Ray Charles Video:

		List Price: $29.98		Label: Starz / Anchor Bay Salesrank: 94384 Released: November 2, 1999
		Our Price: $24.98
		Used Price: $13.92
		MPAA Rating: Unrated Media: DVD

Editorial Review:
John Gilling shot this supernatural thriller after wrapping Plague of the Zombies, using that film's locale and even some of the same sets. Noel Willman stars as the mysterious Dr. Franklyn, a reclusive nobleman with a beautiful daughter (Jacqueline Pearce) he keeps hidden away--and for good reason. His daughter carries a curse, the result of his forays into forbidden knowledge in the Far East, and transforms into an uncontrollable, snakelike creature who preys upon the local villagers. Gilling's spooky, mist-enshrouded countryside and foreboding interior atmosphere is undercut somewhat by Pearce's unconvincing makeup, but her freakish appearance is still startling and the gruesome corpses she leaves in her wake are genuinely unsettling. The film has been remastered from the original 35mm negatives in the Hammer vaults and letterboxed to its original aspect ratio. --Sean Axmaker

The Reptile Reviews:
Avoid any Cornish village populated by residents who are all in denial
2008-07-21 - Others have written excellent plot summaries of The Reptile, so I will go right to what I like so much about it:
1. The cast is outstanding. Michael Ripper, who is in almost all Hammer films and hardly ever plays someone of any intellect, is featured more in The Reptile. This role is actually a change of pace for him and it's good to see him getting to do more.
2. The Reptile is a companion piece to Plague of the Zombies--same director, screenwriter, sets, and some of the same cast. It had to have been made around the same time as Plague.
3. Anyone who likes Plague of the Zombies (which I consider to be a masterpiece) should like The Reptile. I think The Reptile is just as well made as Plague--certainly just as atmospheric and suspenseful.

I sometimes get annoyed with the limitations of Hammer films--repeated use of same sets, formula plotting, never actually filming at night, and whatnot. But when I try to name examples of similarly themed and plotted stories which have been filmed more expertly, I realize there aren't any!
The strengths of Hammer outweigh the weaknesses.

The Reptile is evidently still in print on a double feature version with The Lost Continent. Since I have chosen not to review The Lost Continent (which is hokey but enjoyable and somewhat imaginative) I'm reviewing the out of print single edition of Reptile.

I highly recommend The Reptile to Hammer devotees and also think it is well enough done to convert others.

Hits all the right notes for a Hammer horror
2007-07-23 - An original premise, great atmosphere, good cast - this has all the elements we've come to expect from a Hammer gothic horror. There are no stars, but the cast is excellent anyway, especially Noel Willman, Jacqueline Pearce and Hammer veteran Michael Ripper, in one of his finest roles.

The makeup and effects are memorable, even if the Reptile's occasionally shoddy appearance has caused a bit of mirth over the years.

Why Are These DVD's Going OOP So Faast
2005-12-04 - The Ones I'm Talking about are The Hammer Collection DVDs By themselves "Not The Double Features" and Even Some of the DF's are oop There are some I Want Like "Dracula - Prince of Darkness"
or "The Reptile" and "Frankenstein Created Woman" But they are oop I Have This Movie the one i have is "The Lost Continent/The Reptile. The Lost Continent Sucked It Would be Better if I Had Just The DVD of "The Reptile" Come on Achor Bay You guys went oop
tooo fast

Another Good film from Hammer
2005-01-09 - A soldier and his wife arrive at the village of his recently deceased brother. His plans to live in his brother's cottage are met with warnings from the locals that bad things have been happening in the area including mysterious deaths. The quest to discover what is killing the locals then takes place as weird visits from the occupants of the nearby castle begin. It turns out that the curse of the snake people has been placed upon the daughter of the doctor living in the castle causing her to turn into a reptile periodically and bite people during the process. The storyline is somewhat cheesy but it is carried out with straight-faced conviction by a good cast of actors. This is vintage Hammer horror, the acting is solid, the screenplay is coherent, the scenery and sets are attractive and the special effects come off leaving the film's dignity intact. As others have noted, this movie was made on some of the same sets and with a very similar cast to the "plague of zombies" film. Both movies make excellent entertainment.

overlooked Hammer delight
2004-10-07 - Hammer was a class act. They gave us great films, with lush attention to settings, costumes and location shooting. They gave you incisive writing, witty dialog (well, most of the time) and they are unsurpassed for creating atmosphere. They made screen legends out of Lee and Cushing, and brought old horror tells into vivid color, with plenty of sexy-babes around to please the lads. For some reason, The Reptile, one of their better efforts works, tends to go unnoticed or dismissed. Could it be because of the "creature" was a mere female instead of the tall dashing Lee?

Well, now that time has passed, people can rediscover this classy Hammer tale. The Reptile (like the old grade C class The Alligator People) rather lets the cat out of the bag as soon as the title is flashed. However, stick with the tale and enjoy
Hammer's gorgeous lensing, and excellent location work. Directed by John Gilling (who directed Lee in Hammer's Pirated of Blood River and a pairing of Lee and Cushing in The Gorgon - two other overlook great films) and written by Anthony Hinds, who pens such other stylish Hammer classics (The Brides of Dracula, the Curse of the Werewolf, Kiss of the Vampire), The Reptile is a moody film. Ray Barrett and Jennifer Daniel play Harry George Spalding and his wife Valerie, a young couple who inherits the husband's cottage in Cornwall, England after his uncle's mysterious death. Michael Ripper, the perpetual also ran of Horror, does a fine character role as the tavern owner who helps them. No sooner than they unpack, they learn a serial killer has been murdering villagers and likely killed Harry's uncle. The film suffers from the obvious, we know there is a Reptile, so the impact is blunted from the start.

Shot back-to-back with the Plague of the Zombies, if you are familiar with one film, and watch the other, you will recognize the same village for the shoot. It builds suspense in an understated fashion, creating really spooky atmosphere. I think this leisurely pace causing some to dismiss this worthwhile film, while those with a more discerning taste will enjoy the non-hysterical approach.