Supernatural 70's thriller from Universal that's loved by some, loathed by others. Growing up, I thought this was a really cool movie and checking it out again today, it still delivers the goods! Seven people (including major horror starlet Katharine Ross of STEPFORD WIVES fame) are lured to a British mansion by a rich man named Jason. Apparently Jason is dying and one of the individuals stands to inherit his "legacy"---which includes some kind of unknown super powers from Satan! A lot of things are very ambiguous in this movie so it's best just to sit down, watch it, absorb the proceedings, and not get too involved with "overthinking" the story and plot holes. The mansion is suitably creepy, the characters are fairly realistic, and Katharine Ross is always pleasant to look at. One by one, Jason's guests begin to die by supernatural means as he deems them 'unworthy' of inheriting his powers. (Most of them have shady backgrounds and have apparently let him down in some way.) There's a horrifying scene or two where it's revealed how monstrous Jason REALLY looks as he's dying, and it'll make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. The death scenes are eerie and bizarre. The most famous one is the woman swimming in the pool and coming up for air, only to realize that some sort of forcefield now blocks her from breaking through the surface! It's like an invisible lid has been put on top of the water. This is a scary and horrifying sequence, watching her struggle to find a way out of the pool and slowly drowning. Rocker Roger Daltry from THE WHO plays a rock star that chokes on a chicken bone...after eating ham! A shapeshifting nurse bloodily botches up an attempted tracheotomy to extract the bone! A man is burned up and fed to the dogs OMEN style, and there's a nice confrontation between Katharine Ross, her beau, and the last of the "guests" to wrap things up. THE LEGACY has a more modern "Hammer Film" feel to it (not to mention Hammer's Jimmy Sangster was co-writer of the script) and is still a fun "supernatural-witchcraft" type of movie to revisit. Check it out...if you dare!
Supernatural 70's thriller from Universal that's loved by some, loathed by others. Growing up, I thought this was a really cool movie and checking it out again today, it still delivers the goods! Seven people (including major horror starlet Katharine Ross of STEPFORD WIVES fame) are lured to a British mansion by a rich man named Jason. Apparently Jason is dying and one of the individuals stands to inherit his "legacy"---which includes some kind of unknown super powers from Satan! A lot of things are very ambiguous in this movie so it's best just to sit down, watch it, absorb the proceedings, and not get too involved with "overthinking" the story and plot holes. The mansion is suitably creepy, the characters are fairly realistic, and Katharine Ross is always pleasant to look at. One by one, Jason's guests begin to die by supernatural means as he deems them 'unworthy' of inheriting his powers. (Most of them have shady backgrounds and have apparently let him down in some way.) There's a horrifying scene or two where it's revealed how monstrous Jason REALLY looks as he's dying, and it'll make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. The death scenes are eerie and bizarre. The most famous one is the woman swimming in the pool and coming up for air, only to realize that some sort of forcefield now blocks her from breaking through the surface! It's like an invisible lid has been put on top of the water. This is a scary and horrifying sequence, watching her struggle to find a way out of the pool and slowly drowning. Rocker Roger Daltry from THE WHO plays a rock star that chokes on a chicken bone...after eating ham! A shapeshifting nurse bloodily botches up an attempted tracheotomy to extract the bone! A man is burned up and fed to the dogs OMEN style, and there's a nice confrontation between Katharine Ross, her beau, and the last of the "guests" to wrap things up. THE LEGACY has a more modern "Hammer Film" feel to it (not to mention Hammer's Jimmy Sangster was co-writer of the script) and is still a fun "supernatural-witchcraft" type of movie to revisit. Check it out...if you dare!
