After the strange death of his brother, a man and his wife relocate to a remote cottage he's inherited in Cornwall. Weird goings on with the locals, a neighbor, and mysterious deaths in the area seem to be linked to a bizarre creature.
One of Hammer's finer, if not campier (by today's standards), efforts, "The Reptile" is immensely enjoyable on the level of pure atmosphere alone. Like most of Hammer's most memorable pictures, the film weaves a tapestry of British atmospherics—the rural English countryside, the quaint cottage, and the ominous forests take center stage here. There is something spellbinding about these films in the way that they fashion their own atmospheric universes, and "The Reptile" is a stellar example of it done extremely well.
The score here fantastic and there are some well-handled attack scenes with the titular monster; the film is also surprisingly suspenseful and is able to ratchet the tension over the first seventy or so minutes. Things don't really propel steadfastly until the last fifteen to twenty minutes, but there is plenty of atmosphere and tension preceding it that makes the payoff just good enough. The film's final scene is really fantastic, and the special effects on the monster are commendable by today's standards, despite how absurd the entire thing may really be. The acting also holds up surprisingly well, with Ray Barrett as the leading man and Jennifer Daniel as his inquisitive wife. Marne Maitland is subtly sinister as The Malay, and lends the film an additional element of perturbation.
Overall, "The Reptile" is a fun, atmospheric romp through the cold-blooded monster-land of the English countryside. It is most definitely dated in many ways, though it retains enough atmosphere and suspense to be enjoyable today, no matter how you feel about a half-woman half-snake lurking about the moors. Worthwhile for fans of Hammer as well as anyone who likes a good old fashioned monster movie with a British twist. 7/10.
One of Hammer's finer, if not campier (by today's standards), efforts, "The Reptile" is immensely enjoyable on the level of pure atmosphere alone. Like most of Hammer's most memorable pictures, the film weaves a tapestry of British atmospherics—the rural English countryside, the quaint cottage, and the ominous forests take center stage here. There is something spellbinding about these films in the way that they fashion their own atmospheric universes, and "The Reptile" is a stellar example of it done extremely well.
The score here fantastic and there are some well-handled attack scenes with the titular monster; the film is also surprisingly suspenseful and is able to ratchet the tension over the first seventy or so minutes. Things don't really propel steadfastly until the last fifteen to twenty minutes, but there is plenty of atmosphere and tension preceding it that makes the payoff just good enough. The film's final scene is really fantastic, and the special effects on the monster are commendable by today's standards, despite how absurd the entire thing may really be. The acting also holds up surprisingly well, with Ray Barrett as the leading man and Jennifer Daniel as his inquisitive wife. Marne Maitland is subtly sinister as The Malay, and lends the film an additional element of perturbation.
Overall, "The Reptile" is a fun, atmospheric romp through the cold-blooded monster-land of the English countryside. It is most definitely dated in many ways, though it retains enough atmosphere and suspense to be enjoyable today, no matter how you feel about a half-woman half-snake lurking about the moors. Worthwhile for fans of Hammer as well as anyone who likes a good old fashioned monster movie with a British twist. 7/10.