''The Reptile'' is a 1966

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

made by

Hammer Film Productions Hammer Film Productions Ltd. is a British film production company based in London. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic horror and fantasy films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Many of these involve clas ...

. It was directed by

John Gilling John Gilling (29 May 1912 – 22 November 1984) was an English film director and screenwriter, born in London. He was known for his horror film, horror movies, especially those he made for Hammer Films, for whom he directed ''The Shadow of the ...

, and starred

Noel Willman Noel Willman (4 August 1918 – 24 December 1988) was an Irish actor and theatre director. Born in Derry, Ireland, Willman died aged 70 in New York City, United States. Willman's films included '' The Man Who Knew Too Much'' (1956), '' Across ...

Jacqueline Pearce Jacqueline Pearce (20 December 1943 – 3 September 2018) was a British film and television actress. She was best known for her portrayal of the principal villain Servalan in the British science fiction TV series ''Blake's 7'' (1978–1981), ...

Ray Barrett Raymond Charles Barrett (2 May 19278 September 2009) was an Australian actor. During the 1960s, he was a leading actor on British television, where he was best known for his appearances in ''The Troubleshooters'' (1965–1971). From the 1970s, ...

Jennifer Daniel Jennifer Daniel (born Jennifer Ruth Williams; 23 May 1936 – 16 August 2017) was a Welsh actress. Her film appearances included assorted roles in the ''Edgar Wallace Mysteries'' film series, ''Gideon's Way'' and the Hammer horror films ''T ...

, and

Michael Ripper Michael George Ripper (27 January 1913 – 28 June 2000) was an English character actor. He began his film career in quota quickies in the 1930s and until the late 1950s was virtually unknown; he was seldom credited. Along with Michael Gough ...

Plot summary

In the 20th century in the fictional village of Clagmoor Heath in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

several locals are dying from what is deemed to be the "

Black Death The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causi ...

". Harry Spalding inherits his late brother Charles'

cottage A cottage, during Feudalism in England, England's feudal period, was the holding by a cottager (known as a Cotter (farmer), cotter or ''bordar'') of a small house with enough garden to feed a family and in return for the cottage, the cottager ...

and arrives with his new bride, Valerie. The inhabitants of the village keep clear of the newly arrived couple and only the publican, Tom Bailey, befriends them. Tom explains that the hostility exhibited by the townspeople is the result of many mysterious deaths in the community. The sinister Dr. Franklyn, the owner of the nearby Well House, is the only resident in the vicinity of the cottage and he lives with his daughter Anna. Franklyn treats Anna with cruel contempt and she is attended by a silent Malay servant. Hoping to learn something of the deaths, Harry invites the local eccentric, Mad Peter, home for dinner. After warning them that their lives are in danger, Peter quickly departs only to return later that evening with his face blackened and swollen before dying. The Spaldings attempt to alert Franklyn, but he arrogantly states that Peter's death is not his concern, explaining that he is a

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ran ...

, not a

surgeon In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...

. In an attempt to help Harry clear up the mystery, Tom illegally unearths Peter's corpse and discovers a strange neck wound like a snake bite. Harry and Tom dig up Charles’ coffin and find that his corpse also has those same marks. Realizing that they are threatened by something far worse than they had ever imagined, Harry is quick to answer an urgent message from the Well House. There, he is bitten by a mysterious reptilian creature, but he still manages to return to his home and recover from the bite. Meanwhile, at the Well House, Valerie witnesses Franklyn's attempt to kill Anna, who was changed into the reptile creature after being abducted and cursed by a Malay snake cult that included the Malay servant. A struggle ensues between Franklyn and the Malay, accidentally causing a lantern to be knocked over and setting the house ablaze, killing the Malay. Franklyn is bitten by Anna and dies from the bite. Anna attempts to bite Valerie too, but dies in the fire. Harry and Tom arrive and save Valerie. The three escape safely and watch as the house is consumed by the flames.

Cast

as Harry George Spalding *

as Valerie Spalding *

as Tom Bailey *

as Dr. Franklyn *

as Anna Franklyn *

John Laurie John Paton Laurie (25 March 1897 – 23 June 1980) was a Scottish actor. In the course of his career, Laurie performed on the stage and in films as well as television. He is perhaps best remembered for his role in the sitcom ''Dad's Army'' (196 ...

as Mad Peter *

Marne Maitland James Marne Kumar Maitland (18 December 1914 – March 1992) was an Anglo-Indian character actor in films and television programmes. Biography Maitland was born in Calcutta, and educated at Bedales School before going up to Magdalene College, ...

as The Malay * David Baron as Charles Edward Spalding *

Charles Lloyd-Pack Charles Lloyd-Pack (10 October 1902 – 22 December 1983) was a British film, television and stage actor. Life and career Lloyd-Pack was born at Wapping, East London, to working-class parents. He was seen in several horror films produced by th ...

as The Vicar *

Harold Goldblatt Harold Goldblatt (born Israel Goldblatt, 5 July 1899 – 22 March 1982) was an actor, theatre director and theatre producer from Northern Ireland. He was born in Manchester, England, to Russian Jewish parents, and subsequently moved with his fam ...

as The Solicitor *

George Woodbridge George Woodbridge may refer to: * George Woodbridge (actor) (1907-1973), English actor * George Woodbridge (illustrator) George Woodbridge (October 3, 1930 – January 20, 2004) was an American illustrator known for his exhaustive researc ...

as Old Garnsey

Production

The production was filmed back to back with ''

The Plague of the Zombies ''The Plague of the Zombies'' is a 1966 British horror film directed by John Gilling and starring André Morell, John Carson, Jacqueline Pearce, Brook Williams, and Michael Ripper. The film's imagery influenced many later films in the zombie ...

'', and used many of the same sets, including exterior shots in the grounds of

Oakley Court Oakley Court is a Victorian Gothic country house set in overlooking the River Thames at Water Oakley in the civil parish of Bray in the English county of Berkshire. It was built in 1859 and is currently a hotel. It is a Grade II* listed bu ...

near

Bray, Berkshire Bray, occasionally Bray on Thames, is a large suburban village and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire. It sits on the banks of the River Thames, to the southeast of Maidenhead of which it is a suburb. The village is mentioned in th ...

(seen burning in the final frames). Pearce and Ripper appeared in both films. The cottage used in the film was located in Brentmoor Road, West End,

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

. The heathland shots were of West End &

Chobham Common Chobham Common is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north of Chobham in Surrey. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I and a national nature reserve. It is part of the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area and t ...

. The railway station glimpsed briefly near the beginning of the film was Loudwater railway station. As documented in books on Hammer Film's history, actress Jacqueline Pearce disliked wearing the Reptile make-up as she suffered from claustrophobia. After this film she vowed never to wear "creature" make-up in her future acting projects. The film was released in some markets on a double feature with ''

Rasputin, the Mad Monk ''Rasputin the Mad Monk'' is a 1966 Hammer horror film directed by Don Sharp and starring Christopher Lee as Grigori Rasputin, the Russian peasant- mystic who gained great influence with the Tsars prior to the Russian Revolution. It also featu ...

''. A

novelization A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, stage play, comic book or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent of ...

of the film was written by John Burke as part of his 1967 book ''The Second Hammer Horror Film Omnibus''.

Critical reception

''The Hammer Story: The Authorised History of Hammer Films'' called the film "classic sixties Hammer"; while ''

Allmovie AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online database with information about films, television programs, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by RhythmOne. History AllMovie was founded by popular-cult ...

'' wrote, "there are some inconsistencies in Anthony Hinds' script, but the film is handsomely mounted and delivers its share of shocks" ; '' Time Out'' wrote, "it's slower and moodier than its companion-piece (''Plague of the Zombies''), but strikingly

Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Hol ...

ish in its stately costume horrors. Jacqueline Pearce is terrific"; and ''British Horror Films'' said simply, "it's superb". ''

The Monthly Film Bulletin ''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 to April 1991, when it merged with ''Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those with a ...

'' wrote that it "has an unusually controlled dignity for a Hammer production; instead of the customary blood-lettings, we are invited to observe with nervous curiosity the slow self-destruction of a proud but superstitious man incapable of rescuing his daughter from the fate half-wished upon her by himself ... Altogether, a film of quite some merit." Kevin Thomas of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' panned the film, writing that "the script is too silly for all but the most uncritical." Thomas, Kevin (June 3, 1966). "Horror Double Bill Feeble". ''

''. Part V, p. 11.

In other media

''The Reptile'' was adapted into a 12-page comics story by Steve Moore and Brian Lewis, which was published in '' Hammer's House of Horror'' #19, published in April 1978 by

Top Sellers Ltd Thorpe & Porter (widely known as T & P) was a British publisher, importer, and distributor of magazines and comic books. At first, the company was known for repackaging American comics and pulp magazines for the UK market. Later on, it became a pu ...

References

Sources

External links

* * *
''The Reptile'' at BFI Screenonline
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reptile, The 1966 films 1966 horror films 1960s fantasy films British horror films Dark fantasy films Folk horror films Films about shapeshifting Films set in Cornwall Films set in the 1900s Films shot at Bray Studios 20th Century Fox films Hammer Film Productions horror films Films directed by John Gilling Films about snakes 1960s English-language films 1960s British films Mad scientist films Films about father–daughter relationships