Review #323: 'The Lair of the White Worm' (1988)

The recently late Ken Russell is arguably Britain's greatest cult auteur. Although his works are very rarely seen in Great Movie lists (or even Great British Movie lists), I cannot think of any British director whose work is so distinctly and definitively their own. He has juggled genres - period piece (Women in Love (1969)), horror (The Devils (1971), Gothic (1986)), science-fiction (Altered States (1980)), musical (Tommy (1975)) - yet his fingerprints are all over them. It seems death has brought him legendary status, as his work has seen a recent resurgence, namely by British critic Mark Kermode, who described his work as "every bit as flamboyant as Fellini." He had a trademark obsession with religion (or the criticism of it) and sexual imagery, And although I've only seen a handful of his films, these themes have seemingly never been more prominent than in The Lair of the White Worm.

Based on the novel by Bram Stoker, it tells the story of an ancient mythical legend, the slain white 'worm', in a rural Derbyshire village. Archaeologist Angus Flint (Peter Capaldi) unearths the large skull that appears to be of a giant snake outside the Bed & Breakfast ran by two sisters, Mary (Sammi Davis) and Eve (Catherine Oxenberg). James d'Ampton (Hugh Grant) tells him the story of the d'Ampton Worm, a giant snake that was apparently slain by one his ancestors. When Lady Sylvia Marsh (Amanda Donohoe) hears rumours of this skull, she steals it and spits venom onto a religious picture. She later kidnaps Eve in order to sacrifice her to re-awaken the White Worm, while James investigates the strange events happening around the village.

Imagine Hammer handing the novel of The Lair of the White Worm to Russ Meyer and asking him to take some acid and make it into a film, and you'll have an idea into what this film is like. On many levels it does not work - it is utterly ridiculous, outrageously camp, and features some dodgy effects and model-work. Yet Russell has his tongue firmly in his cheek, and often I expected the actors to wink into the camera after delivering their double-entendre lines. And for this reason, I was completely powerless in enjoying the film. The actors completely buy into it, namely an extremely sexy Amanda Donohoe, whom Russell places into some outlandishly vampiric and dominatrix-esque costumes. It is also unbelievably (yet satisfyingly) offensive to Christians and the religious. Most people will hate this film, but fans of B-movies and camp trash will lap it up, as did I.


Directed by: Ken Russell
Starring: Amanda Donohoe, Hugh Grant, Catherine Oxenberg, Peter Capaldi, Sammi Davis
Country: UK

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie