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SPOILERS AHEAD: I remember seeing this one when it came out<br /><br />in theaters and being alternately amused and aggravated by its<br /><br />hokey, convoluted plot, which seems to borrow themes from<br /><br />several good sources dealing with black magic, the supernatural,<br /><br />and even Agatha Christie (as there is a "Ten Little Indians" type<br /><br />device in which the guests are mysteriously knocked-off one by<br /><br />one). Unfortunately, it's not cobbled together very well. A couple of<br /><br />the deaths are genuinely disturbing (imagine surfacing in a pool<br /><br />to find yourself trapped underwater) but suffer from the lurid<br /><br />supernatural yarn that underlies the proceedings. Some nice<br /><br />visual touches, and attractive British country locations buoy this<br /><br />one up a bit, but not before the whole thing sinks under its own<br /><br />confused weight by the last reel. One noteworthy silver lining to<br /><br />this dark cloud is provided by Sam Elliot who, in a rather cheeky<br /><br />turn, saunters through a bathroom in his birthday suit (with, it must<br /><br />be said, absolutely nothing to be ashamed of!). This film certainly<br /><br />had potential, if it lacked focus. Katharine Ross and Sam Elliot<br /><br />play likable enough, down-to-earth inheritors who (through sheer<br /><br />stupidity) wind up stuck in this mire with a bunch of continental<br /><br />kooks, played by the ever decadent Charles Gray, velvet-voiced<br /><br />Hildegarde Neil, and other talents like Margaret Tyzack, Lee<br /><br />Montague, and (an oddly placed) Roger Daltrey. Not a shabby set<br /><br />of actors to be sure, but they're working with a ridiculous script.<br /><br />See Ross in "The Stepford Wives" and Elliot in "Lifeguard" (better<br /><br />vehicles from this era). Charles Gray, many will recall from the now<br /><br />classic "Rocky Horror Picture Show". "The Legacy" is not<br /><br />necessarily to be completely avoided (unless you are faced with<br /><br />watching the heavily edited TV print -- the one with the inexplicably<br /><br />expanded title, "The Legacy of Maggie Walsh"), but it's not at all to<br /><br />be taken seriously either. Much as it wants to be. |