THE LEGACY (1979 - HORROR ) ***1/2 out of *****
(So much for a relaxing few weeks in the English countryside..)
CAST: Katharine Ross, Sam Elliott, John Standing, Ian Hogg, Charles Gray, Hildegarde Neil, Margaret Tyzack, Roger Daltrey, Lee Montague, Marianne Broome, William Abney.
DIRECTOR: Richard Marquand
WARNING: Some SPOILERS and even more compelling reasons to keep your ass in the city as far away from the English countryside as possible - straight ahead...
IT'S LIKE THIS: In our last two Halloween reviews, DEADLY BLESSING and THE HOWLING, we saw what happened when Los Angelenos make the mistake of venturing past the limits of L.A. County into the great unknown otherwise known as The Boonies of Rural America. Three words: Very. Bad. Things. So can you imagine, then, how worse it is for Los Angelenos who make the mistake of going into the rural heartland of... foreign countries? I think I just shat myself visualizing the awful, awful possibilities: weird clothes, weird accents, weird food, weird hair.
That's exactly the problem facing the protagonists of our next Halloween review, THE LEGACY. Our leads are one lovely L.A. couple named Maggie Walsh and Pete Danner (Katharine Ross and Sam Elliott), interior designers who, from the looks of their Hollywood Hills home, specialize in Arabian/Moorish design. They must be somewhat talented, because when our story opens, Maggie is calling long-distance to some bank in London to verify a check she received from a British corporation that wants to hire them. The bank confirms the check is legit, and so now Maggie and Pete must make a hard choice: go to England and do the job - or stay in sunny L.A. for other assignments?
It turns out Maggie has never been to England and has always wanted to go, since her ancestors hail from there. She'd like to go to Britain about a week early so that they can explore the countryside (oh, shit, here we go again) before they have to start work in London. Pete, on the other hand, is a little more skeptical about this mysterious job and accompanying check - and thinks they should find out more about the offer. In the end, though, Maggie waggles her tits at him and basically makes him forget his reservations about crossing the Atlantic to the United Kingdom. Big mistake, Petey. You had it right the first time, bud. Stick to your instincts next time.
Before you know it, our lovely couple have skipped across the pond and are soon touring the British countryside on a motorcycle. So far, so gray and drab. Big fucking surprise. Unfortunately, before Maggie and Peter can say "Fuck this noise" and go back to London where at least they have some swinging pubs to go to, a car zips out of a country lane and sends them flying ass-over-teakettle over some hedge.
The car is a Rolls Royce, and its passenger is Jason Mountolive (John Standing), an English aristocrat who apparently has a huge-ass manor nearby. He graciously offers to have Maggie and Pete's beat-up motorbike taken to the closest village for repairs, then take our lovely couple to his mansion so they can freshen up and dry off from their tumble into all that wet English shrubbery. Not having much of a choice, Maggie and Pete agree. Mistake # 2, folks...
Not too much longer after arriving at the Mountolive crib (which, I should point out, is bigger than most Ivy League university buildings), Pete immediately detects signs that this place is about a few eggs shy of an omelet. For starters, the help is creepy as fuck, led by spooky Nurse Adams (Margaret Tyzack) and asshole Chauffeur Harry (Ian Hogg). Then a bunch of glamorous house guests arrive and pretty much look down their noses at the gauche Americans in their midst.
They are: (1) Jacques Grandier (Lee Montague), asshole French magnate; (2) Karl Liebnecht (Charles Gray), asshole German industrialist; (3) Clive Jackson (Roger Daltrey), asshole British music tycoon; (4) Maria Gabrielli (Marianne Broome), bitchy Italian countess; and (5) Barbara Kirstenburg (Hildegarde Neil), British publishing millionaire who is the only one who treats Maggie and Peter with any kind of kindness. What the hell are these five richer-than-Trump folks doing here in the ass-end of British nowhere?
Well, Mags and Petey don't have to wait too long to find out: it appears that all these folks have been gathered at Casa De Mountolivo because Jason Mountolive is dying - and they are all his heirs. Evidently, his will is about to be read. All fine and good, but what the fuck does this have to do with Maggie and Peter? They're just innocent bystanders who are staying only until their motorbike gets fixed, right?
Wrong. It slowly starts to shape up that Maggie's presence in Mountolive Manor is not a coincidence. Nor is the job offer that brought her and Pete to England. Nor is the "car accident" that totaled their motorcycle. What secret agenda does Jason have in bringing Maggie to the reading of his will? What mysterious connection does she have to the Mountolive Legacy? And what does Nurse Adams mean when she says "there can only be one"? Does it have to do with any of the mysterious "accidents" that begin claiming the lives of the other guests? Is some supernatural force whittling down their numbers? If so, why? Is there truly only one person who can claim... The Legacy?
Oh, who gives a shit. Mags and Petey should've kept their asses in the Hollywood Hills.
BUT, SERIOUSLY: The period beginning 1978 onward marked the rise of the American Slasher movie. Kicked off by the huge success of HALLOWEEN that year, this wave produced similar films like FRIDAY THE 13th, THE PROWLER, HALLOWEEN 2, FINAL EXAM, TOURIST TRAP, PROM NIGHT, TERROR TRAIN, and many, many more. All these films featured masked killers terrorizing teenagers or young adults in event-themed settings. Of all the Horror Sub-Genres during the late 70s/early 80s, the Slasher Movie was the most popular. Which makes THE LEGACY something of an anomaly.
This movie is more of a throwback to the old-school Hammer horror flicks of the 50s and 60s, utilizing the "old dark house" premise. There are no psycho killers here chasing nubile teens or college students. The characters here are all sophisticated adults at the mercy of supernatural forces. Their deaths are constructed as colorful setpieces that are elaborate and almost avant-garde. In this respect, THE LEGACY is closer to the Italian Giallo sub-genre than the American Slasher sub-genre. But, as we discussed in our recent extensive examination of the Italian and American Giallo sub-genres, the American Slasher film owes a debt of gratitude to Italian Gialli because of how it influenced HALLOWEEN - the movie that started it all.
THE LEGACY is a more elegant and brooding affair. Director Richard Marquand vividly utilizes the somber British countryside and milks maximum atmosphere from it. There are those who say this movie has a "quaint" feel, but we think this is actually a plus which adds to its authentic English ambiance. Think DOWNTON ABBEY meets DARK SHADOWS. Marquand also builds suspense and tension deliberately, preferring the "slow burn" approach over the rushed pace that was already becoming increasingly common in horror films even at that time.
Katharine Ross and Sam Elliott are solid as the American couple who quickly get more than they bargained for when they get to England. This element of having Yanks as protagonists swept into a sinister mystery (albeit a supernatural one) on foreign soil once again echoes the Giallo formula. Ross made her mark in BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID, THE GRADUATE, and THE STEPFORD WIVES, and brings the same combo of charm, vulnerability, and strength to the role of Maggie Walsh. Sam Elliott, the epitome of rugged American masculinity, is perfect for the role of Pete Danner, a guy who is a quick study and unafraid to speak his mind and stand his ground. It should be noted that Ross and Elliott reportedly fell in love during the filming of THE LEGACY, and began a long-term relationship afterwards. Just like with Dee Wallace and Christopher Stone in our previous Halloween review, THE HOWLING, you can see the chemistry between these two and their ending up together off-screen is not a big surprise.
The rest of the cast fills out their roles quite nicely. Of them all, Margaret Tyzack and Hildegarde Neil are the standouts as, respectively: (1) Nurse Adams, the enigmatic head of the Mountolive household; and (2) Barbara Kirstenburg, the glamorous publishing tycoon who becomes Margaret's confidante and erstwhile ally in figuring out what is going on in Mountolive Manor. Charles Gray, who played one of Blofeld's iterations in the Bond Franchise, is also good as Karl Liebnecht, the unscrupulous German who sees Maggie as a threat to him inheriting Jason's legacy. Then there's musician Roger Daltrey who is ideally cast as Clive Jackson, the music magnate who is also zealous to claim his inheritance.
THE LEGACY may seem out of step with the films that were flooding theaters at the time but, in my opinion, that's a good thing. There are those who also question the film's ending, stating it is unbelievable. I beg to differ: just like with DEADLY BLESSING's seemingly out-of-nowhere final twist, THE LEGACY's final plot turn makes complete sense when you think about everything that has come before. They are both solid, underrated horror films.
