Cinematic Titanic: Legacy of Blood

Movie: (1971) The rich patriarch of a strange family leaves $136 million in his will to his heirs—as long as they spend the week together in his country house.  As the children and servants begin to get killed off almost immediately, secrets about their hidden past come to light.

First released: 10/09/2008 (DVD, download)

Opening: A little more about the impending breakdown of recording media.  The cast is just introduced with names in alphabetical order, no pictures and not tied to the appearance of their voices.

Skit: Frank is still chewing gum; a squad of soldiers takes care of the situation.

Skit: Trace plays “What thing won’t kill you?” with Josh as contestant.

End: Everyone wanders off in disgust to the sounds of circus music.

Availability: on Hulu, Amazon (DVD) and Amazon Instant.  

Reminds me of:  Bloodlust crossed with Giant Spider Invasion.

Joel’s Take:  here.

Stray observations:

As Joel says, “probably the most depraved film we’ve riffed on.”  Aside from the Ten Little Indians/And Then There Were None premise, the film throws in some nightmares and memories of child abuse and incest.  Johnny goes over the top as James Dean in Flowers in the Attic.   And in the end, when the killer runs into the room the reveal is spoiled by the lighting: “Excuse me Mr. Spoiler Alert!”

Gore count: Hit by axe (admittedly that happens twice), head in fishbowl eaten by piranha, body covered in bees.

Cast and crew roundup:

Most familiar (although both look pretty different) are Faith Domergue and Jeff Morrow, reunited from This Island Earth.  Unfortunately lovely Brooke Mills (Leslie) only made a few more films before retiring, while the great John Carradine kept going for another twenty years!  This was the end or close to it for Rudolpho Acosta (Sheriff), John Smith (Dr. Carl) and Merry Anders (Laura Dean), while most of the cast had surprisingly long careers.  Buck Kartalian (Igor) had the lead in the same director’s adult remake of Little Shop of Horrors a couple of years later, Please Don’t Eat My Mother.

Callback:  Actually many jokes from MST pop up, like “Stately Wayne Manor” and “last thing a chili dog sees.”

Fave riff:  “I’m devoid of ego, or my name isn’t Dr. Superpenis!”  Honorable mention: “Andy Warhol’s Sleep didn’t have this much sleep in it.”

Next week:  We begin with Rifftrax’s first major three-riffer release: Plan 9 From Outer Space!