The Lair of the White Worm

Dir: Ken Russell

1988

*****

Horror critic R.S. Hadji once said that Bram Stocker's final novel The Lair of the White Worm was the twelfth-worst horror novel ever written. To be fair, Stocker was suffering from severe tertiary syphilis at the time and it was said that his condition, that would eventually kill him, had maddened him somewhat. It's hard to think of a better suited director than Ken Russell to adapt an infamously bad horror about a giant worm, I certainly can't think of any. Russell's is a modern adaptation of the legend of Lambton Worm and incorporates vampires, possession and of course sex. The original legend is a religious warning, basically, if you miss Church (to go fishing in this instance) then you will probably be chased by a giant worm in later life. Russell's version is a little more complicated than that but there are some wonderfully over the top religious references, my favorite being a repeated dream-like sequence that sees a rather phallic snake wrap itself around Jesus on the cross in what looks like an early MTV music video. Variety described it as a 'rollicking, terrifying, post-psychedelic headtrip" and I'm not sure I could put it any better than that but I will add that it is also quite hilarious. It's easily my favorite Hugh Grant film, his Lord James D'Ampton being one of the most likable pompous characters I've ever seen. Peter Capaldi is brilliant as archaeologist Angus Flint and Sammi Davis and Catherine Oxenberg play it remarkably straight considering it's one of the most ridiculous films ever made. However, it is Amanda Donohoe who really steals the show as Lady Sylvia Marsh, a centuries-old immortal priestess who serves the mighty snake god Dionin who lures young men to her house for sex and then sacrifices them in spectacular fashion. It's an overlooked and unappreciated classic. The bizarre hallucination scenes are worth watching for alone, classic Ken Russell, a one of a kind and sorely missed genius.