Richard Marquand’s “The Legacy” (1979) opens sweetly, with a pair in love (future couple Sam Elliott and Katherine Ross) and a delicate ballad, masking how actually insane the film will get.
A gruff Elliott (post-“Frogs” and years away from being certainly one of our most sturdy and persistently nice movie actors) and the stunning Ross (post-“The Graduate”) star as Pete and Maggie. They’re an L.A. couple who fly to England and are instantly concerned in a automobile accident, which happens throughout their cross-country bike journey to a job.
Whereas everybody within the fender-bender walks away unscathed, Pete and Maggie settle for a journey from an eclectic group of socialites and are taken beneath the care of a rich household on the sprawling Ravenhurst mansion.
Naturally, Pete and Maggie settle for the provide of a brief keep.
The mansion has a spectacular swimming pool, big sitting rooms and a bizarre secret down the corridor. There’s somebody in a hospital mattress, behind plastic curtains, who sounds very outdated and is regularly visited by those that keep there.
Who’s he and why is everybody doting on him?
Marquand’s movie arrived after Tom Tryon’s 1973 novel “Harvest Dwelling” and, coincidentally, Robin Hardy’s cult basic “The Wicker Man,” each of which got here out the identical 12 months and have very comparable story buildings and plot twists.
“The Legacy” is pulpier than each, although it shares a thematic kinship with them (sure, I’m doing my finest to not spoil the plot), in addition to “Rosemary’s Child” (1968) and Ross’ personal “The Stepford Wives” (1975). “The Legacy” arrived at a time of revision for American Gothic in popular culture, with the lengthy working “Darkish Shadows” vampire cleaning soap opera (1966-1971) and “Burnt Choices” (1976) being prime examples.
I suppose you possibly can say, when in comparison with the aforementioned works, Marquand’s movie is the runt of the litter, but it surely’s nonetheless an pleasurable horror film sleeper, as a lot a web page turner on movie as John Coyne’s ubiquitous bestselling novel adaptation (which really caught round in popular culture longer than the movie model).
For years throughout my childhood, the eerie e-book jacket of “The Legacy” (which, just like the film poster, featured a white cat head sprouting a monster hand) was seen on each airport bookstand.
Marquand’s movie has stylishly designed units even earlier than Pete and Maggie go away for Europe. Word how a lot inexperienced radiates from their residence. As soon as the setting modifications, we get that superior swimming pool and the eerie, clear plastic shields that maintain the movie’s finest secret actually beneath wraps.
Made earlier than they have been married in 1984, Elliot and Ross have nice chemistry right here; it helps that, regardless of how wild and ridiculous the story will get, we care about this couple.
A younger Sam Elliott and Katharine Ross on the set of The Legacy (1978) – the movie the place they met and fell in love.
They’re nonetheless collectively 46yrs on. pic.twitter.com/Tc6EKhW0Ha
— Michael Warburton (@TheMonologist) August 2, 2024
The violence and shocks come once you least anticipate it, like a post-coital bathe that weaponizes the recent water (sure, it will get that foolish). Having a shower, going for a swim, trying in a mirror – nobody is ever actually secure on this film.
I really like how “The Legacy” initially exhibits a lot restraint after which startles us by going bonkers after we least anticipate it.
It’s usually an eerie movie, with even the cats within the mansion being photographed within the creepiest method doable. Whereas “The Legacy” will get goofier because it goes alongside, it’s by no means boring and has some standout sequences. Like a basic Hammer horror movie, the blood resembles a thick coat of paint and is generously utilized.
Katharine Ross and Sam Elliott met on the set of The Legacy in 1978, married in 1984, they’ve been collectively ever since. #HollywoodCouples pic.twitter.com/9ttJ5QZvQp
— Carolyn S (@SamesVegasss) September 9, 2021
A second act escape sequence goes on too lengthy and has an inevitable story shift, however the finale is as wild because the set-up. “The Legacy” will get particularly humorous (deliberately, I believe) when Elliot is in manic, lets-get-out-of-here mode. In the meantime, Ross sticks to her mellow, don’t-be-silly curiosity about the whole lot occurring to them.
Of the supporting solid, the opposite houseguests embrace a full of life chap performed by Roger Daltrey (sure, that Roger Daltrey!) and Charles Grey, who’s immortalized in cinema from his flip as The Criminologist/Narrator of “The Rocky Horror Image Present” (1975).
In the event you’ve seen “Midsommar” (2019) or “The Wicker Man” (both model), you’ll be a step forward of the story (or at the very least extra so than the naïve principal characters), however the movie, to its credit score, nonetheless manages some actual surprises.
Marquand’s movie has the look of a cultured Dan Curtis thriller (both “Darkish Shadows” or “Burnt Choices”) and the impish coronary heart of a “Friday the thirteenth” car. I’ve a tender spot for any movie the place the hero tries to struggle their manner out of a jam utilizing a crossbow (!).
You may see why Elliot and Ross make such a great couple and, as of this writing, are nonetheless married. Humorous that it took this film to convey them collectively.
As for Marquand, “The Legacy” was his directorial debut and wasn’t totally appreciated as something greater than a schlocky drive-in attraction throughout its preliminary run, however don’t really feel dangerous for Marquand. His film holds up as a discover for horror followers and he discovered nice success afterward, directing a bit movie referred to as “Return of the Jedi” (1983).