Revisiting Legend

Ridley Scott’s dark fairy tale

Being exposed to violent horror movies at a young age, you’d think I was traumatized by Leatherface hoisting a woman onto a meat hook or maybe Michael Myers pinning Bob to the wall with a giant knife. Nope. Instead it was while watching Legend, where my innocence slowly died alongside that majestic unicorn. 

To be fair, fairytales were invented to traumatize children — allegorical rehearsals for the inevitable horrors of life, so Legend is totally on brand. It's a horror-adjacent fairy tale reminiscent of the work of Brothers Grimm, where beauty and cruelty coexist without apology. That’s why I can revisit it now with admiration, even if it will never have the same profound impact it did when I first watched it as a kid. 

Through the use of stunning visuals and practical effects, Legend suspends disbelief and immerses you in a world that seems real because, in many ways, it is. Whether it’s the elaborate forest or Ridley Scott’s vision of hell as a cavernous, furnace-like void (they literally built a giant fireplace), the film feels eerily ethereal on screen. 

Bottin’s towering Darkness

An integral part of this magical recipe is the makeup. Legendary effects artist Rob Bottin transformed the 5’10 Tim Curry into Darkness, a towering, Satan-esque figure standing 10 feet tall (13 if you count the horns), terrifying yet on the edge of caricature. What’s most impressive, though, is how the prosthetics were applied in sections, allowing Curry’s dramatically animated performance to shine through. As if sheer size weren’t threatening enough, Darkness was also given an Adonis physique that could easily pass for a “shadow daddy” in a contemporary dark romance novel — a choice that feels oddly appropriate given early drafts of the story in which the Darkness ends up with Princess Lili (Mia Sara). 

And of course, there’s Darkness’ right-hand goblin Blix (Alice Playten), who contributes significantly to the film’s nightmare fuel. Blix was designed by makeup artist Peter-Robb-King, who has openly stated that the character is essentially a goblin version of Keith Richards. Once you know it, you can’t unsee it.

I have an affinity for this film, not just because it is the one that broke me, but because it feels like one of the last vestiges of a bygone era of filmmaking. It’s cliché to say, “they don’t make them like they used to,” but in this case it’s true — not because they can’t, but because they won’t. Why would anyone spend millions building one of the largest indoor sets ever constructed, especially when it ultimately went up in flames? Why sculpt a horned demon in layers of latex and fiberglass and make your lead talent walk on stilts when doing things digitally is cheaper, faster, and endlessly adjustable? If Legend were made today, CGI would do most of the heavy lifting, and I know I’d check out long before the story had a chance to land. Ridley Scott was committed to his vision, to making this fairy tale tangible and real, and that commitment is what still gives the film its staying power.

Legend endures in every version.

Fittingly, Legend exists in multiple versions, much like the fairy tales it draws from. Just as these stories have been softened, censored, or sometimes completely reworked depending on who they are intended for, Legend was released in fractured forms, with U.S. and European cuts, altered endings, and even a replacement score. Nearly seventeen years later, the 2002 director’s cut was released, adding roughly twenty minutes of unseen footage and reinstating Jerry Goldsmith’s original score. Whether you’re drawn to the atmospheric synth of Tangerine Dream, prefer Goldsmith’s more classical orchestration, or favor Jack (Tom Cruise) and Lili riding off into the sunset versus parting to their respective worlds, we get to choose the telling that resonates most with us. Either way, Legend remains exactly that: legendary.

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