The Reptile (1966)

Directed by John Gilling [Other horror films: Escape from Broadmoor (1938), Mother Riley Meets the Vampire (1952), The Gamma People (1956), The Flesh and the Fiends (1960), The Shadow of the Cat (1961), The Night Caller (1965), The Plague of the Zombies (1966), The Mummy’s Shroud (1967), La cruz del diablo (1975)]

This Hammer film does quite a lot right, and though sometimes compared to films such as The Gorgon, I’ve always tended to find this film a wee bit better.

Filmed back-to-back with The Plague of the Zombies (which explains why so much of the setting is familiar), the story here is quite fun. Once we find out exactly what’s going on in this small Cornish village, it’s not that much a surprise, but the story and mystery are still pretty decent, and also has good suspense here and there.

Personally, I think one of the biggest drawing points would be the engaging characters. Dr. Franklyn (played by Noel Willman) was such a complex and interesting individual, and I sort of wish he had a bit more time toward the end to fully explain his part in things. Playing his daughter Anna was Jacqueline Pearce, who had some mystery behind her. The barkeep, an individual named Tom (Michael Ripper), has to be one of my favorite sidekick characters, and though he’s rather gruff at first, ends up being quite lovable.

Of course, the characters wouldn’t matter much without the performances. Ray Barrett made a solid lead character, and his investigations into his brother’s death, with the help of Jennifer Daniel (his wife) and the aforementioned Michael Ripper. I loved Ripper (The Mummy’s Shroud) in the film; even better was Noel Willman, who isn’t an actor I really know (both he and Jennifer Daniel also appeared in The Kiss of the Vampire), but his performance was great. Marne Maitland, John Laurie, and Jacqueline Pearce were limited in how much they contributed, but they still did well.

Unlike The Gorgon, I thought the effects here were decent, especially the make-up on the snake-like antagonist. It had a similar vibe to Cult of the Cobra – what with a secret group of snake people tying into the plot – but The Reptile had a pretty scary design for their makeup, and being in color, it looked all the better. Well, that, and it wasn’t near as dull.

Really, it’s quite a solid movie. There’s a decent amount of mystery, suspense, and atmosphere (that sequence in which Ripper and Barrett were digging up bodies in the rain comes to mind), making The Reptile very much a film that fans of classic horror, and Hammer horror, may want to take a look at.

8/10