Lair of the White Worm
buy it at amazon.com
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Lair of the White Worm
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buy it at amazon.com |
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1988 Starring: Now this movie rocks! In 1988 Ken Russell released a movie based on a Bram Stoker novel that is part vampire story, part mystery, and part tongue-in-cheek sex romp. There is enough of all of these aspects to please a fan of any of the genres. It starts out with an archeology student from the Orkney Islands, Angus (Peter Capaldi), who digs up a large, monstrous skull from a dig on the grounds where he is researching in England. There are two sisters who live at the house on the grounds, Eve and Mary Trent (Catherine Oxenberg and Sammi Davis), and Angus is renting a room from them. That evening there is a party and we are introduced to the local Lord, James D'Ampton (Hugh Grant). It is a celebration of the legend of an ancient battle between a large carnivorous worm and an ancestor of Lord D'Ampton. The worm was killed and the locals were able to live peacefully in the area again. During the party scene we get treated to Emilio Perez Machado, Stephen Powys and Louise Newman performing song, "The D'Ampton Worm". We also get to watch Angus eat a plate full or worms while Lord James explains the legend to him. Ken Russell in the commentary observed that the actor, Peter Capaldi, did indeed throw up five minutes after the final take on that scene. The same night as the party, an elegant woman driving a very nice Jaguar drives up to a local manor. The local constable goes to investigate but it turns out it is only Lady Sylvia Marsh (Amanda Donohoe), returning from abroad to her summer home. The constable just happens to get a snake bite while he is investigating and Lady Sylvia happens by and sucks the poison out of the bite on his leg. She then has him in for a drink where she catches up on the latest gossip from the town. The next morning Lady Sylvia stops by the Trent girls home and when no one answers the door, she walks in. She discovers the skull that Angus had dug up and wraps it up and takes it with her. On the way out, when passes a crucifix on a wall. She hisses and spits out green liquid between huge fangs onto the crucifix and leaves the house and drives away. Just after Lady Sylvia leaves, Eve Trent and Lord James arrive at the house (they are dating each other). Eve walks up the stairs and sees the green stain on the crucifix and the wall. She reaches out and touches it and the first of several hallucination/flashbacks occur. These are disturbing scenes of Roman soldiers invading a group of nuns praying to a man on a cross. There is a huge white snake-like creature with sharp teeth covered in blood that gnaws on the guy on the cross. There is also Lady Sylvia with green skin, slicked back hair, and huge fangs, overseeing the proceedings and taunting the nuns as they are brutally raped by the soldiers. James finds Eve on the floor in the hallway and he helps to revive her and calm her down. Eve does not remember the nightmare at first, but when she and James go outside they see a new mosaic that Angus has dug up with a large white serpent on it. This brings the visions back and she describes them to James. Her sister and Angus return to the house and this is when Angus finds that his skull is missing. They discuss a parallel plot to the story in that the girls parents went missing a few months earlier. Search parties were sent out but the only clue was their fathers watch that was found on the moors. The next scene has a teenage boy is who is standing on the side of the road in the rain, hitchhiking. He is a scout on his way to a camping trip. Lady Sylvia is driving by in her Jaguar and pulls over to give him a lift. She convinces him that he should go to her place to dry off and she promises to drive him the rest of the way when his cloths are dry. They play Snakes and Ladders, drink brand, and lounge around in skimpy cloths. Lady Sylvia has him take a bath and during the middle of it, she has him get out and stand in front of her. He is quite nervous, but of course he eagerly gets out and stands there. He sees her mouth going towards his crotch, but what he doesn't see is her huge fangs that have appeared. After biting him, she comments "My God Kevin, you do have appalling B.O." He is still alive but paralyzed, and she puts him back in the bath. Just before pushing him under the water and drowning him, she says "And save your breath. You have halitosis too." What a woman! That night James pays Sylvia a visit. He says that he heard she has a snake problem and offers to have his gardener come around and cut the grass and look for it. She counters with an offer of a drink which he of course accepts, and after awhile they have a back and forth game of sexual innuendos. But James does manage to eventually leave her house, un-bitten. That night after he falls asleep, James has a dream where he boards a private jet. The two trent sisters are flight attendants and their mom and dad are the only two other passengers. The only problem with the folks though is that they seem to be in a coma as they have their eyes open but don't move, except for dad who looks at his watch. Lady Sylvia is also a flight attendant who tries to get James to drink venom but he fights with her before Eve comes to his rescue. While Eve and Sylvia are wrestling around there is a great little clip of James holding a pen in his hand while his hand sits on his leg. As the girls fight progresses, the pen raises higher, bit by bit. The fight suddenly ends and Mr. Trent gets up and walks to the cockpit. James deplanes and finds himself in the cave where Mr. Trent's watch was found. At this point James' butler wakes him up and brings him breakfast in bed. Later that morning an expedition is under way with the Trent girls, Angus and James to search a cave where Mr. Trent's watch was found. At one point Eve decides to go back to the house and along the way, she runs into Lady Sylvia. She is sitting up in a tree and after a brief chat, she gets Eve to go back to her house with her. Eve clearly becomes hypnotized and she partially strips while Sylvia runs a huge dildo along her leg. Yes, the movie is pretty erotic, and I haven't even mentioned most of the phallic symbolism that is interspersed throughout. But back to the story.... Eve telephones her sister Mary who is by now back at the house with James and Angus. In Eve's hypnotized state she starts to tells Mary to go to Lady Sylvia's house until she sees the ring on her finger. She starts having a hallucination again and before she collapses she starts to warn Mary before Sylvia cuts her off. Lord James, Angus and Mary then talk about the recent goings on and start to formulate a plan. Without giving the ending away, I will say that the plan involves Indian snake charming music and loud speakers. Of course not everything goes according to plan and there is more nudity and viciousness before the grand finale and little twist at the end. It is a very crisp and sharp 1.85:1 anamorphic picture on this dvd and Pioneer is to be complemented. It is a little dark, but I am pretty sure that was how it was filmed. The sound is Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo and just rocks on my computer system's speakers. The extras on the disk are an audio commentary from director/screenwriter/producer Ken Russell, trailers (including one for Russell's Salome's Last Dance), extensive cast and crew bios and some behind the scenes text and info. The commentary track I found to be more entertaining than most, but that is because of Russell's dry wit and sense of humor. He is hugely entertaining but very subdued. This dvd has been out of print for more than a year and is pretty spend on ebay, going for $50-90. It is however, in my opinion, worth every penny. I lucked out and found an online retailer that still had a copy and I instantly bought it. The acting is top notch, the directing and camerawork are masterful, and it is also simply a very fun movie. So rent it, borrow it or buy it, and then watch it. |
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01 Feb 03 |
