The Legacy (1988)

Posted by Mrs Giggles on June 29, 2019 in 2 Oogies, Idiot Box Reviews, Series: Monsters

The Legacy (1988) - Monsters Season 1

Main cast: David Brisbin (Dale) and Lara Harris (Debbie)
Director: Jeffrey Wolf

Dale is an author experiencing severe writer’s block, although if you ask his girlfriend Debbie – who in real life will be way out of his league – he’s just terrible at closing a deal (ahem). She’d love him to do something else that won’t put him at what seems like the verge of a nervous breakdown all the time, but Dale is convinced that he’d make it big time soon, very soon.

He now thinks that he has found the vehicle to get him there: he’s managed to track down and bought the cottage of legendary horror movie actor Fulton Pierce. The late actor was famous of the terrifying monsters he played in his film, and Dale is certain that he will find his muse by living in the very place where Pierce spent his final days on Earth. He is thrilled when he finds a box of props and cosmetics that is likely to belong to Pierce too and decides to mess with it. Oops…

The Legacy is based on a story by Robert Bloch, who would eventually write three screenplays for this show later into its seasons. It has a good premise, and solid acting by David Brisbin who embodies his character’s descent into maniacal lunacy well. However, the episode itself has a meandering feel to it. There is no build up or tension – the whole thing feels like a sleepy compilation of scenes of a couple bickering and the man doing silly things in his new place. The ending seems to come out of the blue, with little lead up to that moment at all. I don’t know if this could be blamed on the director or screenwriter – maybe both are at fault, who knows – but this episode just isn’t very interesting.

Oh, and Lara Harris is pretty bad in her role here. She looks and sounds like she’s barely interested in being on this show. Not that I blame her, really, if the filming was as dull as the episode turned out to be.

Despite its title, The Legacy is going down as a forgettable filler episode in this series.

Mrs Giggles
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