The Film (3.5/5)

Maggie Walsh (Katherine Ross - The Stepford Wives) is an interior designer in Los Angeles who gets a contract to do a job in England, sight unseen. Her boyfriend Pete Danner (Sam Elliot - Frogs, Roadhouse) tags along for the ride. After arriving in England, they are involved in a wreck with a limo that smashes up their motorcycle. The occupant of the limo is millionaire Jason Mountolive who invites them back to his mansion to stay while the motorcycle is fixed.

Upon arriving at the mansion, Jason promptly disappears and our intrepid duo discover that other people have been invited to the mansion and it's actually an elaborate scheme to determine who will receive Jason Mountolive's legacy which is one of ultimate evil. One by one the other guests die in increasingly gruesome ways until only one remains. Who will be the fearful recipient of The Legacy and receive the evil powers of Jason Mountolive?

I first saw The Legacy several years ago on dvd and I'm not going to lie, I didn't care for it. I like slow burn horror films but this was knocking on the door of dull. That being said I do believe that Scream Factory's bluray has made me reevaluate my opinion. The sets are grand and the cast are quite good. The kills really stood out for me this time around and honestly there's a tiny bit of Argento influence here. There's a very Suspiria like kill and Jason Mountolive becomes something that resembles the alchemist in Argento's Inferno of two years later. Katherine Ross is good as the a bit too trusting Maggie and Sam Elliot's Pete is very similar to his character in Frogs from a few years before this. Charles Gray adds Euro Horror flavor as Karl Liebnecht and Roger Daltrey is good as a rock star.

The direction from Richard Marquand is solid and he would go on to direct Return Of The Jedi before dying too young at 49. There's some solid suspense that sadly is a bit undercut by some very misplaced music. Kiki Dee, not a great choice for a horror film soundtrack.

Audio/Video (4.5/5)

Scream Factory presents The Legacy on bluray in a 1080p transfer in it's proper 1.85:1 aspect ratio. There's a nice grain structure, blacks were solid and it looked rather good. I didn't notice print damage of any sort and it's certainly the best I've seen The Legacy look. Audio is presented in a mono DTS-HD Master Audio track which is very clear and they have included English subtitles.

Extras (5/5)

Scream Factory has included a new interview with film editor Anne V. Coates, an interview with special effects artist Robin Grantham, a theatrical trailer, a tv spot, a radio spot and a photo gallery.

Overall (3.5/5)

The Legacy has become a cult film over time and I believe ultimately it's deserving of it. There are a few missteps along the way and I believe a good 10 minutes could have been cut to improve it's pace. But the editor of the film is an Academy Award winner, so what do I know? I think The Legacy may very well reward multiple viewings and might make a great double feature with another Scream Factory bluray, soon to be released, The Sentinel.