SYNOPSICS
The Lair of the White Worm (1988) is a English movie. Ken Russell has directed this movie. Amanda Donohoe,Hugh Grant,Catherine Oxenberg,Peter Capaldi are the starring of this movie. It was released in 1988. The Lair of the White Worm (1988) is considered one of the best Comedy,Horror movie in India and around the world.
Scottish archaeologist Angus Flint discovers an odd skull amid the ruins of a convent that he is excavating. Shortly thereafter, Lady Sylvia Marsh returns to Temple House, a nearby mansion, far earlier than expected. At a party in the village, Angus meets Lord James D'Ampton, who has just inherited his family's land right next to Temple House. Angus learns of the D'Ampton Worm, a huge dragon-snake that an earlier D'Ampton killed by cutting it in half. (There's a pretty catchy rock-folk song that tells the D'Ampton Worm legend.) As people begin disappearing and acting strangely over the next few days, the skull is stolen from Angus's room, and the watch of a missing person is found in a cavern that was the legendary home of the D'Ampton worm. Angus and James discover that there was an ancient cult that worshiped the worm as a god, and they theorize that the creature somehow survived its destruction, but it was trapped inside the cavern. The remainder of the movie shows Angus, James, ...
Same Actors
The Lair of the White Worm (1988) Reviews
A Hidden Classic worthy of Cult Status
I've now seen Ken Russell's adaptation of Bram Stoker's story about half a dozen times, each at different points in my life. This is one of those few movies that seems to age very well and get better with each viewing. Never a big fan of Russell, his over the top visual style seems right at home in this sometimes campy, sometimes scary, always entertaining horror film. But what makes this film stand far above others in its genre is the fact that it is in actuality a wicked black comedy. Every time I see it i pick up on something new that is in the background of a scene or some piece of dialogue I previously overlooked and I burst out laughing. The film features probably the single best line of any movie ever made, delivered with dead-pan foppishness by a not-yet famous Hugh Grant. "I believe we probably have another reptile on the premises." Watch it and you'll understand why it's so funny. It's all about context. While some may find many flaws in this production, I recommend just going with the flow and trusting Russel and his cast, who all also seem to be in on the joke. Amanda Donohoe as the evil serpentine priestess and Stratford Johns as Hugh Grant's butler are particularly on target with every line delivered. I'm going out on a limb and giving this a 10/10. In actuality it probably deserves and 8/10 at best. But it is one of my personal faves and seems to age like a fine wine.
A great date movie!
I've heard the complaints before, from men of all walks of life: "SHE wants to watch some syrupy romantic slush starring Hugh Grant, I want to watch something with hot, naked, snake-worshipping chicks!" Well, complain no more! Here's a flick that's got both in one! That's right, England-cum-America's favorite foppish, eye-lid-fluttering sex symbol does battle with naked half-snake-half-human devil worshippers, giant white worms, and the forces of evil! Well, actually Hugh only kills one snake-human hybrid, and it's an old lady. And he keeps pretty far away from the action-packed finale face-off, letting his odd shut-in pal Angus do all the fighting. But you DO get to see the star of "Notting Hill" slice an old lady in half with a broad sword, and that alone is worth the price of admission! I enjoyed this movie, what with it's quaint, folksy atmosphere, it's kilt-wearin' heroes, and it's sexy villainess who seduces a hapless boy scout (!) into entering her hot tub of evil. There's even public-access-esque dream sequences where a Sid & Marty Krofft-type snake puppet molests Jesus Christ while nuns are tortured- and who doesn't want to see that? A very strange movie, to say the least.
Hilarious campy trash full of nudge, nudge, wink, wink smutty humor.
I'm not going to strain my brain trying to work out just what Ken Russell was trying to achieve with 'The Lair Of The White Worm', but he ended up with a semi-classic slice of campy, sleazy trash that is full of nudge, nudge, wink, wink smutty humor. There's absolutely no way anyone could take this one seriously! I haven't read Bram Stoker's novel so I don't know how much the movie has to do with it, but Russell takes EVERY opportunity for to show a phallic symbol or a puerile gag, and that, added to the tongue in cheek performances from the cast (especially Peter Capaldi, Hugh Grant and the delicious Amanda Donohoe), makes this one of the silliest and most entertaining movies you'll ever see. Donohoe is just brilliant, the monster is cheesy, the blatant gags will make you roll your eyes and groan, and there are a few extraordinary Russell touches in the very brief, quasi-psychedelic "visions" experienced by a few of the characters. 'The Lair Of The White Worm' is certainly not for everybody, but there's nothing else quite like it, not even in Russell's very strange ouevre, and if you "get it" it's a complete hoot!
do not pass up the chance to see this film
Why is this film consistently downgraded as "dire" etc...? It is one of the funniest I have ever seen. It is sexy, camp, and laughs at its own pretensions. Hugh is a delicious parody of himself Ice. the character he was born to play. Amanda Donahoe is the sexiest snake priestess ever. It contains the psychedelic trademarks of the Russell mindset: exquisitely blasphemous, gaudy, kinky and tripped out. I love introducing people to this film - if I can read their personality right that is. I've got it wrong once or twice and some just find it confusing and weird...others see these characteristics as creative virtues. I give it a 10 - nobody could (or has yet to my knowledge*) done this sort of genre-play better. (*corrections invited - I would love to find something else in this pigeonhole as good.)
Alluring,sensuous, witty and Ken Russell.
Of all the Ken Russell films this is my favourite. I found it extremely sensuous and the snake imagery a 'classic'. This is also one of the best Hugh Grant movies out considering he has become hopelessly typecast these days. Russell uses three different versions of the legend of the "Dampton" worm and this includes that written by Bram Stoker. The other two based on stories within Britain. And surprisingly enough the tale is closer to them than Stoker. Amanda Donohoe was simply stunning as Sylvia and she delivered her lines with charm and wit, and her costuming was slithering skintight scrumptiously slinky. I even bought a snakes and ladders set just like the one "Rosebud" that she threw into the flames. The worm was brilliant and deserved an Oscar for his role as he arose from the depth of the cave. I also love the song played in the beginning too. My only irk is that Catherines voice appears to be dubbed by someone else. One of the high points for me was when Sylvia sprayed venom over the cross. My reason for voting this movie so high is because it delivers on so many levels and it is a 'classic' in my book.