LEGACY OF SATAN (1976)
(part of BLOOD BATH 2: 4 MOVIE PACK)
Directed by Gerard Damiano
Brentwood/BCI DVD
THE FILM
We all know about Satan’s
School For Girls. Times
change. This is Satan’s School
For Women.
“George, don’t be so
obstinate...George, don’t
be so obstinate.” George,
don’t make her say it again.
In Legacy Of Satan, the
girls are all grown up. They mean
business. Maya will repeat lines
if she feels like it. Aurelia will
start fires through psychic-satanic
orgasms any old time she chooses.
Both will not hesitate to melt a
guy’s face off if he mutters
“You will glory in my power...”
before advancing sex. They like
lethal synthesizers and hate bleeding
oil paintings. I love them all.
Legacy Of Satan is a 68
minute, hallucinogenic mess. It
was originally shot as a porn-horror
by writer-director Gerard Damiano
(Deep Throat, The Devil
In Miss Jones), only to be
de-humpified by outlaw 1970s distro
outfit Bryanston. Dirt cheap. Totally
confused. It’s like Runaway
Nightmare mashed into Satan’s
Black Wedding with Jess
Franco consulting. In other words,
Damiano should be very proud. Just
so you know: George and Maya are
friends with Arthur. Arthur is an
architect that spends his weekends
enjoying blood-letting foreplay
with Aurelia and her Satanic-vampire
cult. The group wants Maya to join.
George tries to stop them with his
plastic, glow-in-the-dark sword.
His obstination runs out! Poor George!
There’s no glue to hold this
thing together (maybe that’s
where the XXX carried some weight?),
but don’t be alarmed. Legacy
Of Satan’s tangle of
non-stop strangeness, awkward eroticism,
sub-soap opera pouting, and mistakenly
artsy techniques do it all in the
name of excellent trash. And those
synths! My God. Arlon Ober and Mel
Zelniker are the “Electronic
Rhythms Creator.” Apparently,
the Ober-Zelniker hit machine knew
its way around a Moog Rogue, but
not really. The results are hideously
beautiful. Arlon and Mel: You guys
are on my wavelength.
After the first 50 minutes drop
out, Legacy Of Satan falls
down a flight of stairs. Hard. It
never gets back up. At least Maya
made good on her education.
AUDIO AND VIDEO
A real unearthing. First released
to North American VCRs via the extremely
rare Abacus VHS, Legacy Of Satan
looks terrific. The print is clean
and crisp, with bright colors, nice
contrast, and no inkling of pixellation.
I didn’t notice any tape rolls
or video inconsistencies, so this
transfer doesn’t seem to originate
from a VHS tape. Possibly a video
master, judging from the crispness.
The fine sound was presented in
your choice of Stereo (sounded like
mono) or a Dolby 5.1 mix (sounded
the same, but a little louder).
EXTRAS
The 4-film strong "Blood Bath
2" is Brentwood's most enjoyable
budget pack to date. Two flipper
discs hold this treasure trove of
ultra-obscurities, all of which
were licensed from distributor Bryanston.
Aside from Legacy Of Satan,
there's Jack
The Ripper Goes West (exhausting
western-horror botch), The Bride
aka The House That Cried Murder
(debut from John "Nightmare
At Shadow Woods" Grissmer),
and Blood
Song aka Dream Slayer
(Frankie Avalon slasher that looks
a million times better than my ruddy
HQV VHS). More Bryanston rarities,
please.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Don’t be so obstinate. DON’T
BE SO OBSTINATE. The women of Legacy
Of Satan call the messy shots.
You should listen. If you don’t
own “Blood Bath 2” yet,
take this advice to heart. Pick
it up.
— Joseph A. Ziemba, 11.30.06 |
George, WAKE UP!
Satan told me to
So meaningful
Ober or Zelniker?
|
