The Legacy
With the success of The Omen in 1976, there was a brief spate of so called “supernatural” horror movies made which were defined by featuring “creative deaths” (happy accidents), killings that were perpetrated by a mysterious force usually against individuals whom for one reason or another stood in the way of that omnipotent evil which resulted in said accident taking place to eliminate the problem person even as these scenes were usually directed and presented in such a fashion so that the viewer would know that it was no mere coincidence. This 1978 release was yet another attempt to do that particular formula one better, but what made it distinctive was that it was also a thinly veiled origin backstory for one Somerset Belenoff (a.k.a The May Queen of Stairway To Heaven fame), the alleged Queen Of The Illuminati worldwide who according to her supposed life story, never actually sold her soul to the devil for her power but rather was born into it through her bloodline thus leaving her with the potential to have the ability to choose being good rather than evil. Of course, so shadowy is the nature of her existence that many question whether or not she exists at all, but the storyline of this film (albeit with many changes from the actual legend) contains several interesting parallels to what is known about this alleged real person including that very perplexing question about whether being born evil without even knowing it also requires that one can also choose to not be evil regardless of any potential consequences. Unfortunately, the film is also very stagey, badly written and contains enough plot holes that one can drive a tractor through. The story concerns six people who have been summoned to the ornate mansion (filled with many Masonic and Illuminati symbols) of a man (John Standing) who seems to be quite a powerful person in Europe without it being clearly stated just what it is that makes him so powerful. It would APPEAR at least that this man is actually an incarnation of The Devil (a.k.a. Scratch a.k.a. many other names), but he (or at least the body he currently inhabits) is dying even though when we first see him, he appears to be fairly healthy and robust. As we meet the six invited guests when they arrive, it quickly becomes clear that five of them are all obviously people who had sold their souls to him in exchange for the wealth and prominence that they currently enjoy. The odd duck out is an American female architect (Katherine Ross) who was summoned on the pretense of a designing job only to find herself being treated as an honored guest with not a mention of doing any work ever coming up. She has also brought along her boyfriend played by a young Sam Elliot (long before he cornered the market on playing grizzled tough guys but still using his cowboy charm to bring a nice contrast to the mostly British surroundings) whose presence it turns out is mostly unwelcome since he was not one of the designated six. Ross naturally is presented as a good person with no idea of why she is even there, but it’s clear that the other five who have done prior business with the satanic master of the house are expecting good things for themselves, possibly more money or even better, a transfer of power to give them dark dominion over the entire world. But nope, the fun starts quickly when one of the five guests (a champion swimmer) drowns in the swimming pool (a pool cover suddenly appears when she’s underwater preventing her from coming up for air) and the other guests foolishly believe that they’re now in a survival game with the lucky winner ultimately receiving The Prize. But really it’s just the required procedure for the transfer of power which is intended for none of them except Ross, in reality the descendent of the original witchcraft practitioner who started this chain of command, and after the remaining four fall prey to choking on a chicken bone, being burned alive (and fed to hungry dogs), being in the path of a mirror when it shatters and falling off a building, it is up to Ross to accept her destiny and assume her mantle (thankfully with her boyfriend Elliot still by her side even as he tries to convince her that it’s nothing more but an elaborate head game on their part) as the most powerful person in the world(?) for whom Kings, Queens, and Presidents will all kneel in her wake. She also inherits the loyal household staff (of which clearly not all of them are human). Nonetheless, much of this plays off as being ridiculous to the average viewer (especially those unfamiliar with the Somerset legend) and the most egregious error on display is in the completely wasted casting of Roger Daltrey as one of the ill fated guests. Reportedly only cast in the movie in exchange for allowing the filmmakers to film on location at his estate, Daltrey gets a big entrance and then turns right around and disappears from the film, literally only reappearing when it’s time for his big death scene. Personally, if I have the legendary lead singer of The Who in the cast of my satanic horror movie, I might just have to rewrite the entire script with some pretty mind blowing ideas in order to capitalize on the persona on having one of the greatest rock stars of all time in the midst of all this madness. But nope. Daltrey is merely an extended cameo of little note and that’s about it. And really, the whole flat, phoning it in feel permeates the entire enterprise (including the directing of Richard “Return Of The Jedi” Marquand) and makes for a pretty boring outing with the occasional splash of gore and amusing observation from Sam Elliot’s character…
5/10