The black reptile
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The black reptile |
| Original title | The Reptile |
| Country of production | United Kingdom |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1966 |
| length | 90 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | John Gilling |
| script | Anthony Hinds |
| production | Anthony Nelson Keys |
| music | Don Banks |
| camera | Arthur Grant |
| cut |
Roy Hyde James Needs |
| occupation | |
| |
The Black Reptile is a 1965 British horror film from the Hammer Films production with Noel Willman in the lead role. Jacqueline Pearce can be seen as the eponymous "black reptile" . Directed by John Gilling .
action
A small English village in Cornwall at the turn of the century. Harry George Spalding inherits a house in a small village from his late brother Charles. Bar host Tom Bailey tells him about an eerie series of murders that will soon be dubbed the “black death”, because the victims are all united by one and the same characteristic: bite marks on the neck that indicate a large snake and a peculiar skin discoloration. The dead brother was also a victim of this mysterious being. Harry is now trying to get to the bottom of these strange happenings recently, but nobody in town seems to really want to help him, the fear of being the next victim is too great.
In this world of small people and bizarre types, there seems to be only one man of high intelligence: the repellent and educated Dr. Franklyn, a man who, as a researcher, has a capacity for everything to do with India and neighboring areas, where he often went on research trips. Franklyn lives secluded in a country house on the other side of the moor and largely stays away from the village people. He also seems anything but enthusiastic about Spalding's visit to Well House, the name of his domicile. Franklyns daughter Anna is punished with sheer disregard by her cold and hard-hearted father, and also the house servant, called the "Malay" for short, whom Dr. Franklyn brought back from one of his trips is anything but talkative. Harry gets more help with his research from the quirky villager Peter, whom everyone just calls "mad Peter". He warns the Spaldings not to conduct further research and advises them to leave the area as soon as possible. A little later he is dead too, with the same skin discolouration and bite marks that had marked the other dead recently, as Harry and Tom, who examine Peter more closely and then also dig up Charles' body, have to find out.
A little later, Harry receives a message from Dr. Franklyn and rushes there. There a huge, reptile-like creature with a snake-like head attacks him and bites him in the neck. Harry can save himself with the last of his strength. Meanwhile, his wife Valerie witnesses a creepy event: Dr. Franklyn tries to murder his obviously cursed daughter. What nobody knew until now: Anna once fell into the clutches of a sect of snake worshipers, a Far Eastern cobra cult. Since Franklyn had dealt too intensively with this Malay-Indian cult, his daughter was condemned as a punishment to regularly transform into a human-sized king cobra and bring death and ruin to the residents of the small town with her bites. There is a life and death fight between Dr. Franklyn and his mute servant, the Malay who also belongs to the snake cult. During a scuffle, a lamp is knocked over and the property catches fire. Dr. Franklyn is eventually bitten by his own daughter, and the father and daughter perish in the flames. Harry and Valerie can escape this hell at the last minute.
Production notes
The black reptile was filmed in July 1965 and premiered in London on March 6, 1966. The German premiere took place on June 2, 1967.
Bernard Robinson created the film structures .
Reviews
The Movie & Video Guide said: "Excellent direction, personable characterizations".
Halliwell's Film Guide thought the film was "a stupid horror story, shot extremely effectively with a mixture of shudder, discovery and good characterization."
"Confused horror piece full of superstitions and elements of shock, staged by the chief director of the British B-Pictures."
Individual evidence
- ^ Leonard Maltin : Movie & Video Guide, 1996 edition, p. 1081
- ^ Leslie Halliwell : Halliwell's Film Guide, Seventh Edition, New York 1989, p. 848
- ↑ The Black Reptile in the Lexicon of International Films , accessed on September 11, 2018
Web links
- The black reptile in the Internet Movie Database (English)