Starring Noel Willman, Jennifer Daniel, Ray Barrett, Jacqueline Pearce and Michael Ripper
Written by Anthony Hinds and directed by John Gilling
Here's something interesting -- a Hammer monster movie featuring a new, unique monster -- not one plundered from the depths of literature or Universal's vaults.
THE REPTILE is the tale of a newlywed couple that move to a small village when they inherit a cottage. The deceased owner of the cottage died under strange circumstances, and several other locals are dying the same way, including the town drunk who seems to know something about the deaths but then turns up dead himself -- with blackened skin and a foaming mouth.
The newlyweds' neighbors are a creepy doctor (of divinity, not medicine), his daughter who he treats like crap and their servant who always seems like he's up to something.
Of course we know from early on that a humanoid reptile is behind these deaths -- jumping out of the shadows to attack its victims with a venomous bite. But who is the reptile and where did it come from?
To the movie's credit, this is a bit of a mystery -- it might be obvious to some, but there's a red herring and everything, which is more than you can say for most of these monster movies. Also, the creature design is legitimately creepy. The Reptile is truly unsettling. Most of the movie is not that scary, but when the titular monster pops up, yikes.
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