Noutions Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic

AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Darin One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

ppitta2 I watched the Reptile on my DVR and I can't tell you how slow this movie is. The reptile scenes are minimal and nothing really happens until the last 10 minutes.Some might say that it builds suspense but I found it very dull and talky.When a 90 minute film takes over an hour to have some action you lose interest.I feel that if it's a horror film it should have several scares and appearances of the monster.The makeup on the snake woman was very good but I just wish she was in it more.In fact after I watched it I deleted it from my DVR.That is definitely one I will not be watching again.

Mr_Ectoplasma After the strange death of his brother, a man and his wife relocate to a remote cottage he's inherited in Cornwall. Weird goings on with the locals, a neighbor, and mysterious deaths in the area seem to be linked to a bizarre creature.One of Hammer's finer, if not campier (by today's standards), efforts, "The Reptile" is immensely enjoyable on the level of pure atmosphere alone. Like most of Hammer's most memorable pictures, the film weaves a tapestry of British atmospherics—the rural English countryside, the quaint cottage, and the ominous forests take center stage here. There is something spellbinding about these films in the way that they fashion their own atmospheric universes, and "The Reptile" is a stellar example of it done extremely well.The score here fantastic and there are some well-handled attack scenes with the titular monster; the film is also surprisingly suspenseful and is able to ratchet the tension over the first seventy or so minutes. Things don't really propel steadfastly until the last fifteen to twenty minutes, but there is plenty of atmosphere and tension preceding it that makes the payoff just good enough. The film's final scene is really fantastic, and the special effects on the monster are commendable by today's standards, despite how absurd the entire thing may really be. The acting also holds up surprisingly well, with Ray Barrett as the leading man and Jennifer Daniel as his inquisitive wife. Marne Maitland is subtly sinister as The Malay, and lends the film an additional element of perturbation.Overall, "The Reptile" is a fun, atmospheric romp through the cold-blooded monster-land of the English countryside. It is most definitely dated in many ways, though it retains enough atmosphere and suspense to be enjoyable today, no matter how you feel about a half-woman half-snake lurking about the moors. Worthwhile for fans of Hammer as well as anyone who likes a good old fashioned monster movie with a British twist. 7/10.

morrison-dylan-fan With having picked up the DVD/Blu-Ray presentation by Studio Canal of John Gilling's Hammer Horror title The Mummy's Shroud a week earlier,I was thrilled to discover on Amazon,that studio Canal had also brought out John Gilling's companion movie to the very good Hammer Horror Plague of the Zombies,which led to me excitingly getting ready to witness the reptile shed its skin for the first time.The plot:Learning of his brother's sudden death,Harry Spalding and his wife Valerie decide to visit a small town in Cornwall called Clagmoor Heath,so that they can attend Charles Edward Spalding's funeral.Preparing to set off,Harry and Valerie are given the news that Charles had left them a cottage based in the village in his will,which leads to the Spalding's deciding that they may spend more time in Clagmoor Heath than they originally expected.Being interested in finding out the cause of his brother's sudden death,Harry decides to ask the locals about Charles the moment that the cart wheels into town.Hoping to receive a friendly welcome,the Spalding's are instead caught by surprise when the locals, (with the exception of a pub land lord called Tom Bailey) give them the cold shoulder,and tell them to mind their own business.Getting ready to go asleep after their less then joyful day of attending Charles funeral,and also being treated like "outsiders" by the locals,the Spalding's suddenly hear a loud knock at the door.Rushing into their living room,the Spalding's are taken aback by a rambling man called Mad Peter.Calming down,Peter begins to tell the Spalding's that he fears Charles demise may be connected to a number of strange deaths that have recently taken place in the village.As he begins to go into detail about his suspicions,the Spalding's and Peter hear a haunting, music sound coming from an unknown part of the village.Jumping to his feet,Peter runs out of the Spalding's cottage,so that he is safely at home before "it" appears.Hours later:Awoken by a loud bashing sound against their windows,the Spalding's are met by the dying sight of Mad Peter,who along with foaming at the mouth,is also covered in weird,vicious bite marks…View on the film:Before getting to the film itself,I have to mention that along with giving the title a clear soundtrack and also allowing the full details of the actor's faces to be fully displayed,Studio Canal make sure in their excellent new transfer that the movie's distinctive appearance is placed right at the centre,in all of its atmospheric glory.Despite being given "limited" options in the production of the movie due to the studio forcing him to re-use sets from Plague of the Zombies,and also having to deal with a pretty small budget, (which led to Hammer studios actually putting some more cash into the production after it had wrapped for re-shoots!,due to being unhappy with the makeup effects) director John Gilling and cinematography Arthur Grant cover the film in an extraordinary,atmospheric wet mist,which with giving the setting a "fresh" wet appearance,also creates a feeling of something deadly slithering around in the darken corners of the movie.Backed by a fantastically haunting,nerve twitching score from Don Banks, (which also features what is perhaps the sitar's debut in a Horror movie score)Gilling and Grant give the Horror contained within the movie a strong,mystical mood,with Gilling and Grant building a strong sense that the horror which is unfolding across the village is rooted in rituals and is not a "Horror" that any of the character's can get a full grasp on.Trimed down from its original,bigger budget intension of being called "The Curse of the Reptiles",the screenplay by Anthony Hinds thankfully goes in an extremely distinctive direction,which allows for the story to shine,even in its edited form.Initially making the movie's appearance to be a Horror Mystery,due to Hinds having Harry Spalding, (played by a determined Ray Barrett) peel one clue away after another,Hines gradually reveals the movie to in fact be a chameleon,by brilliantly unleashing a terrific riff on the Werewolf mythology/legend,which along with giving the Horror sections a real bite,also cast's "the monster" in an unexpectedly tragic light,as the reptile slithers across the screen for the final time.

MartinHafer Despite the silly looking picture of the creature shown here on IMDb, "The Reptile" is a pretty good horror film. It is very creepy and the atmosphere of the film is excellent--it has a wonderful sense of foreboding. However, despite my enjoying the film, the monster, such as it is, isn't all that scary and is a bit silly...quite silly.The film begins with a man being attacked by something, but the viewer isn't sure by what. The man writhes, foams at the mouth and his skin blackens all very quickly as he dies. Apparently this is one of several such deaths that have occurred in this small and rather unwelcoming village in Cornwall, England.When the brother of the man killed at the beginning of the film comes to the village to assume ownership of his brother's tiny estate, he finds the town to be very unfriendly. No one, other than the owner of the pub, will talk with him and one neighbor in particular (Dr. Franklyn) is particularly nasty. You know something is terrible is happening there, but like the brother, getting to the heart of all this is difficult.As far as WHAT is happening goes, considering the title and photo on IMDb, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that there is some sort of deadly reptile-human hybrid that is doing the killing. The idea of this is reminiscent of the silly 1950s film, "The Alligator People" and it is a bit silly--though for a Hammer film, the costume they use isn't that bad. And that, combined with the great atmosphere, make this a film worth seeing--particularly if you are a fan of Hammer.