The Reptile (1966)

Powerful

Good movie but grossly overrated

Absolutely the worst movie.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Hammer horror flick about a man who goes to a small village to claim the house he inherited from his late brother. He meets with the usual distrustful locals wary of outsiders and soon finds there are mysterious goings-on around the village, namely a suspicious doctor and people dropping dead from snake bites. In many ways a by-the-numbers Hammer plot. The only thing different really is the monster of the picture, which should be no real surprise given the title and even a quick glance at a poster or DVD cover. It's not a bad movie of its type, just slow-going and familiar. The cast is all good and the special effects are...interesting. There are some nice atmospheric moments as you might expect from Hammer but I do wish they had revealed the monster sooner. The last ten minutes or so is the most exciting.

... to have a thankless child! This is a marvellous companion to the other excellent Hammer film made previously, Plague Of The Zombies - both had good daft stories, used the same sets, and also stalwart Michael Ripper was in both.A man meets a horrible frothing death in an insular Cornish village, his brother (Ray Barratt) finds he's inherited his cottage that needs no locks and decides to move in with his wife, much to everyone's consternation. The village apparently has no police or a doctor - except an unfriendly doctor of theology (Noel Willman) with a rather weird daughter, but pub landlord Ripper seems to more than adequately cover for everyone. Is it the Black Death that's stalking the land or is there a weirder or a more prosaic explanation? If you know your Hammer you should know the answer, but the story is expertly and atmospherically delivered, and on the usual studio shoestring budget. Therefore that means the special effects aren't so special, but in those circumstances totally forgivable. Favourite bits: the way Barratt kept unintentionally emptying the pub; the pleasant but maybe too short after dinner sitar solo; Willman's frantic explanation to the wife – and he thought he sounded so plausible to her!I enjoyed it when I was a kid and still do, it's very easy for me to settle comfortably into and receive the familiar mild frisson - admittedly not most people's idea of the requirements for a decent horror movie! It's one of my favourite Hammer films with no gore, garish colour or torn bodices but plenty of atmosphere and plot.

The Reptile starts as Harry George Spalding (Ray Barrett) & his new wife Valerie (Jennifer Daniel) inherit his brother's cottage after his sudden death put down to heart failure. The couple decide to move into the cottage near a small village in Cornwall & live there, however when they reach the village the locals are less than friendly & after trying to find out more about his brother's untimely death Harry becomes convinced that something strange is going on, the other mysterious death's, a lack of any sort of investigation & the ramblings of a local drunk known as Mad Peter (John Laurie) all point to the sinister Dr. Franklyn (Noel Willman). Harry & the local landlord Tom Bailey (Michael Ripper) discover that all the victims had bite marks on their necks made by some sort of Snake. All the clues point back to Dr. Franklyn & his innocent looking young daughter Anna (Jacqueline Pearce) but when Harry is called to see Anna he is attacked & bitten by some creature...This British production was directed by John Gilling for Hammer studios & was made at the peak of their popularity, after having filmed versions of Dracula, Frankenstein & The Mummy I guess Hammer were looking to make horror films with some different monsters in which is probably why the likes of The Gorgon (1964), The Plague of the Zombies (1966), Rasputin: The Mad Monk (1966), The Witches (1966) & One Million Years B.C. (1966) were all produced by Hammer in a short space of time. While none of these film has gone on to be as famous as Hammer's Dracula & Frankenstein films they are worth watching & The Reptle is still a very good horror film, maybe a bit slow for modern audiences but if you have the patience & like a sustained build-up, a nice atmosphere & good storytelling then The Reptile delivers. The script starts off very well with the death of Edward Spalding, his brother turning up & investigating his death despite hostility from the locals with some horrible unseen menace lurking in the background that is only hinted at & a nice set of character's that go against expectation by the end. It's just a shame that the climax is weak, I mean the Reptile is defeated by breaking a window? Also the explanations behind the Reptile itself are a little weak too, why does this Reptile want to kill people anyway? For what reason? Why does Anna turn into the Reptile every so often? What triggers her transformation? Despite a few shortcomings in the plot I still liked The reptile & thought it was a solid & satisfying horror suspense film that kept my interest even though I did feel a little shortchanged at the end.Filmed back to back with Hammers The Plague of the Zombies this reused many of the same sets, cast & crew to good effect in order to save money. I certainly recognised the graveyard & local village sets, while The Plague of the Zombies is the better film both films make for a good double feature & are remarkably similar. Despite wanting to move away from Dracula the effect of the Reptile biting it's victims is two fang wounds in their neck just like a Vampire bite so I guess it's not that different. There's no real blood or gore here, the one big effect is when the Reptile creature is finally revealed towards the end & it doesn't look that bad but probably won't convince many people today. I think the big stationary Bug like eyes really kill the effect. The Reptile drips atmosphere, there's plenty of foggy nights in the small English village where this takes place.Probably shot on a budget of next to nothing The Reptile looks good & is well made, the acting is pretty good from an unfamiliar looking Hammer cast.The Reptile is a good solid horror mystery from Hammer that could have done with a little bit more plot but the first hour or so is terrific stuff, it's a just a shame when the Reptile show's up & things are ended in rather weak, lazy & abrupt fashion.

A man dies under mysterious circumstances. His brother and his wife inherit his house and immediately move into the remote area where he lived. They soon discover that all is not well in the area and the source of the problem could stem from an odd neighbour called Dr. Franklyn…The Reptile is a slightly offbeat Gothic horror film from Hammer Studios. While its setting is pretty standard, its monster is more original than usual. For this reason it's somewhat unfortunate that it isn't better than it actually is. The whole idea about the Malayan snake cult is a good one but it's never really developed as much as it could be. While the film's climax is a little underwhelming.There are some good things in here though. The overall atmosphere of mystery is effective and details like the weird music of death heard in the distant night are great. Moreover, the best scene in the film for me is the moment when Dr Franklyn's daughter plays her sitar manically for the benefit of their guests. It's so weird it's terrific. It's evident from this sequence that something strange is going on behind the scenes and that there is some uncomfortable secret between father and daughter. Moments like this are what elevate The Reptile. The cast is variable. The only real stand-outs are Marne Maitland as the enigmatic man servant and Jacqueline Pearce as the mysterious daughter.Ultimately this is not an essential Hammer entry. It's relatively original though, with some memorable moments. Fans of the studio's output should like it though.