Wonderful Movie

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

It is a huge shame that – and this may be considered a spoilers – the make-up for the titular creature is so tatty and unconvincing, because just about everything else about this film is excellent.Charming couple Valerie (Jennifer Daniel) and Harry Spalding (Ray Barrett) arrive at a remote and unfriendly Cornish village to read the will of Harry's recently deceased brother. They have been left only 'the cottage', a place that the locals spare no time in assuring him is not a place they want to live. Assuring landlord Michael Ripper even says 'they don't like strangers round these parts', as Harry succeeds in emptying his pub on more than one occasion.The Spaldings are excellently played, and for a 'second-tier' Hammer film, they are aided by an exceptional cast. Mighty veterans John Laurie, George Woodbridge, Charles Lloyd Pack, Marne Maitland and a superbly sinister Noel Willman prop up every densely atmospheric scene. Future 'Blake's 7' phenomenon Jacqueline Pearce is exceptional as fragile, frightened Anne Franklin, displaying the same compelling talents as she does in 'Plague of the Zombies', which Director John Gilling filmed back-to-back with this, using many of the same sets, and locations.The Cornish coasts have always been used to great effect in surprisingly few horrors, but they once again prove a perfect fit.

"The Reptile" is a competently produced and watchable horror entry from Hammer productions but offers little new to the genre. Once again we have new-comers to a district that harbours a deadly secret, who must deal with hostile locals before getting get sucked into events, while ominous music and the classic 'moors' setting establishes tone. The generic characters don't present much of a challenge to the actors (exceptions being John Laurie, whose Mad Peter manages to avoid the usual town-drunk shtick and Jacqueline Pearce, who is very good as the mysterious girl). Sadly, while the movie effectively builds to a climax, the final scenes are marred by the appearance of the titular creature and its sudden anticlimactic death. A fair amount of suspension of belief is required (especially to the 'basement' of the Franklyn home) and there are some plot-driven inconsistencies (e.g. venom works a lot faster on secondary characters than on primary characters), but otherwise, 'The Reptile' is a pretty good example of mid-sixties British horror (other than the absence of Hammer perennials Cushing and Lee).

With so much going for it, one can't help but wonder why the filmmakers chose to keep THE REPTILE itself under wraps; when it's on screen, it works very well (the makeup is top notch), but, when it's NOT on screen, the movie plods slowly along to its foregone conclusion. It's an old gripe, but a valid one: if you're making a MONSTER movie, it behooves you to get said Monster on screen as often as possible- otherwise, you might as well be making a murder mystery. Not a BAD movie, per se, but by no means a Timeless Classic, THE REPTILE is the kind of Fright Film that only the more devout Hammer fans can appreciate.

I like Hammer productions, because of the lavish colors, crisp European countrysides and clipped British accents. What irks me sometimes are the rather abrupt endings.. in fact, many endings do not wrap up the plots satisfactorily. Coming to The Reptile, the above statements ring true. And here, there are too many plot holes to be ignored. The brother of the dead Mr Spalding comes to stay in his inherited cottage. Why? How and why did he wrap up his establishment and come to the village? What was to be his proposed source of livelihood in the village? Why were the villagers against the poor fellow, when his brother, the dead Spalding had himself died tragically? Why was the cottage smashed up before his arrival? Who did the smashing? Why was Dr Franklin so taciturn with others, while being a wimp with the sneering Malay (Marne Maitland)? What was the Malay doing anyhow in the doctor's household? Providing victims to the Reptile? Who was being actually punished? Dr Franklin, or the poor villagers, who were being conked off one by one? Why didn't Dr Franklin report the sneering Malay to the police (I hope the dude had his immigration papers in order), or simply ask the daughter to sink her fangs into him, once and for all? Hey.. more holes.... why did Dr Franklin lock Valerie Spalding in the house towards the end? His erratic actions prove that he was no innocent bystander.. he was as guilty as anybody else. And how did Anna enter the Spalding cottage, which was locked? To what purpose? She died mighty sudden of the English cold, just because a window was open. Heck.. no reptile dies that fast. Else our homes and gardens would be full of dead lizards and geckos in winter. The cold slows down reptiles.. makes them sluggish. They just don't die as if a gust of cold wind was a bottle of cyanide.I know its unfair to sit in judgment over a film that was produced about half-a-century ago. But this one has just too many holes.. like a lump of cheese. Appears to be a slapdash job - with a weak plot, a silly reptile costume and crazy characters, whose craziness could not be explained. I guess Anna Franklyn (Jacqueline Pearce) was the only redeeming feature of the movie. She looked sultry, sexy and attractive. She also looked suitably vulnerable.This was a no-winner from the House of Hammer. Sad.