Good concept, poorly executed.

A Disappointing Continuation

The first must-see film of the year.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

The Lair of the White Worm is not going to please everybody, people will be thoroughly entertained throughout, others will find it ineptly done. Very like the controversial opinions for director Ken Russell too. For all its faults I fall into the former category. The special effects are not very good, the worm looks laughable and doesn't seem that much of a threat. Sammi Davis is embarrassingly bad too, veering towards both shrill and disengaged. And the ending is very abrupt, in all honesty though so was the book's ending. Even with those flaws, The Lair of the White Worm still improves hugely over the book. Odd to the point at times of incoherence and overly wordy with an ending that suffers from the cutting down the book got, it was a shock that Lair of the White Worm(Bram Stoker's least well-known book and for a reason) was from the same author who wrote Dracula, one of the most iconic pieces of horror literature. People will disagree with this though and that's fine. Back to the film, the locations are beautiful and atmospheric, it's decently shot and even the costumes are not bad at all, Donohoe's actually were pretty amazing. The music will entice even the least slithery of snakes, the dialogue is smart and hilarious(a campy element to it but considering this is a Russell film that shouldn't come across as too much of a shock) and the story is briskly paced with the fun factor rarely diminished. There are a lot of components brought in, but not in a muddled way thankfully like Lisztomania and Gothic were. Lair of the White Worm is not a scary film, but there is the odd moment that will make you jump. Russell's direction pulls no punches with a sense that he was having fun while knowing what he was aiming for, and the trademark excessive imagery is in abundance, luckily though apart from the rape scene- which will leave people disgusted- these images are not distasteful. The acting is not great but it's not that bad either apart from Davis. Peter Capaldi and Stratford Johns fare the best in support while Catherine Oxenberg is charming and even Hugh Grant in an unlikely role acts in a way that is not out of kilter. Best of all is Amanda Donohoe, whose brilliantly sexy performance is what makes the film. In conclusion, Lair of the White Worm not a great film but an enjoyable one while not pleasing all. 7/10 Bethany Cox

After seeing Ken's The Devils again after many year's gap and of course, his passing from this world to the next (what WILL he make of that, whichever direction he goes - the jury are still out on that one!) I'm making a real point of seeing all this work, as finances and availability allows. Divisive and forthright film critic Mark Kermode always cited Russell as being Britain's greatest living Director - he may need to amend the phrasing of that one...now.From beautifully crafted period romps (Women In Love, The Boyfriend, Valentino), Rock Opera (Tommy) to possibly his finest works, his biographical tributes to the great composers (Mahler, The Music Lovers - forget Lizstomania, truly awful), one spirals downwards into the deep recesses of Ken's imagination. Altered States, The Devils of course and now, this, only available it seems imported from Germany, The Lair....Starting out quite typically as a 1970's Hammer-style shock-flick, with an array of UK actors who've, shall we say, moved onto other projects, we have the innocuous archaeologist (Scot Peter Capaldi) unearthing the skull of the said beast, the film seems innocent and restrained enough.Within half an hour though, an extremely well-toned and lithe Amanda Donahue who has a boy scout in her bathtub, pushing his head under with a devilishly high-heeled black stiletto, whilst dressed in the slinkiest of black satin underwear. Here, we have both temptress and preying mantis and one, as male, red-blooded viewer feels total satisfaction already for the £11 spent on the DVD.Hugh Grant, is of course, the local landowner and jolly toff, with squiffy hair and clipped voice and Lady Marsh's (Donahue) neighbour, so he pops in.To be honest, I'm not in it for the story and don't care too much if there isn't one. That said, there's a fair stab at one, which I might follow more closely when I get to watch the film again, in a year or two. With reviews ranging from dire to poor and back again, I was almost dreading watching it at all. But, it is very well made, the DVD transfer bright and crisp and has plenty of Ken's hallucinatory sequences, which are often more akin to choreographed theatre (check out the Concorde flight stewardess sequence) than some of his more phallic grotesque 'creations' in some other films.Some of the deeper nightmare sequences are Dali-esque, with moving montages, that these days look a bit rubbish, but Ken didn't have digital manipulation software to stitch them neatly together. So, overall, if you've travelled down the road that is Ken Russell and like me, got this far, this IS a worthy addition.

Ken Russell meets Bram Stoker. And the result is a Victorian horror story, adapted to be played as "Carry On White Worm".While it has a nice period feel in terms of look, it is absolutely over the top in delivery. Amanda Donohoe, in particular (during her "If the money is right, I will consider keeping my clothes on in this film" phase), has her tongue so firmly in her cheek she can barely utter her lines. While there are undoubtedly some valid horror movie moments, there are considerably more moments which are hysterically funny.It is interesting to see Hugh Grant, pre Four Weddings, playing pretty much the same character he has played in every film since, albeit his straight playing suits the piece - there is something endearing about at least one of the characters taking everything seriously at face value, albeit with an air of slight bemusement at having seemingly wandered into something from a parallel universe.It is worth observing that the other female cast members are dreadful: Sammie Winmill acts away for all she's worth, at a standard which wouldn't pass muster at a primary school Nativity play, and Catherine Oxenberg doesn't even act, possibly because she can't.This is one of the daftest, most extravagantly enjoyable horror films out there, and is well worth catching. Just don't take it seriously, and you won't be disappointed.

Lair of the White Worm, The (1988) ** (out of 4)Roger Ebert's review of this film perfectly summed everything up when he said that this is the type of film you'd expect to see someone like Roger Corman making back in the 50s or 60s. When someone sees the name Ken Russell they expect a lot more than what's actually on display here. The film tells the story of an archaeologist who finds a odd skull buried in his backyard. With the help of three friends (one played by Hugh Grant) they try to find out the mystery behind it and soon they run into Lady Sylvia Marsh (Amanda Donohoe), a vampire-like creature. There's a lot to admire about this film but at the same time you have to wonder why someone like Russell would be doing a picture like this and especially in 1988 when it was mainly slasher movies being made. Movies like this here dead twenty-years earlier so how this got the green light is beyond me. With that said, the director certainly brings his style to the production and on this level it works. We get the typical strange images, bizarre dream sequences and some great cinematography as well as a good atmosphere. All of this keeps things moving very well and the cast is also a plus. Grant gets to show off a few good jokes and Peter Capaldi and Catherine Oxenberg are fun to watch as well. The real standout is Donohoe who is magnificent as the female creature with a lust for blood. She's incredibly sexy in the role but she also gets to show off some acting talent as she perfectly brings to life the evilness of the creature as well as showing the thing to be smart as well. The biggest problem with the movie is that we've seen this type of thing countless times before. This movie is in a pretty hard spot as horror fans are going to be turned off by the art-house like film-making and I'm sure art fans are going to be disappointed in what's basically just a "B" horror film. The genre and Russell would seem like a strange mix and they are.