The Lair of the White Worm (1988)

User Rating:

5.5/10   

Director:

Ken Russell

Writers:

Ken Russell (screenplay)
Bram Stoker (novel)

Release Date:

21 October 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Plot:

Scottish archaelogist Angus Flint discovers an odd skull amid the ruins of a convent which he is excavating...

Plot Keywords:

Worm | Temple | Skull | Lady | Cavern

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Amanda Donohoe	...	Lady Sylvia Marsh
Hugh Grant	...	Lord James D'Ampton
Catherine Oxenberg	...	Eve Trent
Peter Capaldi	...	Angus Flint
Sammi Davis	...	Mary Trent
Stratford Johns	...	Peters
Paul Brooke	...	P.C. Erny
Imogen Claire	...	Dorothy Trent
Chris Pitt	...	Kevin
Gina McKee	...	Nurse Gladwell
Christopher Gable	...	Joe Trent
Lloyd Peters	...	Jesus Christ
Miranda Coe	...	Maids / Nuns
Linzi Drew	...	Maids / Nuns
Caron Anne Kelly	...	Maids / Nuns

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Belgium:16 (video rating) | Australia:R | France:-12 | UK:18 | USA:R | West Germany:18 | South Korea:18 | Italy:VM14

Filming Locations:

Gaddesden Place, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company:

White Lair

Trivia:

Was filmed on the plot used in the TV series "The Adventures of Black Beauty" (1972).

Goofs:

Continuity: When Eve is tied up and waiting to be sacrificed, Lady Sylvia places the Dionin skull next to her and walks away. Several seconds later the skull disappears while Eve is struggling to get away, but it reappears when Sylvia returns.

Quotes:

Lord James D'Ampton: Do you have children?
Lady Sylvia Marsh: Only when there are no men around.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Bordello of Blood (1996)

Soundtrack:

The D'Ampton Worm

One of the best Irish/Celtic Horror Films.

A lavish, and kinky version of Bram Stoker's seldom read story (which I imagine was quite different). The Worm of the title is actually a Wyrm, an old English term for snake or dragon. The followers of this beast are a combination of snakes and vampires. They spit venom and can paralyze or transform their victims with a bite.

The film makes interesting use of Pagan and Christian mythology, which could have been quite controversial if it hadn't come from Ken Russell whose blasphemies seem to be taken in good humor.

Amanda Donohue is icy and sardonic as the head of the snake cult and the film is worth seeing for her alone (A friend told me that she looked like how he always pictured the White Queen from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe).