Legacy of Satan

A New York couple are lured to a masked party, held at the large house of an evil occultist who has set his sights on the wife. Very low budget, bad acting and a plot that could be written on a postage stamp this ticks the boxes for viewers seeking 1970's grindhouse trash. One of the movie's strongest points is the ever present, eerie synth score. This combines well with several surreal, nightmare like sequences. Some of the make up is OK too. Two things that I didn't like are - 1 - no nudity, which was unusuall for black magic films from this decade, and 2 - despite the title I never once heard the name "Satan" get a mention, instead some Lord Rakeesh, or something, is the demon to which the cult is dedicated. A name that I am not familiar with. Yes, this is trashy but it is still far more enjoyable that most of the horror movies being churned out in the 21st Century.

Legacy Of Satan - 1974 ( This Film Rates an F ) Set in New York City in the 1970's. A group of satanic cult members have chosen a woman (Maya) to be their new queen. They enjoy bloodletting and consuming blood from those willing and unwilling alike. They engage in rituals to capture Maya and she starts to have bloody and erotic dreams. She feels "different" but is unable to explain how. The husband (George) tries to understand these changes but is bewildered and frustrated by her erratic behaviors. The couple are invited to a costume party by a friend (arranged by Dr. Muldavo - a friend of a friend) where transportation and the costumes are supplied by the host. Once at this party they are escorted to a room to change into the respective costumes. At 40:30 Maya and George drink wine which immediately entrances them into what looks like a psychedelic experience. It was completely laughable. She makes her way downstairs where everyone is gathered and waiting for her. Every single one of them giddy from the blood drinking and chanting Maya's name. Dr. Muldavo courts the future queen even further. Maya soon learns how deep this all goes but remains helpless and powerless until George comes to the rescue with the help of one jealous satanists. He wields a lighted sword. Dr. Muldavo is injured as a result and requires large amounts of blood to survive. George and Maya try to escape but it's all for naught and Maya is already the queen, a wicked queen who does not take no for an answer. The 70's synth soundtrack was a bit too loud and repetitive and some of the transitions from scene to scene were a bit cut and rough. The gore is extremely minimal and there was no effort to show any. The acting is borderline but some of the stunts reminded me of a high school play. But even decent acting and good gore effects could not save this horrid film. Even at 70 minutes Legacy of Satan is still too long.

This movie looks and sounds like a home movie, except longer and more tedious. The lighting is amazingly bad. Characters' heads cast shadows on other characters' faces a lot. Impressively bad all-synthesizer score. The vampire wears a 1970s pink ruffled shirt and everybody has 1970s hair. But the editing has got to be the worst of the lot. There are long pauses between the lines of dialog. Characters pause and stare at each other or at their own feet for long periods, then hold perfectly still while they recite their lines. Between that and the muffled sound track it's difficult to follow the story. After an hour of utter tedium, there is a silly fight scene which begins when the hero shows up with a toy sword with a glowing blade.

If you were looking for a picture that's so bad there's amusement value in it, _Plan 9 from Outer Space_ would be a better choice.

Check out IMDB's list of the director's other work.

Very odd film.

Enjoyable. Trippy. Leisurely (even at 69 minutes) but not even slightly scary.

There's something engaging about Maya that I can't quite put my finger on; Perhaps it's the magical influence hanging over her. Perhaps it's her potential to take the army of darkness onwards into the future. Or perhaps it's her amazing bone structure and resemblance to Annette Haven in 'V The Hot One' which I found under my Dad's bed when I was a kid and who formed the basis for many of my teenage fantasies...

The lovely Lisa Christian plays Maya, a sexually frustrated young woman married to the boring George (Paul Barry). Unbeknownst to them, their friend Arthur (James Procter) has gotten mixed up with a Satanic cult, and now this cult considers Maya essential to their plans, luring her & George to their lair by using a costume party as a cover.

Gerard Damiano, the adult film director best known for the iconic Deep Throat, also gave us this decidedly minor horror film that won't be very satisfying to sleaze lovers. (The whole cast actually stays clothed most of the time!). The plot, characters, and performances are all quite insipid, although John Francis still manages to be very amusing as the nefarious cult leader Dr. Muldavo.

The truly tacky makeup effects are courtesy of Tom Brumberger (Don't Go in the House), while other familiar names working behind the scenes include co-composer Arlon Ober (The Incredible Melting Man) and cinematographer Joao Fernandes (Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter). That music score is HILARIOUSLY awful!

Unfortunately, this is a rather dull affair that possesses an awful lot of padding for a film running a mere 70 minutes. It may be of some interest to very curious exploitation & horror aficionados, but it's not a movie I would really recommend.

Sandra Peabody of The Last House on the Left fame has a very small role as a cult member.

Four out of 10.