The Reptile (1966)

"Half-woman, half-snake"

Plot

Harry and his wife Valerie travel to Cornwall to investigate the mysterious death of his brother Charles. With the help of a few locals, they believe the death to have been the result of a snake bite and their search to find the cause leads them to Dr Franklyn. Harry discovers that Franklyn's daughter was abducted by a snake cult when he was researching in Borneo and now possess the ability to transform herself into a snake.

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After Hammer had begun to run out of ideas for their major franchises (Dracula, Frankenstein and The Mummy were growing stale quickly) and with their remakes of secondary Universal horror films not being as successful as their first run (namely The Curse of the Werewolf and The Phantom of the Opera), they turned their attention to stand alone films in the hope that they'd strike gold and hit another winning formula by their own making. Unfortunately, with the trio of films they made in the mid-60s (The Gorgon, The Plague of the Zombies and The Reptile), all Hammer did was virtually replace the traditional Universal monsters with a similar substitute. So what we have in The Reptile is basically a vampire film in all but an appearance of Van Helsing and Count Dracula. Heck, the creature even leaves two small bite marks in the neck. Although at least when Dracula featured, you'd be guaranteed a gruesome staking somewhere along the line. But Hammer has always been a seal of quality and despite the rather unoriginal premise they hit another winner in The Reptile.

Shot back-to-back with The Plague of the Zombies, The Reptile shares many of the same sets and cast, not to mention director John Gilling. From a business perspective it makes perfect sense. From someone who watched them back-to-back, it's not ideal as it's easy to mix the two films up. Not so much an outright horror film but more of a murder mystery at times, The Reptile is a rather timid effort from Hammer that isn't going to smash any awards for excellence. It's got a reputation for being a bit of minor Hammer classic but I just don't see that here. Maybe if there was something slightly original on display here - I mean the film is basically Dracula with a snake-woman. In fact the script is so muddled at time that I'm wondering whether Hammer didn't just alter one of the planned scripts for the Dracula sequels. What the script does allow by introducing a whole back story to the titular character is a nod to the Victorian era's fascinations and fears with the Orient and the occult, where unspeakable horrors from overseas have now become rooted fully into Imperialist heartlands (as an English teacher, I read so many stories such as The Ruby in the Smoke and The Sign of the Four where Victorian characters are forced to confront wonders and terrors beyond English comprehension, reflecting society's fears of what our dealings with the East could bring). The Reptile does a decent job of mixing the classic Hammer gothic with this Eastern influence (Tyburn attempted something similar in the 1970s with The Ghoul).

This Eastern threat, the snake creature, is not well thought out at all though. It kills for no apparent reason and does so randomly - it's not for revenge and it's not because it needs food. It's just pot luck (and highly unfortunate) for any of the minor characters who stumble upon it during the duration of the film. The creature itself doesn't look particularly menacing or scary but given Hammer's relative lack of experience in conjuring up new monsters and the practical limitations of what they could create with make-up effects at the time, it's not that bad and the less you see of it, the more intimidating it becomes. It's the damage that the creature causes which is more unsettling - the bodies that it leaves behind looking like ghostly visions of death, drained of their blood. Whoever is responsible for the poster clearly never heard of less is more and they reveal the big bad before you've even seen the film so when the creature finally appears, there's no surprise whatsoever, killing any anticipation and suspense in the climax.

The Reptile is Hammer horror to the bone though and this something they could do in their sleep - consistently good quality productions, even with some of their weaker efforts. The quaint Cornish countryside setup, the varying stereotypical village characters, the lucid colours, the mood and the music is all as it should be in a Hammer flick. It's all steady stuff but nothing ground-breaking. Up until the finale, the film moves along rather slowly and although director John Gilling does manage to create some atmosphere with the remote village setting, it's all wasted because a) we know that the killer is in fact a reptile of some kind (hence the title and poster) and b) the film is too uninteresting for us to even care about anything else. The finale is rather weakly staged and it ends with a bit of a whimper but given the nature of reptiles, it makes perfect sense - it's just not great material for a rip-roaring film finale. I'm sure if this was made today there'd be all manner of explosions and daft things going on but here the film ends on a rather bum note, a very flat and uninspired conclusion to what has been a rather flat and uninspiring film.

There's a distinct lack of traditional Hammer star power here, with none of the usual big hitters appearing. Whilst it's always great to see the likes of Cushing or Lee, this does allow some other character actors to take the stage. Noel Willman starred in three Hammer films during the 60s and was always a solid hand. Likewise, Hammer's legendary character actors Michael Ripper and George Woodbridge pop up in supporting roles. Whilst Woodbridge traditionally played innkeepers in brief cameos in the earlier Hammer horrors, Ripper was Mr Hammer with thirty-three appearances in total. It's nice to see him getting a bigger role here, arguably his meatiest. Whilst UK audiences are most likely to remember him from beloved TV show Dad's Army, Scottish actor John Laurie has a small role as Mad Peter. People forget he was a serious actor, cast in Shakespearean roles, before he become Private Frazer - he always had a sinister look to him and The Reptile plays that up perfectly.

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Final Verdict

If Hammer had tried to do something different instead of obviously re-designing a vampire film, then maybe The Reptile would have worked out. Its well-made and a middle of the road Hammer film is still better than most other horrors, particularly from the same decade. But it's fairly tame, the reveal of the creature on the poster kills off any sense of dread audiences may have and it ticks along without ever really threatening to do something different that Hammer hadn't already done dozens of times over. If they were looking for a new monster hit to rival their big successes, they weren't going to find it here.

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The Reptile Director(s): John Gilling Writer(s): Anthony Hinds (screenplay) Actor(s): Noel Willman, Jennifer Daniel, Ray Barrett, Jacqueline Pearce, Michael Ripper, John Laurie, Marne Maitland, David Baron Duration: 90 mins