Customer Reviews

The Legacy

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a pretty original 70s horror movie starring two very likeable and attractive stars of the era - Katharine Ross and Sam Elliot. It's just fun, not really all THAT scary or even too tense. Basically Sam and Katharine end up unwilling guests in a spooky mansion where the guests are dropping off like flies while waiting for an old spooky man to pass away and leave them an inheritance. Roger Daltry makes an appearance. The deaths are all way over the top, and it's just fun.

DVD is the movie plus a trailer. That's about it, but the transfer is great considering the age of the movie. Great spooky flick for a cold night by the fire.

Granted, it's no "Gone With The Wind" but this stylish thriller is both enjoyable and scary. I'm just glad it's finally come to DVD!

I won't get too much into the plot but it's basically a Satanic/Supernatural/Big Old English Mansion movie with a whodunnit twist. (with some very imaginative ways of people getting killed!) The film is very nicely shot, with a great music score, (sometimes a bit campy, but it was the 70's after all) and sports a great cast. The story isn't what I'd call original, but basically it's a QUALITY movie, not a cheesy slasher flick... I think this movie has stood the test of time quite well (Except for Sam's haircut and 'stache maybe!) and would still hold up today.

Just seeing how Sam Elliot deals with England and it's natives (with his famous country-western demeanor) makes it worth watching!

Although there's very little in the extras department (besides a VERY dated trailer) the Audio and Video quality are very nice. I highly recommend this DVD!

Katherine Ross & Sam Elliott are a true joy to watch (as always). The plot of this movie could have been much much better but you grab the storyline after a while and just enjoy it. As with these type of movies, it is just for your enjoyment and not to be analyzed to death. If anything, ladies just watch it for the sole purpose of seeing Sam Elliott!!!!

I don't understand the poor reviews of this great chiller from the 70's.

This is one of the premier macabre/occult movies to come out of this era.

Lots of original plots and ideas not found in any other movies. Who could

have expected the swimming pool death or the thing in the room on life

support? This movie lacks nothing. It is well written with great

actors. This is back in the days when the story and the music and your

own imagination were at their maximum use and the carefully aimed special

effects were so much more believable as a result.

Unless you've been desensitized by too many of the newer slash &

blood/underlying porn movies for the prozac nation with the 5 minute

attention span you will really like this movie.

Real life husband and wife Sam Elliott and Kathrine Ross team up in this silly little romp around the devil's playground. Not to be confused with other devil cult films such as Polanski's Rosemary's Baby, the film never takes itself too seriously under the direction of Richard Marquand (who you may remember directing a film that made a bit more money called Return of the Jedi. The couple find themselves detained in an old English castle with a variety of well to do guests including Roger Daltry from The Who rock band. One by one the guests die horribly as they wait to see who will inherit the power of their mysterious benefactor. Extremely dated with a montage during the title song, the film is nevertheless a fun ride and is sure to bring a chuckle or two. They just don't make em like this anymore kids!

In THE LEGACY, real life spouses Katharine Ross (The Stepford Wives) and Sam Elliot (Frogs) are a young couple lured to England by an employment opportunity. Upon arrival, they get into a motorcycle accident and are taken to a huge mansion while their bike is supposedly being fixed. Strange things start happening almost immediately! Sam's character is almost boiled alive in the shower! If that's not bad enough, a group of mysterious visitors show up and begin to die off in ghastly ways! Roger Daltry (The Who's lead singer), plays Clive. He's on screen for about 3 minutes before going croakers. The rest is Ross and Elliot trying to figure out what's really going on. I've always liked the ending to this one. It's in the same vein as ROSEMARY'S BABY, THE SENTINEL, BURNT OFFERINGS, and THE STEPFORD WIVES (the original version, NOT that abysmal remake). Enjoy...

Briefly, there's something else about this movie, that if you're a Sam Elliott fan, you'll want to have. His shower scene alone is worth the price of the DVD. When this is shown on television, the pan-and-scan cuts all the nudity out.

While the original script, something called "The Devil's Doorway," showed promise, various re-writes and compromises have resulted in a movie which makes so little sense that it's best viewed as an "in-flight" movie. One of those things you halfway watch while doing something else.

The movie begins with a basic implausibility. Interior decorator Katherine Ross is lured from L.A. to England by a lucrative but mysterious job offer. She and boyfriend Sam Elliott decide to fly over a few days early to see some of the English countryside. They're involved in a minor motor accident on a rustic lane and are taken by the other driver to his nearby home to await repair of their vehicle. What do you know, this home just happens to be the very place where Katherine Ross was intended to go all along!

Therein follows some murky activities involving other guests at the home who seem to be part of a Black Magic cult. Gruesome death follows gruesome death culminating in an ending which doesn't really resolve questions raised by the preceding plot.

On the plus side, the two leads are attractive sorts and they're surrounded by a competent British cast which gives a better effort than circumstances warrant. What's more, the large countryhouse in which the action occurs provides just the right atmosphere.

One curious note. While Katherine Ross is warmly dressed throughout with turtleneck sweaters and long skirts, co-star Sam Elliott gets to strip for a rather-extended shower scene. As he crosses the bathroom toward the shower, the camera lingers on the back of his naked body, even though this part of the scene serves no plot purpose whatsoever.

Fortunately Elliott, at about age 33, has the necessary buns-by-Michelangelo to make this moment more of a highlight than an embarrassment.

I remember when this film came out in the theater when I was a kid. I never saw it in the theater but I watched it several times on VHS. I enjoyed this film greatly. It is one of my favorites. Elliot and Ross have great chemistry. The ending was solid, and left room for a sequel but I have not heard of one, unless it was released on Beta Max like the fabled Sentinel Sequel. I am a big fan of horror movies from this error where story was more important than gore and dazzle. I give this movie a solid 4 stars it is one of my favorites. Almost forgot about this one. But it may be too slow for everyone.

I saw this movie many years ago. It is a cult classic and has a great twist to the end. It is a great horror movie. I have looked everywhere for it and am thankful that Amazon made it available.