LEGACY OF BLOOD is one of those forgotten horror films that few people saw on release. A video release came and went in the '80s, and since then the film's been put out on one of those rubbishy 'public domain' compilations, but that's about it. Watching it, you immediately understand why it's so obscure. It's a dull and stilted film with little imagination or effort and it's quite a chore to sit through. The film was released during one of my favourite years for the horror film. This was the changeover period, when there were still lots of old-fashioned gothics being churned out, but films were starting to get that 'grindhouse' look and feel, with increased gore content and often sleazy atmospheres.
LEGACY OF BLOOD sits halfway between a cheap riff on THE OLD DARK HOUSE type movie and the modern-day slasher. It begins with one of those utterly predictable 'reading of the will' type scenarios, where a group of people are guaranteed to get millions of dollars if they can spend a week in the old building. Soon, but not soon enough, people start dying and there's a mysterious killer on the loose. Much is made of the killer's identity here, but the double-twist ending kind of robs the film of any suspense it might have had; you just end up laughing and the freeze-frame ending is ludicrously cheesy.
The first murder is a pretty gory axe-to-the-head kill and director Carl Monson edits it in such a bizarre way that it's the highlight of the movie. I have no idea why he does the freeze-frame thing (the same device that a lot of directors use to show the point of view of someone taking photos) but it's hilarious. After then, there's no gore to speak of, just shadows on the wall, a funny moment where a guy falls into a fish tank filled with, you guessed it, piranha, and a very muddled bit where a guy is stung to death by bees (looks like cranberry sauce on his face). Monson directed a few sleazy Z-flicks during the '70s but this is very uninteresting.
The recognisable cast members add a very small amount of entertainment value. John Carradine headlines the piece, but he's barely in the film; I preferred his role in another old dark house horror a couple of years later called HOUSE OF THE SEVEN CORPSES. Merry Anders turned up in B-movie WOMEN OF THE PREHISTORIC PLANET and Norman Bartold was immediately recognisable from his turn as the medieval knight in one of my favourite films, WESTWORLD. Faith Domergue was a respected '50s B-movie actress for appearing in the likes of IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA and appeared with her co-star here, Jeff Morrow, in the sci-fi classic THIS ISLAND EARTH. Buck Kartalian who plays the sadomasochistic butler, Igor, was a bodybuilder who had a starring role as one of the monkeys in PLANET OF THE APES! I didn't recognise redhead Brooke Mills, but I did notice that she was VERY attractive and had a role in the Filipino exploitation flick THE BIG DOLL HOUSE. My favourite character in the film is the chauffeur who's played by a western actor; he's an ex-Nazi hunter who keeps a lamp made of human skin by his bedside! Sadly he gets bumped off all too soon, but not before a few laughs are had.
LEGACY OF BLOOD sits halfway between a cheap riff on THE OLD DARK HOUSE type movie and the modern-day slasher. It begins with one of those utterly predictable 'reading of the will' type scenarios, where a group of people are guaranteed to get millions of dollars if they can spend a week in the old building. Soon, but not soon enough, people start dying and there's a mysterious killer on the loose. Much is made of the killer's identity here, but the double-twist ending kind of robs the film of any suspense it might have had; you just end up laughing and the freeze-frame ending is ludicrously cheesy.
The first murder is a pretty gory axe-to-the-head kill and director Carl Monson edits it in such a bizarre way that it's the highlight of the movie. I have no idea why he does the freeze-frame thing (the same device that a lot of directors use to show the point of view of someone taking photos) but it's hilarious. After then, there's no gore to speak of, just shadows on the wall, a funny moment where a guy falls into a fish tank filled with, you guessed it, piranha, and a very muddled bit where a guy is stung to death by bees (looks like cranberry sauce on his face). Monson directed a few sleazy Z-flicks during the '70s but this is very uninteresting.
The recognisable cast members add a very small amount of entertainment value. John Carradine headlines the piece, but he's barely in the film; I preferred his role in another old dark house horror a couple of years later called HOUSE OF THE SEVEN CORPSES. Merry Anders turned up in B-movie WOMEN OF THE PREHISTORIC PLANET and Norman Bartold was immediately recognisable from his turn as the medieval knight in one of my favourite films, WESTWORLD. Faith Domergue was a respected '50s B-movie actress for appearing in the likes of IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA and appeared with her co-star here, Jeff Morrow, in the sci-fi classic THIS ISLAND EARTH. Buck Kartalian who plays the sadomasochistic butler, Igor, was a bodybuilder who had a starring role as one of the monkeys in PLANET OF THE APES! I didn't recognise redhead Brooke Mills, but I did notice that she was VERY attractive and had a role in the Filipino exploitation flick THE BIG DOLL HOUSE. My favourite character in the film is the chauffeur who's played by a western actor; he's an ex-Nazi hunter who keeps a lamp made of human skin by his bedside! Sadly he gets bumped off all too soon, but not before a few laughs are had.