This movie is hideously beautiful.
Originally a XXX adult film shot by the director of Deep Throat and starring Sandra “Last House On The Left” Peabody, Legacy Of Satan was shorn of its sex scenes by rogue distributor Bryanston and released as a straight-up horror movie.
But it’s much more than that.
George and Maya are an unhappy married couple. Their friend Arthur is an architect who spends his weekends hanging out with a Satanic vampire sex-cult led by Aurelia. Arthur convinces George and Maya to meet Aurelia. And that’s when things get weird. The cult members start fires through psychic-satanic orgasms. They do not hesitate to melt a guy’s face off when he mutters “You will glory in my power!” before having sex. Maya has visions of a painting that bleeds and George eats breakfast. Naturally, all of this leads to monster attacks, more ghost orgasms, and a glow-in-the-dark sword that channels the power of Satan!
Blessed with a soul-shaking Moog synthesizer soundtrack (“Electronic Rhythms Created by Arlon Ober and Mel Zelniker”), Legacy Of Satan is a lo-fi, hypnotic dream-blast. It’s the greatest soap opera that you’ve never seen. There’s no glue to hold the 68-minute movie together and it tends to drag towards the end, but that’s okay. Legacy Of Satan’s mishmash of awkward eroticism, over-the-top emoting, and inadvertent art-horror techniques yield some truly excellent trash. And those synths!! My gosh. The Ober-Zelniker hit machine knew its way around a Moog Rogue, but not really. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
This movie also has the greatest first line of dialogue that you’ll hear this week:
“Here comes the booze!”
