The Lair of the White Worm (1988)

From my favorite movies..

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Well written and acted. Its probably more of a mystery with supernatural theme than horror, until the end. Very sexy performance by Amanda Donahoe too which made it all the more worth watching. A fun trip back to the 80's with snakes. Stop reading, go watch.

I have seen a lot of movie like this one. A a lot of them were better.I can not believe it got a 5.8 is this so awful. The story line is awful. The ending is awful. There are some good actors in this movie but they wasted there talent. Ken Russell was an awful writer and an awful director. Peter Capaldi is a great actor. Amanda Donohe is a great actress. It is to bad they ended up in this crap. It not porn because of few nude scenes. But is not good. It is not scary at all. Do not see this movie. It is a wast of time. It is also a waste of money. It is very stinky. Ken Russell has not talent. Bram Stoker had talent the book is probably better. Do not see this movie. Pooh pooh that is what this movie is I tell you pooh pooh.

When you watch this Ken Russell movie "The Lair Of The White Worm" you will know why he got the nickname Kinky Ken. Of all the Ken Russell directed movies that I have seen this is definitely the kinkiest of them all. There are dream sequences in this horror movie that border on the depraved, so much so that you wonder how it got past the censors. Maybe they had all gone out for a cup of coffee!. Like most Ken Russell films it is visually imaginative & fascinating viewing. Amanda Donahue plays a very sexy kind of Countess Dracula & she is just great fun to watch. We see her in all manner of kinky costumes & nudity. After she picks up a boy hitch-hiker she takes him to her home, baths him & then dispatches him with a love-bite. Hugh Grant plays an R.A.F. pilot neighbour who knocks on her door & is invited in. During drinks he innocently asks her if she has any children. "Only when there are no men around", she answers. I think you probably get the drift of all this by now. This is definitely a weirdo movie but nonetheless interesting viewing.

After seeing Ken's The Devils again after many year's gap and of course, his passing from this world to the next (what WILL he make of that, whichever direction he goes - the jury are still out on that one!) I'm making a real point of seeing all this work, as finances and availability allows. Divisive and forthright film critic Mark Kermode always cited Russell as being Britain's greatest living Director - he may need to amend the phrasing of that one...now.From beautifully crafted period romps (Women In Love, The Boyfriend, Valentino), Rock Opera (Tommy) to possibly his finest works, his biographical tributes to the great composers (Mahler, The Music Lovers - forget Lizstomania, truly awful), one spirals downwards into the deep recesses of Ken's imagination. Altered States, The Devils of course and now, this, only available it seems imported from Germany, The Lair....Starting out quite typically as a 1970's Hammer-style shock-flick, with an array of UK actors who've, shall we say, moved onto other projects, we have the innocuous archaeologist (Scot Peter Capaldi) unearthing the skull of the said beast, the film seems innocent and restrained enough.Within half an hour though, an extremely well-toned and lithe Amanda Donahue who has a boy scout in her bathtub, pushing his head under with a devilishly high-heeled black stiletto, whilst dressed in the slinkiest of black satin underwear. Here, we have both temptress and preying mantis and one, as male, red-blooded viewer feels total satisfaction already for the £11 spent on the DVD.Hugh Grant, is of course, the local landowner and jolly toff, with squiffy hair and clipped voice and Lady Marsh's (Donahue) neighbour, so he pops in.To be honest, I'm not in it for the story and don't care too much if there isn't one. That said, there's a fair stab at one, which I might follow more closely when I get to watch the film again, in a year or two. With reviews ranging from dire to poor and back again, I was almost dreading watching it at all. But, it is very well made, the DVD transfer bright and crisp and has plenty of Ken's hallucinatory sequences, which are often more akin to choreographed theatre (check out the Concorde flight stewardess sequence) than some of his more phallic grotesque 'creations' in some other films.Some of the deeper nightmare sequences are Dali-esque, with moving montages, that these days look a bit rubbish, but Ken didn't have digital manipulation software to stitch them neatly together. So, overall, if you've travelled down the road that is Ken Russell and like me, got this far, this IS a worthy addition.