The Lair of the White Worm is a 1988 British comedy horror film based very loosely on the Bram Stoker novel of the same name and drawing upon the English legend of the Lambton Worm.
The Vestron Pictures movie was written, produced and directed by Ken Russell (Gothic; Altered States; The Devils) and stars Amanda Donohoe, Hugh Grant, Catherine Oxenberg, Peter Capaldi (Doctor Who) and Sammi Davis, Stratford Johns, Paul Brooke (The Phantom of the Opera; Lighthouse; Straight on Till Morning), Imogen Claire, Chris Pitt, Gina McKee and Christopher Gable.
Plot:
Angus Flint (Peter Capaldi), a Scottish archaeology student excavating the site of a convent at the Derbyshire bed and breakfast run by the Trent sisters, Mary (Sammi Davis) and Eve (Catherine Oxenberg), unearths an unusual skull which appears to be that of a large snake.
He subsequently tries to find the local legend of the D’Ampton “worm”, a mythical snake slain in Stonerich Cavern by John D’Ampton, the ancestor of the current Lord of the Manor, James D’Ampton (Hugh Grant).
When the watch of the Trent sisters’ father, who disappeared a year ago near Temple House, the stately home of Lady Sylvia Marsh (Amanda Donohoe), is found miles away in Stonerich Cavern, James thinks the legendary creature may have survived and still be alive deep beneath the cavern.
The enigmatic Lady Sylvia is the immortal priestess to the snake god Dionin, which, as James suspected, still exists in the caves beneath her house which connects with Stonerich Cavern. She steals the skull and later abducts Eve to be the latest sacrificial offering to her god…
Our review:
The idea that there are still, even today, critics who don’t get The Lair of the White Worm, and bemoan it as an example of Ken Russell’s supposed decline, is a depressing example of just how pig-ignorant some film ‘experts’ are. These are people who look at this 1988 film and think that Russell must have been approaching the material with a determinedly straight face, even when all the evidence on screen is that he was having a whale of a time satirising Hammer Horror and shooting one of the most gloriously camp, deliciously entertaining British horror movies ever made.
Loosely based on Bram Stoker’s potboiler novel, the film has Amanda Donohoe as an immortal snake-vampire who worships a giant dragon in Derbyshire. She’s given to sacrificing young virgins and spitting venom on crucifixes when not inspiring crazed blasphemous hallucinations involving Christ and assorted semi-naked nuns. Donohoe has great fun parading around in skimpy underwear, a variety of extravagant costumes or nothing more than green body paint, savouring her outrageous dialogue and gobbling on spotty boy scouts, and of course, she steals the film.
Yet, her larger than life performance is ideal for a movie that is excessive in all ways – lurid imagery, ludicrous special effects and florid dialogue add to the mix, creating a film that is a genuine joy from start to finish. With a cast that also includes Hugh Grant (who is predictably embarrassed by this, yet seemingly proud of the likes of Notting Hill… sigh…), Catherine Oxenberg and future Doctor Who Peter Capaldi, The Lair of the White Worm is a glorious feast of excess, glorying in its own bad taste and vulgarity.
Of course, if you are the sort of person who is so humourless that you will look at a film as wildly kitsch as this and only be troubled by ‘gender representations’ (that’ll be Peter Walker for The Guardian who sheepishly admits to enjoying this even though the fact that the women are either monsters or scantily clad innocents, which, perhaps never having seen a horror film before, he calls ‘worrying’), then you’ll never really ‘get’ it, and the more pompous strain of genre fan – not to mention those who inherently think that all horror is a bit trashy – will at best think that this is irredeemable rubbish, and at worse find it deeply offensive, catering to the sniggering schoolboy division of unreconstructed horror fan.
Forget those dullards – you should watch this enjoyable rollicking romp right now, and enjoy it thoroughly – ideally will alcoholic accompaniment. And if you purchase the Blu-ray listen to the audio commentary, as Ken Russell has much more idea about the sort of film he (intentionally) made than his detractors ever will, and is suitably hilarious throughout.
David Flint, MOVIES & MANIA
YouTube reviews:
Buy Phallic Frenzy: Ken Russell and His Films book from Amazon.co.uk
Cast and characters:
Hugh Grant … Lord James D’Ampton; Amanda Donohoe … Lady Sylvia Marsh; Catherine Oxenberg … Eve Trent; Peter Capaldi … Angus Flint; Sammi Davis … Mary Trent; Stratford Johns … Peters; Paul Brooke … Ernie; Imogen Claire … Dorothy Trent; Chris Pitt … Kevin; Gina McKee … Nurse Gladwell; Christopher Gable … Joe Trent
Blu-ray release:
On January 31, 2017, the film was released on Blu-ray as part of the Vestron Video Collector’s Series. Special features:
Two Audio Commentaries: Director Ken Russell, Lisi Russell, in conversation with Film Historian Matthew Melia
‘Worm Food: The Effects of The Lair of the White Worm’ featurette
‘Cutting for Ken’ an Interview with Editor Peter Davies
‘Mary, Mary’ an interview with Actress Sammi Davis
‘Trailers from Hell’ featuring Producer Dan Ireland
Theatrical Trailers
Stills Gallery
Trailer:
