The Reptile (1966)

dir. John Gilling  cast Noel Willman, Jennifer Daniel, Ray Barrett, Jacqueline Pearce, Michael Ripper, John Laurie, Marne Maitland

In the Cornish village of Clagmoor Heath, sometime in the late Victorian period, local resident Charles Spalding, visits the manor house of Dr. Franklyn, drawn by a note left at his cottage. There, he is bitten by some sort of humanoid creature which we don't quite see, and dies foaming at the mouth, his face swollen and blackened. Charles' brother Harry (Barrett) inherits the cottage and moves in with his beautiful bride Valerie (Daniel). Harry was told by his brother's attorney that Charles died of heart failure, but quickly finds out things are not that simple. The townspeople are openly hostile to Harry and only the publican Tom Bailey (Ripper) will talk to him. He warns Harry not to live in his brother's cottage and eventually admits that Charles died of some mysterious malady known locally as the "Black Death". A local eccentric, Mad Peter (Laurie), seems willing to reveal more, but he also shows up infected by the Black Death. When Valerie rushes to the manor house to seek Dr. Franklyn's help, the Doctor coldly informs her that it is none of his concern and, in any case, he is a Doctor of Theology, not a physician.

Peter dies and, because there is no medical doctor in the village, Tom agrees to examine the body, having gained some amateur medical experience as a sailor. Tom and Harry find strange puncture wounds on Peter's neck which Harry, who served in the army in India, recognizes as similar to those caused by the bite of a King Cobra. Tom convinces Harry to disinter Charles, which reveals identical wounds on his neck.

Meanwhile, Valerie meets Dr. Franklyn's gorgeous daughter Anna, who seems friendly, but is treated by her father with cold cruelty. When Valerie protests, Dr. Franklyn tells her that there is more to the situation than she knows. A tense dinner at the manor house ends with Dr. Franklyn encouraging a reluctant Anna to play the sitar for the Spaldings, then suddenly, inexplicably, smashing the instrument in a fit of rage. What is going on?

One of Hammer's two Cornwall-set movies filmed back-to-back and directed by Gilling, The Reptile is often considered inferior to the other "Cornwall Classic," Plague of the Zombies. Though I agree with this assessment, I think both films are worthy. It's difficult to judge how compelling the mystery is, since I already knew the answer from reading other reviews, but the script hides the solution fairly well. The monster that is revealed is almost unique (it has a few cinematic precedents) and, in truth, is one of the very few monsters "created" by Hammer and not re-used from the first wave of Gothic horror films in the '30s and '40s. The film's biggest weakness is that the ending feels unimaginative and somewhat rote, resembling that of several other Hammer films.

In the end, this is a film for Hammer fans to watch for the performances. Michael Ripper had a great name for a horror star (sadly, he never played Jack the Ripper), although it was his ability to play kindly, slightly eccentric characters that made him one of Hammer's most-beloved character actors. He appeared in many Hammer films, sometimes for only a few moments of screen time, as in Brides of Dracula, sometimes in more substantial roles, such as here and in Plague of the Zombies (as the local constable), but is always memorable. His cinematic charisma came close to matching that of Peter Cushing, though Ripper was never a headlining star. Pearce, on the other hand, only appeared in Zombies and this film for Hammer, but is also quite memorable. In the Reptile, she looks great in her Eastern costumes, while doing a nice job of portraying an outwardly friendly character about whom there is something just a little "off." Zombies is a better film overall, but I think Pearce gets a better showcase here. It's a pity she wasn't in more Hammer films.

In the final analysis, this film is a worthy addition to the Hammer horror canon mainly because of Ripper, Pearce, and the unusual monster.