- Karl (Gray, The Rocky Horror Picture Show), Jacques (Montague, Brother Sun, Sister Moon), Maria (swimmer-turned-nude model Broome) and Barbara (Neil, A Touch of Class). Clive (The Who’s Daltrey) arrives later. As it turns out, their host is dying and all these people are his beneficiaries. Do you still think it’s a coincidence that Maggie is here?
The “legacy” of the title is the Satanic powers possessed by Mountolive. He plans to pass them on to one of the six, but who? The guests start dying in mysterious accidents. One drowns, one chokes on a chicken bone, one burns to death, one gets impaled by mirror shards and a shotgun blows up in somebody’s face. Not as bloody as I hoped, but still cool.
It takes a while for The Legacy to really get going; it has a few slow patches, but it also has one or two genuine scares. I remember the TV commercials showing the scene where an old decrepit hand grabs Maggie’s and puts a ring on her finger. It’s still pretty effective. It’s also pretty cool that Mountolive’s nurse, Adams (Tyzack, I, Claudius), can seemingly transform into a white cat. The outcome is a foregone conclusion; there’s never much doubt as to who will inherit Mountolive’s legacy. The question is why has he brought Maggie to this gathering? She’s never met any of these people in her life, yet they all seem to know her. It even appears that she was expected. Ross and Elliott are good actors. I like them both very much. Gray is very good as a German military surplus dealer (who has no neck!). Daltrey is totally in his element playing a record company executive.
The Legacy is pure 70s horror hokum that puts many modern horror movies to shame despite it not being great. It’s entertaining, but forgettable.
