This month I was driven by universal forces to re-watch Legend. If you’re not sure what that is, it’s a dark fantasy film from 1985 starring a very young Tom Cruise alongside Mia Sara who I always get confused with Marisa Tomei. The eighties produced a real bumper crop of stunning, elfin brunettes with cute smiles. See: Winona Ryder et al. 

This film forms a core component of my psyche, snuggled together with Willow and The Last Unicorn (Earlier this year I read The Last Unicorn by Peter S Beagle for the first time and it was a real treat. Highly recommend). Cut me open and you will find copious glitter, the words “I am the Queen Bavmorda” and a fearful dread of the Red Bull.  

Legend brought together in one film all the magical fixations of my childhood; unicorns, princesses, mysterious dungeons, pixies and woodsy boys with an affinity for animals. Anyone who watched The Secret Garden as a child and thought Mary should have picked Dickon over Colin will know what I’m talking about. Even with the unfortunate name, he was the MVP of that movie. Legend combines these elements in a way that is so unashamedly fantastical, so sincere and without mockery that it reminded me why I love writing fantasy. 

And if Dickon was the MVP of The Secret Garden, for me the MVP for Legend would have to be the Honeythorn Gump the forest elf, played by David Bennet. Gump’s character embodies the film’s eerie and otherworldly tone. His demeanour pivots on a knife edge between friendly and sinister. His staring unblinking expression is like that of an owl, predatory and keen. It has strong echoes of Gene Wilder’s portrayal of Willy Wonka in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Will he help you? Will he kill you? Who knows! The fun is in finding out. 

Rewatching Legend after a long break was an inspiration. I watched it and thought: this is the vibe I want to capture when I write. Danger and whimsy woven together in one haunting tale. I want to stick the glitter to the page and dance with shadows. The beauty and underlying menace of Legend is like a moving mood board for my writing, one that keeps me from never straying too far from the real core of what I’m trying to achieve through the medium of words. Plenty of other, arguably better fantasy films have been made since Legend arrived on the big screens but it’s a cult classic for a reason. So if you were looking for a sign to watch or re-watch Legend, consider this it.