The Lair of the White Worm (1988)

When an archeologist uncovers a strange skull in foreign land, the residents of a nearby town begin to disappear, leading to further unexplainable occurrences.

Director:

Ken Russell

Writers:

Ken Russell (screenplay by), Bram Stoker (adapted from the novel by)

Stars:

Amanda Donohoe, Hugh Grant, Catherine Oxenberg

1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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	...	Maid / Nun
Linzi Drew	...	Maid / Nun
Caron Anne Kelly	...	Maid / Nun

Storyline

Scottish archaeologist Angus Flint discovers an odd skull amid the ruins of a convent that he is excavating. Shortly thereafter, Lady Sylvia Marsh returns to Temple House, a nearby mansion, far earlier than expected. At a party in the village, Angus meets Lord James D'Ampton, who has just inherited his family's land right next to Temple House. Angus learns of the D'Ampton Worm, a huge dragon-snake that an earlier D'Ampton killed by cutting it in half. (There's a pretty catchy rock-folk song that tells the D'Ampton Worm legend.) As people begin disappearing and acting strangely over the next few days, the skull is stolen from Angus's room, and the watch of a missing person is found in a cavern that was the legendary home of the D'Ampton worm. Angus and James discover that there was an ancient cult that worshiped the worm as a god, and they theorize that the creature somehow survived its destruction, but it was trapped inside the cavern. The remainder of the movie shows Angus, James, ...

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Plot Keywords:

cult film | cleavage | scantily clad female | topless female nudity | breasts | 

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 October 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Maldição da Serpente

Filming Locations:

Thor's Cave, Manifold Valley, Staffordshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$2,500,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$1,189,315

Company Credits

Production Co:

White Lair

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The mouth of the White Worm (Dionin) seen in the tunnel towards the end of the movie was actually a painted over Volkswagen Beetle hood that bears an uncanny resemblance to the mouth of a snake.

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Goofs

Lord James searches through a collection of ancient 78-rpm shellac discs. Although he plays one of the discs on a modern-day turntable that is capable of playing them, the music heard is electronic-based and has excellent fidelity. However, shellac records had notoriously low sound quality and were discontinued decades before synthesizers were used regularly in music production.

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Quotes

Lady Sylvia Marsh: Now, if you're sitting comfortably, I shall tell you why you must not be afraid to die. To die so that the god may live is a privilege, Kevin, and if you know anything at all about history, you will know that human sacrifice is as old as Dionin himself, whose every death is a rebirth into a god ever mightier!
[doorbell rings]
Lady Sylvia Marsh: Shit.

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Connections

Edited into Bride of Monster Mania (2000)

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Soundtracks

The D'Ampton Worm
Arranged and Performed by Emilio Perez Machado and Stephen Powys
Violinist Louise Newman

User Reviews

A great date movie!

I've heard the complaints before, from men of all walks of life: "SHE wants to watch some syrupy romantic slush starring Hugh Grant, I want to watch something with hot, naked, snake-worshipping chicks!"

Well, complain no more! Here's a flick that's got both in one! That's right, England-cum-America's favorite foppish, eye-lid-fluttering sex symbol does battle with naked half-snake-half-human devil worshippers, giant white worms, and the forces of evil!

Well, actually Hugh only kills one snake-human hybrid, and it's an old lady. And he keeps pretty far away from the action-packed finale face-off, letting his odd shut-in pal Angus do all the fighting. But you DO get to see the star of "Notting Hill" slice an old lady in half with a broad sword, and that alone is worth the price of admission!

I enjoyed this movie, what with it's quaint, folksy atmosphere, it's kilt-wearin' heroes, and it's sexy villainess who seduces a hapless boy scout (!) into entering her hot tub of evil. There's even public-access-esque dream sequences where a Sid & Marty Krofft-type snake puppet molests Jesus Christ while nuns are tortured- and who doesn't want to see that?

A very strange movie, to say the least.