Amazon.com: John Gilling shot this supernatural thriller after wrapping Plague of the Zombies, using that film's locale and even some of the same sets. Noel Willman stars as the mysterious Dr. Franklyn, a reclusive nobleman with a beautiful daughter (Jacqueline Pearce) he keeps hidden away--and for good reason. His daughter carries a curse, the result of his forays into forbidden knowledge in the Far East, and transforms into an uncontrollable, snakelike creature who preys upon the local villagers. Gilling's spooky, mist-enshrouded countryside and foreboding interior atmosphere is undercut somewhat by Pearce's unconvincing makeup, but her freakish appearance is still startling and the gruesome corpses she leaves in her wake are genuinely unsettling. The film has been remastered from the original 35mm negatives in the Hammer vaults and letterboxed to its original aspect ratio. --Sean Axmaker
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - Avoid any Cornish village populated by residents who are all in denial
Others have written excellent plot summaries of The Reptile, so I will go right to what I like so much about it:
1. The cast is outstanding. Michael Ripper, who is in almost all Hammer films and hardly ever plays someone of any intellect, is featured more in The Reptile. This role is actually a change of pace for him and it's good to see him getting to do more.
2. The Reptile is a companion piece to Plague of the Zombies--same director, screenwriter, sets, and some of the same cast. It had to have been made around the same time as Plague.
3. Anyone who likes Plague of the ... Read More
Rating: - Hits all the right notes for a Hammer horror
An original premise, great atmosphere, good cast - this has all the elements we've come to expect from a Hammer gothic horror. There are no stars, but the cast is excellent anyway, especially Noel Willman, Jacqueline Pearce and Hammer veteran Michael Ripper, in one of his finest roles.
The makeup and effects are memorable, even if the Reptile's occasionally shoddy appearance has caused a bit of mirth over the years.
Rating: - Why Are These DVD's Going OOP So Faast
The Ones I'm Talking about are The Hammer Collection DVDs By themselves "Not The Double Features" and Even Some of the DF's are oop There are some I Want Like "Dracula - Prince of Darkness"
or "The Reptile" and "Frankenstein Created Woman" But they are oop I Have This Movie the one i have is "The Lost Continent/The Reptile. The Lost Continent Sucked It Would be Better if I Had Just The DVD of "The Reptile" Come on Achor Bay You guys went oop
tooo fast
Rating: - Another Good film from Hammer
A soldier and his wife arrive at the village of his recently deceased brother. His plans to live in his brother's cottage are met with warnings from the locals that bad things have been happening in the area including mysterious deaths. The quest to discover what is killing the locals then takes place as weird visits from the occupants of the nearby castle begin. It turns out that the curse of the snake people has been placed upon the daughter of the doctor living in the castle causing her to turn into a reptile periodically and bite people during the process. The storyline is somewhat cheesy ... Read More
Rating: - overlooked Hammer delight
Hammer was a class act. They gave us great films, with lush attention to settings, costumes and location shooting. They gave you incisive writing, witty dialog (well, most of the time) and they are unsurpassed for creating atmosphere. They made screen legends out of Lee and Cushing, and brought old horror tells into vivid color, with plenty of sexy-babes around to please the lads. For some reason, The Reptile, one of their better efforts works, tends to go unnoticed or dismissed. Could it be because of the "creature" was a mere female instead of the tall dashing Lee?
- 
- 
- 