The Legacy (1978 film)

Maggie Walsh and her boyfriend Pete Danner are interior decorators from Los Angeles. They are retained by an anonymous British client. Their reluctance to abandon their current client in California is alleviated when that client dies suddenly under mysterious circumstances. Taking advantage of their pre-paid airfare, they travel to England and are immediately involved in a traffic collision with a limousine. The passenger reveals himself as their mysterious benefactor, Jason Mountolive, who invites them to his rambling estate, Ravenhurst.

They arrive to find that Mountolive has also invited the five beneficiaries of his estate, all public figures with notorious reputations. The other guests explain that they have been summoned because Jason is dying, "wasting away" above stairs. Maggie is astonished to hear this because Jason seemed vigorous just minutes earlier.

Jason receives his guests in his bedroom, a sterile chrome and glass environment where he lies connected to a life support system. His bed is shrouded by white curtains that obscure his appearance. He calls Maggie to the bedside, where a monstrous hand reaches out of the curtains and places a signet ring with the Mountolive family crest on her finger. The other guests already wear identical rings. Maggie tries to remove the ring, but it has grafted itself to her finger.

Shortly afterwards, the other guests die by mysterious and gruesome means: Maria, despite being an excellent swimmer, becomes trapped under the surface of Jason's indoor pool and drowns; Clive Jackson gets a chicken bone lodged in his throat during dinner (although he was not eating chicken at the time) and perishes during a botched tracheotomy; Karl Liebnecht is incinerated by a massive burst of flame from a fireplace that leaves the rest of the room untouched. A mirror in Barbara's bedroom explodes, piercing her with glass shards, then restores itself without a crack. Jacques suspects Maggie and Pete of engineering these inexplicable deaths, and chases them onto the roof with a shotgun. The weapon jams and explodes in his face, knocking him off the roof to his death.

Maggie and Pete find a collection of newspaper clippings. These reveal that each of their fellow guests had been accused of high crimes or implicated in major scandals, yet always escaped punishment or censure thanks to Jason's intervention. Jason's mother was Lady Margaret Walsingham and his father was the Lord of Mountolive; both families included notorious practitioners of black magic and witchcraft. Lady Margaret and her husband were burned at the stake for heresy. Maggie realizes that she is Jason's great-granddaughter, and that the retainer was a ruse to lure her into the midst of Jason's other beneficiaries.

As the last remaining heir to Jason's legacy, Maggie stands to inherit the vast Walsingham-Mountolive financial empire. She confronts Jason. With his last breath, Jason confesses that he sacrificed the other heirs to the devil in order to pass on his sinister powers to her. He instructs her to choose six heirs of her own, who will likewise be sacrificed when the time comes so that the lone survivor will also inherit the powers bestowed by Satan.

Pete forces his way into the room and tries to prevent the transfer of power by sabotaging Jason's life-support system. He is too late; Maggie has accepted her legacy and is now "Lady Margaret". The household staff declare their allegiance to her. Maggie selects Pete as her first beneficiary. She gives him a signet ring which immediately grafts itself to his finger.

Themes presented in the film include karma, and reincarnation.[4]

Tropes presented in the film include ‘Hollywood satanism’, fainting, going in circles, ironic death, spontaneous combustion, voluntary shapeshifting, and ‘the reveal’.[5]

Jimmy Sangster originally wrote a supernatural script set in a run-down hospital in downtown Detroit. Much to his dismay, the script was altered to more closely resemble other Hammer movies. Although keeping the American protagonists, events were manipulated to allow the story instead to take place in an English country estate featuring a collection of stereotypical butlers, chauffeurs and curtseying maids.[6]

The Devil’s Doorway (Working),[7] Psychose (Alternative),[7] The Legacy of Maggie Walsh (Alternative)[8]

Considered for Karl were Harry Andrews, Peter Cushing, Bernard Archard, Herbert Lom, Donald Pleasence, Sir Christopher Lee, Michael Gough, Anton Diffring, Peter Arne, Patrick Troughton, Peter Vaughn and Donald Houston.

Considered for Grandier were Peter Arne, Frank Finlay, Peter Jeffrey, Joss Ackland, Ian Bannen, John Carson and Ian Hendry.[9]

Principal photography began on 16 January 1978 at Bray Studios in Berkshire, England, concluding on 23 March 1978.[2]

Opening Montage, Shopping - 163 Gloucester Rd, London, UK[10]

Opening Montage, Underground - Regent St, London, UK[10]

Opening Montage, Sunset - Hyde Park, London, UK[10]

Riding Round The Country #1 - Dolesden Ln, Turville, UK[10]

Riding Round The Country #2 - Skirmett Rd, Hambleden, UK[10]

Church #1 - St Mary The Virgin Church, Holloway Lane, Turville, UK[10]

Church #2 - St Bartholomew Church, Chequers Ln, Henley-on-Thames, UK[10]

Wade's Garage - Pheasant's Hill Frieth, Hambleden, UK[10]

Mansion Entrance - Lee Coach Rd, Witley, UK[10]

The Ravenhurst Manor - Loseley Park, Guildford, UK[10]

Room With Paintings - Dorney Court, Windsor, UK[10]

General Store - Pheasant's Hill Frieth, Hambleden, UK[10]

Loseley Park served as the primary shooting location

The Legacy premiered in the United Kingdom on 29 September 1978,[1] before having its U.S. premiere approximately one year later, opening in New York City on 28 September 1979.[2] It subsequently premiered in Los Angeles on 16 November 1979.[2] The US theatrical cut has a 2 minute shorter runtime and some alternative shots.

Universal Studios released The Legacy on DVD in North America on 7 September 2004.[11]

Scream Factory released The Legacy on Blu-ray in North America on 15 September 2015.[12]

British distributor Powerhouse Films released a new region-free limited edition Blu-ray through their Indicator series on 29 July 2019,[13] which included the following bonus features:[4]

• An Extended Legacy (2019, 11 mins): an analysis of the differences between the US and UK cuts
• Audio commentary with Kevin Lyon
• An Editing Legacy (2015, 14 mins): editor and second unit director Anne V Coates recalls her work on the film
• The Make-up Effects of The Legacy (2015, 11 mins): Robin Grantham on his make-up creations for the film
• Ashes and Crashes (2019, 4 mins): interview with second unit director Joe Marks, who shares his memories of working with the film’s cast and crew
• Between the Anvil and the Hammer (1973, 27 mins): Richard Marquand’s Central Office of Information short about the Liverpool police force
• Theatrical trailer
• Image gallery
• Collector’s booklet with a new essay by Julian Upton, an archival location report, Jimmy Sangster on The Legacy, extracts from the novelization, an overview of critical responses, an introduction to Between the Anvil and the Hammer, and film credits