Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		2.5

The Legacy Blu-ray Movie Review

Return of the dead eye.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman September 15, 2015

Of all the improbabilities running rampant throughout The Legacy (and they are legion), perhaps the most unlikely element has absolutely nothing to do with the film’s patently goofy plot and silly contrivances, but with a rather dubious piece of casting. Could there be any less feasible actor than Sam Elliott to portray an interior decorator? Elliott, a guy who fairly drips testosterone, would seem to be an at least questionable choice to play a character helping clients to choose the correct herringbone pattern to complement their new vintage wingback chairs, but there he is in The Legacy as Pete Danner, a partner with fellow aesthete Maggie Walsh (Katharine Ross), both of whom have been offered a rather giant pile of cash to trek from California to England to help on a project which neither of them knows anything about. (And of course the foregoing is all said with tongue planted firmly in cheek, lest any real testosterone fueled interior decorators are prone to take umbrage.) The Legacy is often wryly humorous, if not always intentionally so, and it plays off of the considerable charisma of its focal couple, who would of course go on to marry in real life a few years after The Legacy appeared in 1977. While the supporting cast of the film was supposedly highlighted by the inclusion of Roger Daltrey of The Who fame, acting honors (at least insofar as a menacing mien goes) belong squarely to the inimitable Margaret Tyzack, an iconic character actress whose name may frankly not be all that familiar to many on this side of the pond, but whose imperious manner and unforgettable visage have graced any number of offerings on both the small and large screens, including I, Claudius, The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones, 2001: A Space Odyssey and A Clockwork Orange .

The film segues to merrie (?) olde England after a credits sequence which includes a pretty lamentable theme song warbled by Kiki Dee. Margaret and Pete are tooling around the British countryside on a souped up motorcycle when they have a near fatal meeting with a Rolls Royce. A dapper man named Jason Mountolive (John Standing), who was being chauffeured in the deluxe vehicle, runs to them to make sure they’re still among the living, and then invites the pair back to his impeccable mansion for a spot of tea. It should come as no huge surprise, at least to those used to the silly plot machinations of many horror films, when it’s revealed that Mountolive is in fact the mysterious benefactor who dumped that aforementioned pile of cash on Margaret and Pete to get them to traverse the pond to work on the undetermined project.

Already The Legacy’s screenplay (by Jimmy Sangster, Patrick Tilley and Paul Wheeler) is wobbling precariously under the weight of gimmicks, as evidenced by the “meet cute” between Jason and the decorating duo. There is a reason, however subliminal, for seeing Jason out and about and evidently spry as can be in this early scene, but the whole car-motorcycle collision angle is just the first of several elements which seem arbitrary at the very least. Once the film matriculates to Jason's estate, the main thrust of the plot slowly begins to unfold as a coterie of other "guests" enter the fray, and an imperious nurse named Adams (Margaret Tyzack) begins throwing seething glances at everyone.

The term “Eurotrash” gets bandied about by some critics who have to review questionable reboots of vaunted operatic showpieces (see my review of Richard Strauss: Elektra for a potent example), but the adjective might be just as appropriately applied to the quintet of visitors who show up in the wake of Margaret and Pete’s arrival. All of these characters have nefarious pasts, and all of them continue to work for Mountolive in supposedly mysterious ways. Why are they all there and what does Mountolive have up his sleeve? This is yet another film (like the recently reviewed The Sentinel) whose marketing ploys completely blow any surprise, with a spoilerish trailer which simply lets the viewers know that Mountolive is choosing an heir for his demonic legacy.

What provides most of the “entertainment value” in The Legacy in its middle act is a series of inventive death scenes, where, for example, an Olympic level swimmer drowns in Jason’s pool, evidently due to a bit of supernatural interference. The guests, seeing their population dwindling, start turning on each other, but the real culprit is absolutely no surprise, depriving the film of any real suspense.

Perhaps surprisingly, The Legacy was directed by Richard Marquand, who would enter the annals of science fiction legend a few years after this film when he helmed Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi. Marquand stages the set pieces (i.e., the death scenes) in The Legacy with a fair amount of flair, and also exploits some lovely English countryside when the film ventures outside for a couple of scenes. Performances are generally well done, with Daltrey offering a bit of a goof as a record entrepreneur, and Tyzack wonderfully intense as the medical professional who seems to have a strange connection to a white cat who traipses through Mountolive’s mansion at various points. Ross is consigned to wide eyed looks of horror throughout the film, while Elliott is consigned to full backside nudity in one unintentionally funny scene. Interior decorators, take note.

The Legacy Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Legacy is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Scream Factory, an imprint of Shout! Factory, with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. Shout! advertises a new high definition transfer from the IP for this release, which is culled from the Universal catalog. While there may have been some high frequency filtering applied to this release, grain is on the whole rather healthy looking and in fact quite heavy in selected scenes. Elements have quite a bit of age related wear and tear, especially in the early going, a distraction which "quiets down" somewhat after a kind of wobbly start. The palette looks just slightly faded, with aspects like flesh tones often looking pretty anemic, though in the sparser brightly lit outdoor scenes colors pop agreeably enough. There are once again recurrent compression issues which aren't perhaps as intrusive as on some other Shout! and Scream releases, but which still tend to offer splotchy yellowish artifacts throughout a rather wide gamut of lighting situations.

The Legacy Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Legacy's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mix provides ample support for the film's dialogue and sometimes inventive sound effects, as well as more traditional elements like startle effects timed to jump cuts and the film's intermittently effective score by Michael J. Lewis. Fidelity is fine and dynamic range relatively wide, if never as pointed as in more hyperbolic horror outings.

The Legacy Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Interview with Editor Anne V. Coates (1080p; 13:47) is a fascinating piece with Britain's answer (and in fact precursor) to Thelma Schoonmaker. Coates won an Academy Award for Lawrence of Arabia.


• Interview with Special Make Up Effects Artist Robin Grantham (1080p; 10:46) is another good and rather funny piece, with Grantham discussing his career and work on this film. Grantham can be a bit hard to decipher at times due to his thick accent.


• TV Spot (1080i; 00:32)


• Radio Spot (00:29)


• Theatrical Trailer (1080i; 1:43)


• Photo Gallery (1080i; 2:32)

The Legacy Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Legacy is strong on mood, or perhaps more accurately, moods, since there are traditional horror elements mixed with a kind of soap operatic romantic angle and even some more whimsical comedic aspects as well. The film probably would have worked better had those comedic elements been played up a bit more, for there's really not a lot of ultimate suspense as to what's going on, and the climax is kind of a letdown as a result. Technical merits are generally okay to very good (video) to very good to excellent (audio), and Scream has provided a couple of worthwhile supplements for those considering a purchase.