Customer Reviews

Elvira's Movie Macabre: Legacy of Blood

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This review is not for the movie, which I consider to be good campy horror, but until a nice quality print comes along, I won't want it in my library. Through my trial, and Amazon's error, I watched the "alternative", other, download of this movie, not the Elvira one. It was abysmal, and not befitting of charging a customer for actually bearing through the lousy picture quality. So after I berate, not rate the download on their site, what do they do?? They send me a recommendation to download the Elvira one, which is just as bad if not worse. Are they so big that they lost all contact with their customers and their vendors. They sent a request for a review, and I sent them one. So based on that, they don't send an apology or refund, they send another shoddy(I wanted to use the sh__ty word) version and try and stick me twice! Now that's either extreme gall, or extreme ignorance. And one more thing..Evira should publicly disavow her name association with that company.

You'd better like ham if you plan to make it through this movie. Nutty old millionaire John Carradine dies and puts a stipulation on the fulfillment of his estate on his four children and three servants via a cranky tape recorded will in which he expresses nothing but loathing for everyone and says bizarre things like "this might separate the rabbits from the alley cats" then laughs maniacally. They have to spend a week in his house or they will fail to get their share of the inheritance. Every single person in the film is wholly detestable, and by the halfway mark I didn't care how the film ended as long as it was over.

After the kids are ensconced in the house, they all start dying in a variety of odd ways which are all lamely presented: Johnny is killed in a convenient tank of piranhas, another's head is found under aluminum foil on a platter in the refrigerator, a couple are killed by electrocution in bed, one is shot through the head, etc. There are additional features such as Carradine making an adult dress up as an organ grinder's monkey, gratuitous ax to the head action (one of the worst special effects ever), ravenous insects, whipping, a servant named Igor, and overacting the likes of which are rarely seen.

The film plods on, and it's obvious how the conclusion will play out about halfway through the film. A special mention goes to the final line of the film addressed directly to the audience "And I bet you thought it was the butler all the time." Also of extreme annoyance value is the closing music, which borders on the unlistenable. I gave this film two stars (generously) for the minor, yet hilariously hammy, performance of John Carradine. Truly a master of horror in his day, but an even greater master of overacting when his day had passed.

Oy, what a boring movie. A bunch of snooty '70s-era rich types are forced to stay in their late benefactor's mansion for kicks, and the usual one-by-one-they-get-picked-off mayhem ensues. Well, maybe "mayhem" is the wrong word: This is an incredibly talky movie, and none of the characters are worth a watcher's interest. However, it's great to see this DVD of the old KHJ/Channel 9 L.A. program, "Movie Macabre," which is where Cassandra Peterson really shone as the vampy hostess, Elvira. Despite the revealing clothes, I think we kids really liked her back in the day for her wisecracking, self-deprecating personality; we just thought she was cool for not taking herself--or the movies--seriously. Sincerest thanks to Shout Factory for rescuing "Movie Macabre"!

You'd better like ham if you plan to make it through this movie. Nutty old millionaire John Carradine dies and puts a stipulation on the fulfillment of his estate on his four children and three servants via a cranky tape recorded will in which he expresses nothing but loathing for everyone and says bizarre things like "this might separate the rabbits from the alley cats" then laughs maniacally. They have to spend a week in his house or they will fail to get their share of the inheritance. Every single person in the film is wholly detestable, and by the halfway mark I didn't care how the film ended as long as it was over.

After the kids are ensconced in the house, they all start dying in a variety of odd ways which are all lamely presented: Johnny is killed in a convenient tank of piranhas, another's head is found under aluminum foil on a platter in the refrigerator, a couple are killed by electrocution in bed, one is shot through the head, etc. There are additional features such as Carradine making an adult dress up as an organ grinder's monkey, gratuitous ax to the head action (one of the worst special effects ever), ravenous insects, whipping, a servant named Igor, and overacting the likes of which are rarely seen.

The film plods on, and it's obvious how the conclusion will play out about halfway through the film. A special mention goes to the final line of the film addressed directly to the audience "And I bet you thought it was the butler all the time" (which would have not been a terrible guess considering he had a lamp he made out of a Nazi's skin). Also of extreme annoyance value is the closing music, which borders on the unlistenable. I gave this film two stars (generously) for the minor, yet hilariously hammy, performance of John Carradine. Truly a master of horror in his day, but an even greater master of overacting when his day had passed.