This is How Movies Should Be Made

one of my absolute favorites!

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Thanks to the presence of Private Fraser from Dad's Army (John Laurie), you can't help but think of his famous catchphrase when Mad Peter stumbles into view, skin blackening horribly from the venomous bite he's received. I know I shouldn't but I giggled...The Reptile is another very good programmer from Hammer; again like PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES it went out as support to a much inferior film (RASPUTIN THE MAD MONK). And it had the smallest budget of the four back to back Hammers that were shot in the summer of 1965. Often viewed as evidence of a cheaper approach it's sometimes forgotten that this was nothing new for Hammer. They first did it with Dracula and REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN, two of Hammer's greatest movies. With a fine performance from Jacqueline Pierce in the title role and the cool presence of Noel Wilman as her long-suffering father we are in good hands acting wise.The scene were Jennifer Daniel and Roy Barrett are "entertained" by Anna's sitar playing, Wilman glowering in the background as Anna's pounding music speaks of her desire for freedom is a remarkable one, and not easily forgotten. The poison make up used for her victims is also quite horrifying (aside from Mr. Laurie!) The Reptile herself though is a less successful make-up job, although gladly it's largely kept off-screen until the end.The Reptile, like PLAGUE, is a sort of Cornish horror with a Conan Doyle feel to it. Very atmospheric and well worth a look.

After the strange death of his brother, a man and his wife relocate to a remote cottage he's inherited in Cornwall. Weird goings on with the locals, a neighbor, and mysterious deaths in the area seem to be linked to a bizarre creature.One of Hammer's finer, if not campier (by today's standards), efforts, "The Reptile" is immensely enjoyable on the level of pure atmosphere alone. Like most of Hammer's most memorable pictures, the film weaves a tapestry of British atmospherics—the rural English countryside, the quaint cottage, and the ominous forests take center stage here. There is something spellbinding about these films in the way that they fashion their own atmospheric universes, and "The Reptile" is a stellar example of it done extremely well.The score here fantastic and there are some well-handled attack scenes with the titular monster; the film is also surprisingly suspenseful and is able to ratchet the tension over the first seventy or so minutes. Things don't really propel steadfastly until the last fifteen to twenty minutes, but there is plenty of atmosphere and tension preceding it that makes the payoff just good enough. The film's final scene is really fantastic, and the special effects on the monster are commendable by today's standards, despite how absurd the entire thing may really be. The acting also holds up surprisingly well, with Ray Barrett as the leading man and Jennifer Daniel as his inquisitive wife. Marne Maitland is subtly sinister as The Malay, and lends the film an additional element of perturbation.Overall, "The Reptile" is a fun, atmospheric romp through the cold-blooded monster-land of the English countryside. It is most definitely dated in many ways, though it retains enough atmosphere and suspense to be enjoyable today, no matter how you feel about a half-woman half-snake lurking about the moors. Worthwhile for fans of Hammer as well as anyone who likes a good old fashioned monster movie with a British twist. 7/10.

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.

When his brother is mysteriously killed by a reptilian creature that causes him to foam at the mouth and turn green, Harry Spalding (Ray Barrett) inherits his cottage and moves in with his wife Valerie (Jennifer Daniel). Shunned by the towns yokels but befriended by the brilliantly bearded innkeeper Tom (Michael Ripper), Harry becomes interested in the rumours of the townsfolk dying from the 'black death'. When they alert the local doctor, Dr. Franklyn (Noel Willman), he dismisses any responsibility, and they become puzzled by his strange behaviour towards his daughter and his creepy servant. Is the black death really to blame? Of course not, it's a big reptile-human hybrid thing!As good as Hammer's output was, they levelled it out with a lot of quickly made crap. They shot films furiously fast on a wafer-thin budget to serve as warm-ups to main features. While sometimes this produced some genuinely good stuff (The Plague of the Zombies - also directed by Gilling), often it did not. The Reptile served as an accompaniment to Rasputin The Mad Monk, and it's place as a mere quickie is evident to see. It is hammily acted (usually a good thing), badly scripted, and has some quite shockingly bad make-up. And lead Ray Barrett clearly wasn't the most gifted of actors. However, the mysterious plot that remains a puzzle right until the very end almost saves it, but this still remains a very poor effort, though it's a nice enough way to pass 90 minutes.www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com