Tacticalin An absolute waste of money

Asad Almond A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Hattie I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Cissy Évelyne It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

BA_Harrison Attractive young American architect Margaret Walsh (Katharine Ross) is given an advance cheque for $50,000 for a job in London. Together with her boyfriend Pete (Sam Elliot, looking a whole lot like a '70s porn-star), she travels to England several days early to enjoy the countryside, where the couple's motorbike is involved in a near collision with the limousine of millionaire Jason Mountolive (John Standing). The couple are invited to stay at Jason's luxurious mansion while their vehicle is being repaired; there, they are joined by five other guests, who, one-by-one, meet gruesome supernatural fates.Occult horror was all the rage in the '70s and director Richard Marquand's The Legacy can clearly be seen to be jumping on the bandwagon, taking obvious inspiration from films such as The Omen and Suspiria, with a collection of creatively mounted death scenes being its major selling point ('cos logic sure isn't!). The inventive demises include a swimmer trapped under the surface of a pool, The Who's Roger Daltrey having a messy and fatal tracheotomy after choking on a bone, Charles Gray being incinerated and fed to some dogs, and a woman impaled by flying shards of mirror glass.After these elaborate death scenes, lots of comparatively mundane old, dark house nonsense, and some not particularly exciting action, it is eventually revealed that Margaret is to inherit the fatally ill Mountolive's legacy, an unlimited Satanic power that she is finally willing to accept. Her boyfriend Pete appears to have quickly come to terms with the situation as well, the film ending with the happy couple discussing what to do with their newfound demonic potential, fabulous wealth and team of loyal acolytes.

Rainey Dawn Margaret and Pete embark on the most chilling mystery of their lifetimes. The couple become deeply involved in one of the creepiest families to ever graze a movie screen and may regret leaving their home that day - or will they? The couple cannot find away to leave the mansion - even driving away they find all roads lead back to the old manor home. Will they escape? Will they survive? Who or what is The Legacy? The Legacy is a very good old film that has just the right blend of mystery and horror to satisfy both audiences and is also recommend for lovers of occult films.9/10

kira02bit American Interior decorator Katharine Ross and architect boyfriend Sam Elliott are commissioned for a job in England. While touring the beautiful English countryside, they are in a traffic accident with a limo containing filthy rich John Standing, who insists that the banged up couple experience his hospitality at his grand manor while their motorcycle is being repaired. Once there, the two are joined by an array of flamboyant guests, who all seem to owe some kind of allegiance to Standing, who Ross is puzzled to hear mentioned is bedridden and at death's door. Apparently called forth to receive some kind of death bed bequests, the guests die grisly deaths one by one, as attempts to escape from the manor grounds are frustrated at every turn.Released back in the late 1970s, The Legacy was a modest box office success despite some rather lackluster reviews, but few people seemingly remember it. It is hard to understand any ill will towards it. The story is a twist on Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None with some supernatural elements added to good effect. This story has been used often throughout cinema history for good reason - because it is effective and solid. The death scenes are memorably grisly without the stomach-turning pretensions of the modern day torture porn proliferating the screen since the success of Saw.Director Richard Marquand has a decent command of atmosphere and his actors, and captures the beautiful English countryside in all its glory. The film moves along at a brisk clip. He establishes a respectable modicum of tension and provides enough of a showcase for some of the suspense sequences to wrap the viewer up in the story. The sequences with the woman trapped beneath the surface of a pool and a wayward fireplace log that causes a rather shocking demise are suitably memorable. I also like the sequence where Ross and Elliott launch an escape attempt only to find every single road leading them in circles back to the mansion.The cast is strong and appealing. English veterans like Standing, Charles Gray, and Hildegarde Neil are well cast. As is Margaret Tyzack as an enigmatic caregiver who seems to have some sort of symbiotic relationship with the manor's sinister cat. Roger Daltrey is on hand in an attention-getting glorified cameo as one of the ill-fated guests.Ross and Elliott are both immensely appealing and sympathetic as the trapped fish-out-of-water Americans. Ross does a credible job of rendering her character's mounting panic palpable, which she moves nicely to frustration and then ultimately acceptance of the predicament. Elliott is really not an essential character plot-wise, but he shares tremendous chemistry with Ross and provides a note of likable stability among the more eccentric house guests. Plus one is never quite sure where he will ultimately fit in the final denouement.If any real criticisms can be leveled at the film, it would be predictability. It is not really a shock who the last person standing is and it is something we have suspected all along - indeed the film does not do much to keep it a secret. Yet to say that this robs the film of suspense would be erroneous as the viewing journey to get from point A to B is largely entertaining. By contrast, I think this traditional (albeit predictable) rendering of the material is far more suspenseful and enjoyable then the more recent modern rendering found in Identity, where an overly ambitious mid-plot twist finds the suspense petering out like a deflating tire.I would heartily recommend this to fans of thrillers, mysteries or genre films without any compunction. Ironically, I have found that older viewers seem to have a higher appreciation of it than younger ones, perhaps due to its more traditional trappings.

stuartdonna36 This movie doesn't seem to compare to the horror movies of today but I remember really liking this film when it came out. It may have been considered much better back when the film was released. I had read the book first when it came out before seeing the film and thought it was fantastic. I found it to be a great story and played very well in my mind. Though most seem to have a complaint about the special effects/ cheesiness of the film. I think they fair well in the time frame that the movie was made, plus to this day the swimming pool scene still gives me a chill. If the special effects don't work for you try reading the book and see if your imagination doesn't bring this story to life for you. I gave it an 7 because I felt it was a good solid movie and that is what I would have rated it back in 1978.