Legend: Director's Cut (1985) Starring Tom Cruise, Mia Sara, Tim Curry Directed by Ridley Scott Written by William Hjortsberg

So let's begin. This film is an under appreciated one in my book, which is sad as it's made by one of the most well known directors today: Ridley Scott, the same man who gave us the space horror Alien. It features a few well known names for the cast with Tom Cruise, Tim Curry and Mia Sara as leads along with Robert Picardo, Alice Playten and a few short extras from other well known fantasy films (Willow, Narnia).

Now some of you may know this film and know it as a fantasy/fairy Tale and be asking "Why is this being offered on a horror site?" In the DVD extras for this, Tim Curry explains that the origin of fairy tales where not meant to be a fun wonderful imagination land, but a preparation. The world is a harsh cruel place, and while young child shouldn't be exposed to it at a fragile age, fairy tales where meant to show them that harshness in a light hearted form. So there you have it, what better horror then a film that'll prepare them for the crap to come?

I'd like to explain something first, however, before we get started. There are 2 versions of this film, the US Theatrical version that was released and the European/Director's Cut. I'll be reviewing the Director's Cut and I'll explain the key differences at the end of the article. Now that we've got that done, let's begin!

As we get several shots of the inside (including one of a window that opens into the stars and universe above), we begin to hear a low demonic voice proclaiming himself the Lord of Darkness. He then goes on to announce that the light is his enemy and that he swears to his father it will die forever.

We then get a shot of a giant room with a figure sitting on a throne out of site. A knocking on the door happens and the voice calls for them to enter. The figure from the woods comes in, Blix he is called. As he approaches, Darkness questions his loyalty to evil which he proclaims him the darkest of Goblins. Darkness then entrusts him with a task, to find some creatures in the forest with a spiral on its head pointing up. When asked how to find them, Darkness tells him to use the perfect bait: innocence.

We then cut away to Princess Lily, a young beautiful girl in a royal dress, walking through a field and singing while heading to a cottage at the forest's edge. After pulling a prank on the owner, Nell, she runs in and senses something isn't right. It's then that Nell comes in and welcomes her.

After talking, Nell recommends that Lily stop visiting poor folks like her and be more like a Princess (all while Lily steals a heart shape cookie). Despite Nell's advice, Lily insists that the life and style Nell lives is more blissful then the one she lives in the castle. She then leaves for her planned engagement in the forest, unaware that Blix along with fellow goblins Pox (a pig like creature) and Blunder (hidden under a huge horned helmet) are following.

As she wonders the woods, Lily calls out for her planned meeting, hoping for an answer. Finally, Jack who is a young man with wild long hair and ragged clothes jumps out of a tree behind her scaring her. She then offers the cookie (him eating the plants it was wrapped in first) and they then run off together.

Off alone, Lily shows Jack that she's learning well in speaking to the forest creatures like he can (him being a forest child). When he refuses to teach her rabbit, she tries to amaze him into it by showing a reflection on her necklace. He then explains that the reason he won't is because something important has come to the woods and he wants to show her. Despite questioning whether he trusts her (Jack insisting he does), Lily allows him to blind fold and guide her.

Removing the blind fold at the destination, Lily watches and waits for the surprise Jack had planned. To her amazement, two unicorns come charging down a stream and waltz together. Jack informs her that they're the source of all light and good, and are what repels evil.

Unable to resist, Lily ignores Jack's warnings and heads out to the stream, calling one of them over with her singing. The Stallion, angry that she even is there, charges down stream and circles her in rage. However, after stopping, Lily entrances it with her singing and manages to touch it's snout with her hand.

All of this however makes for the perfect set up. While Lily distracts them, Blix prepares a poison stinger and shoots it through a blow gun. Hitting the Stallion, both Unicorns run off.

Jack gives warning then that what she did was forbidden, and that she risks her soul by disregarding his warnings. Despite his anger, Lily manages to calm him back down. She then teases him as they head for a cliff not far over a pond. Telling him she'll marry who'll ever find it, she throws her ring into the pond below. To her surprise, Jack dives right in after it.

As Jack swims deep for it, the world above takes drastic changes as the Stallion slows, its life drained away by the poison. When Jack fails to find the ring and rises for air, his head bangs on a sheet of ice that covers the pond. While he struggles to escape and Lily flees, Blix approaches the dieing Unicorn and prepares his sword. Then, while Jack escapes the pond, Blix cuts off its horn and holds it high in victory.

Lost and confused by the sudden snow storm, Lily flees back to Nell's house. However, when she gets there, she finds the world of humans has frozen in time. Hearing the goblins come, she hides upstairs as they intrude and make a mess of the house. Lily listens to them and is horrified to hear them talk about using her as the means to kill the Unicorn. As they then leave, she vows to fix it all.

Meanwhile, Jack is seen sleeping by a campfire in the snow when a flying little light hovers over him and laughs, making the fire hotter. Awakened, he looks to see several fairies watching and an elf named Gump standing over him. They then introduce themselves and ask him if he knows what has happened.

With reluctance, Jack announces that he brought Lily to the unicorn and that she touched one. This infuriates Gump, but Jack insists he did it for love. Giving him a chance, Gump gives him a riddle to solve and saying that if he's right, he'll be forgiven and that if he's wrong, he'll die. Much to his anger, Jack answers it and bests Gump.

After a victory toast of wine from Brown Tom, a dwarf, they then set off along with the fairies Screwball and Oona (the flying light), to find what has happened to the unicorns. Discovering the Stallion dead and its horn gone, Jack approaches the Mare and begs for forgiveness. Giving him orders, Jack says they must find a champion, Gump insisting that he'll do.

While going to a hidden cave, Jack goes in with Oona to find some champion's weapons and armor. Inside, he finds a sword, shield and scale armor that will work perfect for him. While this happens, Oona reveals that she can take on the form of a Fairy girl and makes Jack keep this their secret.

As Jack does this, Lily watches outside the cave that Blix and his companions are in, using the power of the Horn for fun. There games are interrupted however as Darkness arrives in the form of a temporary flying wraith. Unable to tell Blix was joking, Blunder takes the Horn and announces that Darkness would bow to goblins now. Annoyed, Darkness claims the horn back and makes a mummified corpse inside the cave come alive and take Blunder away.

Seeing this, Blix tries to defend himself and explain it all, but Darkness quickly punishes them for using such a powerful tool as a toy. When he asks of the unicorns, Blix and Pox swear they're dead, but Darkness points out that Dawn is now rising and they confess they failed to kill the Mare. Demanding they bring the female to him, they bow while Lily runs off before them to see that the Mare escapes.

As Brown Tom dines while watching the Mare, Lily arrives and warns him of the goblins. At first, he refuses to believe her as they blame her for all the trouble, but he soon relies that she was right as Blix and Pox shoot arrows. Standing his ground, Brown Tom manages to ward off the arrows with his frying pan successfully until he gets cocky and they shoot an arrow through his hat. Tom taken out, they then use a net to trap Lily and the unicorn.

Jack, Gump and Screwball arrive later on to find the Mare gone and an arrow through Brown Tom's hat. To there shock, he's alive as the arrow only shot through the Wine bottle under his hat. He then tells them of the goblins and Lily.

Following the tracks in the snow, the group find there way to the Dark Tree where Darkness resides. To his dismay, Screwball is made to go through the swamp outside first. He makes it across safely, but once there, the water erupts and he's sucked under.

Racing over, Jack pulls out Screwball to find him fine. It's then that the water erupts behind him and a green female creature rises in anger of the fairy tasting foul. Looking over, the woman sees Jack and smiles evilly. Proclaiming herself Meg Mucklebones, she smiles and announces her plans to eat handsome Jack. Sweet talking, he manages to convince her to admire herself on the reflection of his shield first. While doing so, he secretly pulls out his sword and while she prepares to kiss him before eating him, he decapitates her.

As they then continue for the tree, we see Lily (her now beautiful royal dress ragged and torn badly) comforting the Mare which is chained in the dungeon of the tree. Looking around, she grows nervous with the feeling of being watched, which she really is as two large green eyes watch from the shadows.

We then see Jack and his allies make there way into the tree. Standing on a rock ledge, they try pulling a rope to see if it's stable enough to swing them across, but it instead drops them into chutes below.

Landing, they find themselves in a caged area with only hay and strong iron that reflects magic. In the cell next to them, Blunder warns them to be quiet. When they disregard him, he removes his helmet to reveal that he's really a fairy and not a goblin. They then hear the two gargantuan cooks outside prepare to start making food and look to see one of them come sniffing to find anything or anyone that might have fallen into the cages. Hiding in the hay, he fails to find Jack or any of his group, but he does find Blunder and takes him away.

Seeing that they could die, Jack breaks his promise and makes Oona reveal her secret to Gump and the rest. Upset, Oona demands a kiss from Jack in trade for her help. When he only gives her a perk, she changes into Lily in hopes of a real kiss, but Jack refuses as it's not real. She then changes and flies away angrily.

Gump at first blames him, but Oona then shows up with the keys. After giving them up with regret, she helps them out, but not before scolding Jack. As they leave, they look over to see the cooks preparing some sad soul for food and flee, breaking up into two groups, Jack with Gump and Oona and Screwball with Brown Tom.

The scene is changed to Darkness' thrown room where we hear him talking with his father about why the girl Lily is distracting him. His father tells him it's because she's pure and innocent and he can't just take her. He must woo and win her, making her join them. Taking his advice, he guides Lily to his thrown room as Oona follows in jealousy.

As jewelry and other valuables are offered as temptation, Lily turns to see an all black figure dancing in the room in a dark dress. At first, she backs away, but finally she starts to join in the dancing. Enjoying it, Lily and the figure become one and Lily is turned from a sweet young woman to a pale skinned woman with black hair and make up.

Looking into a mirror and seeing what she's become, a figure then starts to pull through the mirror. As Lily faints, the Lord of Darkness is finally revealed as a demonic figure with hooves for feet, red skin, animal ears, giant horns and sharp claws and fangs.

Gloating over her, Lily awakens and backs away in horror. Darkness then tries to tell her not to be afraid. When she cries and resists his proposal to be his bride, he tells her of her involvement in the unicorns death.

As Jack, Gump and Oona arrive outside the room's door, Darkness announces his plan, which further dismays Lily: he will kill the Mare tonight and end Sunshine, as it's his destroyer. Hearing this, Jack comes up with an idea with the memory of Lily shining her necklace.

Meeting back up with Screwball and Brown Tom, who found the Mare in the Dungeon, they then begin Jacks plan while Darkness tries to tempt Lily with food. Finding Blunder in a pie to be baked, they get his help as they try to collect huge shining plates while the two cooks sleep.

Things go according to plan until they spill the plates and awaken the cooks. Jack fights off one and takes him out by spilling the stew cooking on the fire to create steam which burns him. The other is taken out by the fairies. After defeating them, they find a shaft to the top of the tree and find light coming down. Screwball then volunteer's to take the plate up.

Back in the throne room, Darkness insists Lily eat, but she refuses to do it as it'll pleasure him. He then insists that all he wants from her is to sit on his thrown and talk with him, nothing more. Wanting to stand, he temporally loses his temper and screams, but quickly regains his composure. She then implies that all he's done is kill her dreams, but he then implies that at her age, she would regret them later in life and that he can supply her with new ones if she'll stay with him.

As the night approaches, she starts to obey him and prepares to sit in his thrown. However, when the chair starts to come alive, she is horrified and refuses. This causes him to erupt and spill items off the dinning table. She antagonizes him more and then laughs, which combined with the horrified sound of the Mare echoing through the halls, calms him.

She then gives him an offer; she'll gladly stay with him and be his bride if he gives her one thing. He then says he'll give her anything. Its then she requests to be the one who kills the Unicorn. This brings him back into control as he laughs in pleasure at the thought of it.

Having the plates ready, they follow Darkness into the dungeon and prepare to shoot arrows down at him as Oona flies off to tell Screwball to shine the light in. As they take aim, Darkness gives one last prayer to his father and the beings of the night, that they may rein in a new era of Dark.

He then signals Lily to star this new era. Gump warns Jack that she is beyond saving now as she has joined him and that the unicorn must come first. As she readies her strike, he says he'll kill her but Jack demands to do it. Remembering back to her asking if she trusts him, Jack says he'll always trust her.

It's then that she swings the sword down and breaks the chain, freeing the Mare. Jack then fires down at Darkness hoping to kill him. The arrow does nothing however as Darkness strikes her down. Enraged, Jack grabs a chain and swings down to attack, but is knocked over. Gump fires a few more arrows into Darkness but they fail to do anything as he charges with his horns at Jack and stares him down.

A fight then begins between Jack and Darkness. As they battle, Oona finds Screwball asleep at the top of the Tree. Throughout the fight, Darkness overpowers Jack in both weapons and physical combat, although Jack manages to get some offense in occasionally.

When he gets him trapped, Darkness goes for the final kill, but Jack gets out of the way and goes for the Stallions horn which Darkness dropped amidst the chaos. As he grabs it from boiling water, he throws it into Darkness, stabbing it into him. As this happens, Oona wakes up Screwball and they manage to make the mirrors reflect, shooting light through the tree and into Darkness.

As Darkness uses the horn to stop him from flying out of the window into the stars and universe, Jack picks up the giant sword he used and readies to strike. However, Darkness laughs and proclaims that he is truly eternal, as there will always be Darkness as long as Light exists. Despite this, Jack swings and cuts off his hand, making Darkness tumble into the stars and into oblivion.

After they've regrouped, Jack finds Lily unconscious. Gump says that she's under a deep spell and only he can break it. He says they can't help as they have a promise to keep to the unicorn.

Going back to the forest, Jack dives back into the pond and looks for the ring Lily threw into it. Diving deeper, he rises again, this time with the ring in hand. Putting it on her finger, he proclaims his love for her and kisses her. She then awakens to the idea of it all being a bad nightmare.

She claims though that the nightmare made her learn something about herself. She then asks Jack if she can come back tomorrow (hinting that despite their love, they're from too different of worlds to be together), to which he says yes. Lily then runs off to her world as Jack then runs to the sunset, looking back briefly to see Gump, Screwball, Brown Tom, Oona, Blunder and waving at him, along with the Mare and the newly revived Stallion with its horn back.

Fun Facts

As I said above, there are 2 different versions of this film. The basic story and structure is the same all the way through, but with some very visible differences. Here's what you'll see in the US theatrical version:

• A completely different score was used, with a more adventurous and rock like sound.
• The opening has a brief showing of words that explain the history of Darkness and the Unicorns and the relationship of Jack and Lily.
• In it, Darkness has a shorter different monologue and is seen in a black light with glowing claws and eyes. He's also in a different area of his fortress when Blix arrives.
• Several scenes are cut short on the conversations and events through out the entire film.
• Lily isn't referenced to be a Princess at all in it.
• Blix's blade is shown cutting off the Horn of the Unicorn
• Inside the fortress, a scene not in the DC version is shown where man beasts erupt from the ground and attack Jack and Gump.
• Darkness losses his temper because Lily will not eat or drink, not because she won't sit in his chair.
• The film has a different ending, where they show the Unicorn's horn being restored and the revival of Lily leads to them running off happily ever after as opposed to the ending where they go there separate ways for the time being. Also, when Gump and his group are waving goodbye, the scene fades away to reveal Darkness laughing and confirming what he said before his death, that he is in fact eternal.

Recommended for Ages 6 and 7

Reasons: On occasion I will bend my rules if I feel it's appropriate. This is one such case. The film, despite being a Fairy Tale, has some harsh language such as "Damn It!", "Damn you!" and "Shit". Usually such language would warrant a higher rating, but it's only once you can tell when they're saying it clear as day. I actually needed the Subtitles on to find the language, which means you will too unless you have damn good hearing. The only bloodshed in the film is when Darkness is bleeding from the arrows shot into him. The Goblins and Darkness with there extensive make up could give them a few chills, but at the same time it could easily give your kids excitement as there make up and sets are very impressive (these where the days before Green Screens where used up the ass).

That's it for this issue. Stay tuned next time as we get a visit from beyond...by the ghost with the most! Until then, take care.