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Memorable, crazy movie

Crappy film

Absolutely the worst movie.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

By all rights, Hammer's quartet of cheapie pictures (DRACULA: PRINCE OF DARKNESS, RASPUTIN THE MAD MONK, PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES and this) deserved little, if any success. However the four films present some of the best of the Hammer output, four rich little horror films which blend the subtle chills with some gory shocks - and are all films which remarkably disguise their low budgets with a classy sheen. Only RASPUTIN is an average film while the other three are among my Hammer favourites. THE REPTILE is a smashing film from beginning to end, a perfect little film in every way. The structure is good (there is a deliberate slow pace, in order to build the tension) and the music is the typical Gothic dread we have come to expect from the famous studio, but it is perhaps the story which remains the most interesting aspect, a spin on the werewolf legend with a reptile monster taking the place of the wolf.The reptile could easily have been an object of ridicule (like the cardboard creations in THE MUTATIONS), but thanks to Roy Ashton's famous make up, it remains the most inventive creature in the whole Hammer horror cycle. The fangs and bug eyes may not be the most realistic things ever portrayed, but they're original and cleverly done, and perhaps the work of a genius. Once again, Hammer have come up with a fine ensemble cast who perform their roles perfectly, capturing every side of their characters. There's Jennifer Daniel as the ubiquitous blonde female victim, and Jacqueline Pearce as the lovely but quite deadly Anna, cursed to become a snake woman. Her looks are memorable whether she's in snake form or not.Ray Barrett stars as the rugged hero, appearing somewhat like a Welsh version of Rod Taylor, while Noel Willman plays his role perfectly as the stern, coldly aloof, unlikable doctor (come to think of it, Christopher Lee would have been great too), torn between protecting his daughter and his own interests. He too is an imposing screen presence, almost up there with the Cushings and Lees of the period. The supporting players are perhaps the most memorable. Michael Ripper gives solid support as a pub landlord (what else? Expect the usual dialogue such as, "they don't like strangers round here!") who offers assistance whenever he can, and his is a heartfelt performance of a genuinely kind, friendly character. John Laurie plays another eccentric person, and his cries of "corrupt and evil, corrupt and evil" are certainly similar to "we're all doomed"! With a burning mansion at the end, plenty of heroism, shocks, grave digging, memorable make up, and solid acting, THE REPTILE remains one of my Hammer favourites. It just has that polished feel to it, with gruesome activities taking place in a quite rural village, that I love. You won't be disappointed.

A Hammer horror from '66 which may look dated by today's standards but is worth sitting through due to it's tense thrills and suspense which will keep you guessing all the way until the truth is revealed. Harry Spalding (Ray Barrett) and his wife (Jennifer Daniel) inherit a house in the middle of nowhere (well, Cornwall) after the mysterious death of his brother. Strange things start happening as the couple settle in and meet their neighbours Dr Franklyn (Noel Willman) and his daughter Anna (Jaqueline Pearce). While most people in the local village are staying quiet the inn-keeper Tom Bailey (Michael Ripper) tries to help Harry find the truth. Dr Franklyn tries to persuade Harry to sell the house and move away as people have been dying from a 'black death', Franklyn seems to be involved somehow but Harry wants to treat carefully to find out without himself becoming embroiled in events. Using the same set and filmed back to back with another Hammer classic - "Plague of Zombies" this is really a low budget gem and was a warm up act for "Rasputin: The Mad Monk". John Gilling directed this 90 minute classic which is somewhat under rated. Perhaps people see the poster/box cover and don't want to watch the film based on the make up effects of the 'reptile' however if you ignore that and sit back and just watch the film you'll be happily surprised. 7 out of 10

John Gilling directed this atmospheric film that stars Ray Barrett and Jennifer Daniel as Harry & Valerie Spalding, a young couple who have arrived in a Cornish village after he inherits it following the mysterious death of his brother Charles. Their new neighbor Dr. Franklyn(played by Noel Willman) tells them to leave, but his daughter Anna befriends them, little realizing that it is sweet Anna who is responsible for the deaths, as she was cursed into becoming a human/reptile hybrid by an evil cult, whose representative isn't far away... Superb Hammer studios film has an intelligent story and fine performances, with Ray Ashton's makeup F/X a standout, leading to exciting climax. One of the best Hammer horrors.

This 1966 offering from the famous Hammer studios starts off fairly well, building up a nice air of mystery in spite of a pre-credits sequence which rather unnecessarily lets the cat out of the bag. It's all very clichéd stuff, really - Captain Harry Spalding and his wife arrive in a small Cornish village to take possession of the cottage that belonged to his late brother, who recently died in mysterious circumstances.Spalding finds the locals very stand-offish, and they have an annoying habit (but convenient to the plot) of talking in riddles about a "black death" which is killing people, whilst also hinting that "they" are responsible for the deaths without elaborating further.The Spaldings are visited in turn by their abrasive and evasive neighbour Doctor Franklyn and his considerably more affable daughter Anna, who seems to be frightened of her father and repressed by him.Ultimately, of course, it turns out that the beautiful Anna is the victim of some curse from an Eastern 'snake cult' which causes her to transform periodically into a reptilian monster, whose lethal bite is causing the mysterious deaths in the village.Unfortunately, the plot begins to unravel more and more as the film progresses and rather than explaining most of the mysterious things that have been happening, the subsequent events serve only to ignore them.The locals' hostility towards Spalding is never explained beyond an initial "they don't like strangers in these parts" comment. The ransacking of Spalding's cottage is never explained. There's a shocking lack of exploration into the psyche of Anna/The Reptile - Why does she kill? What's her motivation? Is she even aware, when in human form, that she becomes this monster? It's just not made clear.Likewise, her father's behaviour is a bit bizarre and seems to stem from a need to add drama and intrigue into the plot rather than any logical motivation. Supposedly he's keeping Anna repressed to limit the harm she can cause in her reptilian form, and you could understand him not wanting people poking their noses into his affairs, but even so, his rudeness to others seems extreme whilst wandering into other people's property uninvited is clearly going to make people curious about you, as does angrily smashing up a sitar in front of dinner guests because you don't like the way your daughter is playing it (an interesting sequence which again is left very ambiguous). Franklyn's treatment of his daughter suggests she's at fault for everything, he certainly doesn't show her an ounce of sympathy for the condition his actions brought upon her. This is at odds with the rest of the film which suggests Anna is the innocent victim.Things get progressively sillier. For a start, is it really necessary to go digging up bodies just to see if they have bites on their neck? Where are the police in this film? Or the local doctor? You know, the sort of people you expect to arrive on the scene when people are dying mysteriously.The reason the deaths are a mystery, of course, is that a bite victim dies quickly, before they can raise the alarm and explain what has happened to them. So why, when Spalding is bitten, does he have time to run all the way back across the moor to his house? Furthermore, with the deadly venom having had time to circulate around his body, how does making a small cut in his neck prevent him from dying? How does he even know to do this when, by his own earlier admission, he has absolutely no medical knowledge at all? Even more absurdly, reptiles need to keep warm so Franlyn's mansion has a convenient bubbling sulphur pit in its cellar. I wonder how long it took him to find a property on the market with such a facility? Still, it's not all bad. The cast are generally very good, with Michael Ripper (in a sizable role for once!) and Jacqueline Pearce being particularly worthy of mention. Sets, costumes and effects are mostly good, the exception being the rather weak appearance of the monster, though these are wisely kept to brief glimpses. Playing the story out as a mystery at least keeps the viewer interested in it throughout, even if the ending isn't very satisfying.I'd much rather have seen a bit more depth to the relationship between Franklyn and his daughter Anna, and seen her more visibly locked in some struggle between her good 'human' persona and her evil 'reptilian' one, and Franklyn portrayed as a more sympathetic character torn between his love for his daughter and his horror at the murders she is responsible for. However, this is ultimately a film designed for 'surface' horror, easily-digestible set pieces which we're not supposed to think about too much.