The Legacy (1979)

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Maggie Walsh (Katherine Ross, The Stepford Wives and The Swarm) and Pete Danner (a really young Sam Elliott, Mask and The Big Lebowski) get a strange call for their interior decorating business. They are to go to England for an anonymous client, but they have misgivings about leaving Los Angeles. Those go away when the client dies, leaving behind pre-paid airfare.They're in England for all of a spot of tea when they are almost killed by a limousine carrying Jason Mountolive, who takes them to his gigantic home called Ravenhurst.I love this description of the people Maggie and Pete meet at Ravenhurst — "A millionaire, a million-dollar prostitute, a star-maker, a nation-killer, a woman whose lusts are as cold as graveyard snow." They're all the beneficiaries of his estate, there to decide who will get what when the old man dies.Maggie is shocked, because as far as she knows, Mountolive was just alive. Everyone is summoned to his bedroom, filled with sterile walls and a life support system. You can't see the old man any longer — but a gnarled hand reaches out and gives Maggie the Mountolive ring — one she can't take off and one everyone else is already wearing.All manner of accidents and deaths befall the cast members. Pete is nearly killed by a scalding shower (and if you like Sam Elliot, your pulse will be inflamed by this scene). Maria, a swimmer, drowns. Clive (Roger Daltry from The Who), a music mogul, dies from a combination of choking and a gory tracheotomy. Karl (Charles Gray, Diamonds Are Forever, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Devil Rides Out) dies in an awesome scene when a spark from a fireplace ignites him, sending him curled up and burnt black. Barbara is killed by an exploding mirror. And Jacques tries to kill Maggie and Pete, thinking they are behind it all, but his gun blows up in his face and he falls to his death.A series of clippings reveals that each of the guests had been implicated in a scandal or crime, but Mountolive saved them. He comes from a long line of devil worshippers. In fact, his parents were burned at the stake!Maggie is Mountolive's great-granddaughter, so she meets with the dying man, who reveals that he killed the others as a sacrifice to Satan so that she can get his powers. Then, she will have six heirs when her time is up. Pete tries to stop her, but it is too late. The staff have all bowed to her and she is now the new owner of Ravenhurst and all of the powers that come with it.She gives Pete a ring that bonds itself to his finger as her first heir and tells him that it's time to do anything she wants.Director Richard Marquand (Return of the Jedi) alternates here between breezy romance, ala Hart to Hart, and gory spectacle. It's a strange blend but it's rather enjoyable.Plus, it has an opening song, "Another Side of Me" (performed by Kiki Dee) that is so late 70's, it should give you cocaine while you listen to it.Read more at bit.ly/2z6FXtS

THE LEGACY is no masterwork but as one of a string of haunted house flicks (including THE HAUNTING and LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE) it's an acceptable enough slice of horror. This one was a British film, written by Hammer scribe Jimmy Sangster, featuring a couple of imported American leads and an Agatha Christie-style inheritance plot.The story sees a group of characters trapped together in a creepy old house and assailed by weird events and violent deaths. In an eye on keeping up with modern trends, the death scenes are quite elaborate and gruesome, perhaps inspired by the likes of THE OMEN. In addition, there's a fair wealth of action too, with car chases thrown into the mix as various characters try to escape their predicament. It's an unusual concoction, but somehow it all hangs together, just about.Katharine Ross (THE STEPFORD WIVES) and Sam Elliott star as the rather boring leads. The two would later go on to marry and indeed are still married, and it's clear they have an obvious charisma together. However, as is so often with these things, the supporting cast is more interesting than the leads. Roger Daltrey has a small but memorable turn, and Charles Gray is as sinister as ever. I did like John Standing's posh host too. Keeping things moving along is director Richard Marquand, who would later go on to helm RETURN OF THE JEDI.

This can't seem to decide if it wants to be a kitch 70s Hammer Horror-em-up, or a glossy romantic US TV movie. Slick moustache man heart throb Sam Elliot clearly thinks he's in the latter, while Roger Daltrey bounds onto the screen like he's auditioning for a part in 'Eastenders: The Pantomime'. To say The Legacy is uneven is putting it mildly, no two characters appear to realise they're in the same film. Shove them all in a grand old mansion in the English countryside, add a touch of supernatural hokum, some surprisingly inventive death scenes, a whole lot of messing around doing nothing, the most pointless random car drive scene in movie history, a cat which has more screen time than half the cast yet has no reason to be involved in the film, and enjoy - but not that much because it drags after an hour or so.

I remember when this movie was released. My mom enjoyed the book but was disappointed with the movie.Years later, after reading the book and watching the movie, I understand why she was disappointed. The movie version suffers from a poorly written screenplay and just plain bad direction.The screenwriter chopped the heck outta the book, dropping entire subjects which are actually integral to the main story.The director uses soft, often romantic scene beginnings and then finishes the scenes with the horror/mystery elements. I suspect he was attempting to catch the audience unawares and make the horror aspects more shocking. What the director achieves are disjointed scenes and awkward, unbelievable performances from his actors. I never once forget I'm watching a movie.That said, I really do like this movie. Sam Elliot was at his prime physically, the setting is beautiful, and the actors are all enjoyable, if not believable. The only exceptions to the cast are Katharine Ross and Roger Daltrey--whatever casting decisions resulted in these two having ANYTHING to do with this movie should NEVER have happened.I would love to see a remake with a new screenplay and more energetic directing.