Legacy of Satan (1974)

• Year: 1974
• Released: 01 Apr 1974
• Country: United States
• Adwords: N/A
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0139421/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/legacy_of_satan
• Metacritics:
• Available in: 720p, 1080p,
• Language: English
• MPA Rating: R
• Genre: Horror
• Runtime: 68 min
• Writer: Gerard Damiano
• Director: Gerard Damiano
• Cast: John Francis, Lisa Christian, Paul Barry
• Keywords: cult, satanism,

3.6/10

Legacy of Satan Storyline

A satanic cult chooses an unwitting young girl as its new queen.

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Legacy of Satan Movie Reviews

Missing the XXX factor.

Bored architect turned devil worshipper Arthur (James Procter) lures sexually frustrated housewife Maya (Lisa Christian) into the bosom of a Satanic cult who believe that a union between her and their malevolent leader, Dr. Muldavo (John Francis), is the key to incredible Satanic powers. Maya’s hubby George (Paul Barry) has other ideas and, dressed as a jester, uses a magical glowing sword to infect Muldavo’s face with a life-sapping omelette.

According to another reviewer here on IMDb, Legacy of Satan, directed by Gerard Damiano of Deep Throat fame, is rumoured to have begun life as a hardcore feature, but was trimmed of its explicit sexual content to make it suitable for release as part of a grind-house double-bill; it’s not all that hard to believe, the film definitely having the look and feel of a 70s porno—all grainy cinematography, trippy visuals, and lo-fi synth music, with a decadent, sexually charged atmosphere, a nonsensical plot, and an untalented cast of complete unknowns. The film’s short running time and choppy editing also go a long way to support the theory.

However, if there was ever a XXX version, it has long since vanished into the mists of time, and all we have been left with is this dreadfully boring, shambolic wreck of a film, a Satanic horror with no tension, no scares and very little blood. Clearly Damiano considered himself something of an artist, and did his best to bring a hallucinatory beauty to the film through the use of coloured light and strong shadow, but his handling was way too heavy-handed to be effective, the result being a garish mess as opposed to a stunningly creative piece of cinema. Arlon Ober and Mel Zelniker’s experimental electronic score proves to be just as much an assault on the ears as Damiano’s visuals are on the eyes.

Short and Satanic

This film was originally intended to be a hardcore movie, but he saw it as a mainstream opportunity and decided to turn the film into a straight-up horror film. That said, that opportunity may have been suggested by producer Lou Parish, better known as Louis “Butchie” Peraino, a member of the Colombo crime family).

Shot on a tight budget and starring unknown actors, the film briefly ran in theaters before becoming part of a grindhouse double bill with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Blood (one assumes that Bryanston Distributing Company, which had rumored mob ties, had something to do with that).

Other than Sarah Peabody from Last House on the Left, who plays a cult member, there’s nobody recognizable in this tale of Maya, a young woman who a Satanic cult has picked to be their new leader. Fantasies overtake her daily existence, synthesizers play at the right time and everyone wears some wonderful 70’s clothes.

There are dream sequences, photos are burned between a woman’s thighs, a glowing sword appears, we witness a black mass, there are portentous (and pretentious) speeches and lots of gorgeous colors. But it’s all a mess. While filmed in 1972, it wasn’t released until much later. And Damiano would bring another better and more Satanic film – The Devil in Ms. Jones – to raincoaters soon.

Despite the budget, this movie looks way better than it should. There are a lot of gorgeous people on display but they really don’t do much for the hour plus running time.

Very limited

LEGACY OF SATAN is a typically poor independent US horror flick from the 1970s. It’s about a Satanic cult of women who hang around in a creepy old basement wearing gothic dresses. As with many witchcraft-themed films of this era, the plot sees them ‘curse’ an innocent young woman who is subsequently possessed by the Devil. Her partner becomes disturbed by her new bizarre behaviour and things get more and more weird until the eventual climax. With languid pacing and poor production values, LEGACY OF SATAN is best viewed as a curio alone. The acting is as amateurish as you’d expect from the unknown cast and the attempts at atmosphere-building simply don’t work very well. The end result is a film which is difficult to sit through beause it feels so tame, drawn-out, and dull.