Richard Marquand’s “The Legacy” (1979) opens sweetly, with a couple in love (future couple Sam Elliott and Katherine Ross) and a gentle ballad, masking how truly insane the movie gets.
A gruff Elliott (post-“Frogs” and years away from being one of our most durable and consistently great film actors) and the lovely Ross (post-“The Graduate”) star as Pete and Maggie. They’re an L.A. couple who fly to England and are immediately involved in a car accident, which occurs during their cross-country motorcycle trip to a job.
While everyone in the fender-bender walks away unscathed, Pete and Maggie accept a ride from an eclectic group of socialites and are taken under the care of a wealthy family at the sprawling Ravenhurst mansion.
Naturally, Pete and Maggie accept the offer of a temporary stay.
The mansion has a spectacular swimming pool, giant sitting rooms and a weird secret down the hall. There’s someone in a hospital bed, behind plastic curtains, who sounds very old and is frequently visited by those who stay there.
Who is he and why is everyone doting on him?
Marquand’s film arrived after Tom Tryon’s 1973 novel “Harvest Home” and, coincidentally, Robin Hardy’s cult classic “The Wicker Man,” both of which came out the same year and have very similar story structures and plot twists.
“The Legacy” is pulpier than both, though it shares a thematic kinship with them (yes, I’m doing my best not to spoil the plot), as well as “Rosemary’s Baby” (1968) and Ross’ own “The Stepford Wives” (1975). “The Legacy” arrived at a time of revision for American Gothic in pop culture, with the long running “Dark Shadows” vampire soap opera (1966-1971) and “Burnt Offerings” (1976) being prime examples.
I guess you could say, when compared to the aforementioned works, Marquand’s film is the runt of the litter, but it’s still an enjoyable horror movie sleeper, as much a page turner on film as John Coyne’s ubiquitous bestselling novel adaptation (which actually stuck around in pop culture longer than the film version).
For years during my childhood, the eerie book jacket of “The Legacy” (which, like the movie poster, featured a white cat head sprouting a monster hand) was visible on every airport bookstand.
Marquand’s film has stylishly designed sets even before Pete and Maggie leave for Europe. Note how much green radiates from their apartment. Once the setting changes, we get that awesome swimming pool and the eerie, transparent plastic shields that keep the film’s best secret literally under wraps.
Made before they were married in 1984, Elliot and Ross have great chemistry here; it helps that, in spite of how wild and ridiculous the story gets, we care about this couple.
A young Sam Elliott and Katharine Ross on the set of The Legacy (1978) – the film where they met and fell in love.
They’re still together 46yrs on. pic.twitter.com/Tc6EKhW0Ha
— Michael Warburton (@TheMonologist) August 2, 2024
The violence and shocks come when you least expect it, like a post-coital shower that weaponizes the hot water (yes, it gets that silly). Taking a shower, going for a swim, looking in a mirror – no one is ever really safe in this movie.
I love how “The Legacy” initially shows so much restraint and then startles us by going bonkers when we least expect it.
It’s often an eerie film, with even the cats in the mansion being photographed in the creepiest manner possible. While “The Legacy” gets goofier as it goes along, it’s never dull and has some standout sequences. Like a classic Hammer horror film, the blood resembles a thick coat of paint and is generously applied.
Katharine Ross and Sam Elliott met on the set of The Legacy in 1978, married in 1984, they’ve been together ever since. #HollywoodCouples pic.twitter.com/9ttJ5QZvQp
— Carolyn S (@SamesVegasss) September 9, 2021
A second act escape sequence goes on too long and has an inevitable story shift, but the finale is as wild as the set-up. “The Legacy” gets especially funny (intentionally, I think) when Elliot is in manic, lets-get-out-of-here mode. Meanwhile, Ross sticks to her mellow, don’t-be-silly curiosity about everything happening to them.
Of the supporting cast, the other houseguests include a lively chap played by Roger Daltrey (yes, that Roger Daltrey!) and Charles Gray, who is immortalized in cinema from his turn as The Criminologist/Narrator of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” (1975).
If you’ve seen “Midsommar” (2019) or “The Wicker Man” (either version), you’ll be a step ahead of the story (or at least more so than the naïve main characters), but the film, to its credit, still manages some real surprises.
Marquand’s film has the look of a classy Dan Curtis thriller (either “Dark Shadows” or “Burnt Offerings”) and the impish heart of a “Friday the 13th” vehicle. I have a soft spot for any film where the hero tries to fight their way out of a jam using a crossbow (!).
You can see why Elliot and Ross make such a good couple and, as of this writing, are still married. Funny that it took this movie to bring them together.
As for Marquand, “The Legacy” was his directorial debut and wasn’t fully appreciated as anything more than a schlocky drive-in attraction during its initial run, but don’t feel bad for Marquand. His movie holds up as a find for horror fans and he found great success later on, directing a little film called “Return of the Jedi” (1983).
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