THE LAIR OF THE WHITE WORM (1988)
Hugh Grant, Amanda Donohoe, Peter Capaldi, Catherine Oxenberg, Sammi Davis, Paul Brooke, Stratford Johns
Directed by Ken Russell
Loosely based on both Bram Stoker's 1911 same-titled novel (written as he was dying from untreated syphilis), and allegedly made in part as a tribute to Oscar Wilde, THE LAIR OF THE WHITE WORM also recalls the legend of the Lambton Worm from County Durham in North East England. [As the area's most famous Anglo-Saxon folklore, the tale took place around the River Wear involving Estate heir, John Lambton, who skipped church one day to go fishing and was ominously scolded by an old man (or witch) for not attending Sunday service. In various versions, Lambton caught an eel/snake-like creature with 9 holes on each side of its salamander-ish head, and after declaring he caught the Devil (which was presumably a punishment), then threw it down a well. Having grown up, he joined the Crusades and forgot about the creature which grew to become gigantic and poisonous, (and in some tellings is a dragon). The worm developed a voracious appetite for livestock, and wrapped itself around a local hill. With the villagers terrorized, and small children disappearing, John's father (Lord Lambton) attempted to pacify the serpent by bringing it daily offerings of milk. When villagers and knights tried to kill the worm, they all failed, and whenever the worm got pissed, it pulled up trees and swung them like clubs(!) John returned from the Crusades after 7yrs of war to find his estate nearly impoverished, and he sought the advice of a wise woman (or witch) before going after the worm. She told him to fight the creature in the River Wear as it was now wrapped around a huge rock, to cover his armour in spearheads, and after slaying the worm to then kill the first living thing he sees otherwise his family would be cursed for 9 generations and unable to die in their beds. John arranged with his father that once the worm was dead, he'd blow his hunting horn 3 times as a signal for his favourite hound to be released so he could kill the dog. John killed the worm and blew his horn, but Dad forgot to unleash the hound and instead ran out to congratulate his son. John couldn't eliminate his father and so sacrificed the dog but it was too late, and the curse took hold].
Scottish archaeology student, Angus Flint, is part of an excavation dig of a convent in the pastoral Derbyshire countryside. While there, he stays at the Mercy Farm Bed & Breakfast run by the innkeeper sisters, Mary & Eve Trent. Amongst artifacts at the field site's ruins, an excited Flint finds a strange fossil; an elongated giant skull of unknown species (dinosaur? reptilian?), and believes it to be linked to a local legend of a snake creature known as the d'Ampton Wyrm which was killed in the Stonerich Cavern by the famed medieval John d'Ampton whose descendant happens to be a current Manor Lord and Eve's boyfriend, James d'Ampton. After an annual party that night at James' castle with music by an Irish hoedown trio (with a touch of The Pogues), and line dancing involving costume play, tomboyish Mary and Angus get cosy during their walk back to the B&B and she becomes unsettled when a mysterious car drives past. They find Constable Erny waiting with a pocket watch that was found in Stonerich Cavern which raises suspicions when it is revealed that the watch belonged to the father of the Trent sisters. A year earlier after Dad went spelunking, both parents (Joe & Dorothy) of the girls went missing in a grove near Temple House, the grand stately home of the sexy, sultry, slinky n' kinky Lady Sylvia Marsh. The police are planning a new search for Mom and Dad, and Mary mentions the car to Erny who says he'll check it out on his way back to the precinct. Having returned from winter absence and with her friendly & seductive charms, Ms. Marsh is actually an immortal priestess who worships the ancient snake God, Dionin, which can take shape in human form. She steals the unusual skull, and as she's done with a long line of lovers, lunges into victims (such as the visiting Erny) who either "turn" in hypnotic paralysis or succumb to endless screaming as they meet their eventual fate when dragged down into a deep pit to be consumed by something sinister.
When Angus and Mary return to the B&B from a resumed police search of the Trent parents, they find James consoling a distraught & confused Eve who is recovering from a terrifying vivid nightmare and ranting about a huge white serpent. James pays Ms. Marsh a visit to which she exhibits eccentric and bizarre behaviour as she flirts with him. They speak in double entendres over brandy, he asks to see her again and they kiss. Back home and after calling Mary to make sure Eve is resting, he falls asleep during a silent movie and dreams he disappears into a painting that features hermaphrodites. A now convinced James gathers reluctant Angus (who continues researching the legend's origins, sure they are rooted in fact) and the Trents to go searching for clues, saying he believes the worm of legend survived being fatally bisected and continues to roam. He has predicted that the giant worm is lurking about and passing through underground caves connecting Stonerich to Temple House, and that the found pocket watch is the result of Mr. Trent having been swallowed. The trio are alarmed with an upset Eve leaving to return to the B&B. On her way back she is abducted by Ms. Marsh who has literally popped out of a tree (in the vein of Eve from scripture offering forbidden fruit from the Garden of Eden) using the ruse of trying to rescue a kitten. Taken to Temple House, Eve trembles throughout as she is disrobed to her skivvies while Ms. Marsh talks about reincarnation of the two of them having met before as nuns. When James, Mary and Angus learn of Eve's kidnapping from a frantic phone call, they make haste to Temple House (with both men wearing kilts to battle the diabolical) where James physically snakecharms a gyrating Ms. Marsh out of an oversized wicker basket with a recording of Arabian music(!) Dorothy Trent is found alive and Mary is overjoyed to be reunited but she is bitten on the neck by Mom.
While Angus sucks the poison from the wound, Mary is still freaked by tripping out badly to snake men donning carved penises. Following in the slayer footsteps of his ancestor, James slices Dorothy in half with a large broadsword and clumsily falls into a drum set while a transformed Erny is unleashed where he lures Mary away. A tied-up Eve in Stonerich nears being sacrificed to Dionin, but accompanied with bagpipes, a mongoose that would give Rikki-Tikki-Tavi a run for its money and a hand grenade, James and Flint arrive in time to save her, and destroy Ms. Marsh and the snake creature (which is dispatched rather lazily). In the ensuing rescue however, Angus was attacked & bitten by Ms. Marsh before she died and as the evil might live on, this dooms him to be cursed to continue the nasty subterranean proceedings. Ken Russell's reputation as a controversial and egocentric bonkers director who pushes wild man extremes was still firmly intact due mostly to his notorious THE DEVILS (1971) which fused ample nudity and condemned religion as corrupt, and was heavily denounced by critics as perverse and wretched Christian blasphemy. But here he crafted a cheeky gothic tale coiling with paganism & vampirism, and one playfully akin to a next-generation monster entry in the Hammer family for while it takes place in the present, it has a 1960's bent of above average B-movie, and the female body-ogling is a throwback to the protagonist nymphs of early horror with their heaving cleavage and racy peekaboo nightgowns. Still relative newbie Hugh Grant (in just his 5th role before his jump into stardom) gives us his expected dose of upperclass gentry, aristocratic smugness and reserved snobbish nobility. Bespectacled and floppy-mop-haired Peter Capaldi (25yrs before becoming the 12th Doctor Who) resembles a new wave indie-band musician and appears everready to upstage his fellow actors with a trace of piercing intensity he'd find in future roles (google Malcolm Tucker).
And not to be outdone is sly villainess Amanda Donohoe (who strips down in blue greasepaint and scaly swim cap). She's terrific with impossibly curved fangs that bite below the belt, and wears a cone-shaped, ivory-horned strap-on dildo that is more frightening for the pornographic defilement it conjures in the imagination alone. She seems to be having the time of her life with a catchy enthusiasm that manages to avoid wallowing in total trash. She's outstanding and shines every time she's hamming it up on screen. [Tilda Swinton was first approached for the role of Lady Sylvia but she turned it down]. Along with THE LAIR OF THE WHITE WORM's slithery humor (and some closeness to THE BLOOD ON SATAN'S CLAW, and THE WICKER MAN) is its alignment with archaic curses, talismans, phallic iconography & vaginal symbolism, black magic, orgies, biblical heresy, lesbianism, and Lovecraftian cosmic-type druid deities awakening from dormancy to reclaim and rule the world. Sigmund Freud would have a field day with this stuff. The decadence and delirium is not just witty but also not afraid to poke fun at itself in outrageous parody style: The surreal fantasy sequence of sophisticated James on the Concorde airplane with the cavorting stewardesses who break out into a wrestling catfight (with hiked up skirts and garter belts) looks like it was lifted straight from an MTV hair metal video, while lusty Ms. Marsh (first in garters with a flashy show of leg, and then in black skin-tight thigh-high boots) entices a hitchhiking Boy Scout named Kevin whom she's picked up from the pouring rain. The hint of sex, scrubbing his body in a hot tub, and blowjob innuendo no doubt induced a million teen boy dirty dreams. To see how she was both unintentionally almost undone by a harmonica playing(!), and then interrupted by doorbell while giving a speech as she hoists the stolen skull were each a nice lighthearted use of happy accident.
And when she spit venom at a crucifix on the wall in a viperous hiss, one can literally picture Christopher Lee's Dracula in defiant similar contempt. When Eve later touches the poison cross that triggers a disturbing hallucination of Roman centurions engaged in the rape of Celtic virgins, complete with writhing bodies and hellish cartoon flames all infront of a struggling Jesus(!), this too is reminiscent of the hyper nun violation in THE DEVILS. However crazy Russell has been called for his provocativity and excesses, he's certainly not boring when it comes to delving in oddity. Divisive as he is, THE LAIR OF THE WHITE WORM is probably his most accessible film for its casual deliberate silliness. [Certainly more marketable and toned down than his ALTERED STATES (1980), and GOTHIC (1986) which each dealt with heavily deep themes of subconscious]. Even when the film itself looks & feels like it's a screwy mind-altering substance at times with bad shots and some clumsy editing, or recalling past 'snake woman' movies like THE SNAKE WOMAN (1961), and THE REPTILE (1966), Russell's campy subtext still brings laughs amidst the disorienting visions stemming from druggish ambience. One can almost picture even Thulsa Doom giving kudos but while his minions were a true powerful cult, Ms. Marsh exemplifies the dying vestiges of a less-than-piddly scattered handful of disorganized fanatics determined and desperate to keep from disappearing forever. And with little blood, THE LAIR OF THE WHITEWORM is extra fun because the small cast and their chemistry is free of non-appealing sideplayers venturing into unnecessary subplots. Every character (including Constable Erny, Peters the butler, and Nurse Gladwell) is presented as an everyday individual in a setting worth delving into for being equally surrounded by amusement that matches the absurdity.
LIFEFORCE (1985)
Steve Railsback, Mathilda May, Peter Firth, Frank Finlay, Patrick Stewart, Michael Gothard, Chris Jagger
Directed by Tobe Hooper
Exploring deep in the outer reaches of space is the space shuttle HMS Churchill, comprised of a joint UK/US crew of astronauts. Inside the dust tail of Halley's Comet which they've intercepted as part of their program, the radar spots an enormous needle-shaped alien spaceship in a hidden gas cloud which a small team then board. After finding hundreds of grotesque frozen bat-like carcasses in the cavernous structure, they are stunned to come across the bodies of 3 nude people (1 female, 2 males) preserved in crystalized glass sleep chambers. Still in their suspended state of hibernation, the trio and one bat are brought back to the Churchill for the return to Earth. On the way home however, radio communication is lost for a month and in the frantic attempt to regain contact, mission control at NASA dispatches the Columbia space shuttle on a rescue mission. The Churchill is found gutted by fire with its charred astronauts dead from the blaze. The 3 sealed caskets with their humanoid occupants are found untouched and are taken by the rescuers for extraterrestrial study. Once back in the London HQ of The European Research Space Centre and just before a planned autopsy, the femalien unexpectedly wakes up and she kills a weak guard (with a kiss) and other staff before escaping the Compound. Enter the arrival of arrogantly calm SAS (British Army 'Special Air Service') Col. Colin Caine who quickly launches a womanhunt to capture her. When the guard's shriveled corpse is medically examined, he too in resurrection administers the same fate to a pathologist, and the witnessing doctors are astonished at the confused guard's fully restored health. One week later over in Texas, a crashed escape pod from the Churchill is located containing Col. Tom Carlsen, an American air force officer who is the sole survivor. Carlsen is sent to London as part of a secret British investigation where he gives his account to baffled scientists and national security of the strange discovery. He explains why the crew was found "drained" and how it was he who set the fire afterwards to stop the alien trio, fearful of what would be in store for mankind if they ever set foot on our planet.
Under hypnosis, Carlsen shares a psychic/telepathic link to the femalien and is able to see through her eyes, as she assumes the host body of a nurse, Ellen Donaldson. This naughty nurse however is seen as a redheaded temptress in green poncho who seduces a man in his car. [Again, British girls hiking up their skirts in a fashion lifted from the school of Benny Hill]. Tracking her movements through visions, this leads Carlsen and Caine to The Thorlstone Psychiatric Hospital for the Criminally Insane in Yorkshire. Along with them is a 3rd colleague, Dr. Hans Fallada who is a thanatologist (one who studies death). Reminiscent of Dr. Van Helsing, Fallada says the trio may be the source of earthly vampire legend. Carlsen and Caine think they trap femalien who has absorbed the body of Dr. Armstrong, the hospital manager, while Ellen is revealed to be strongly into S&M and therefore slapped around without any reservations or protest when interrogated for information. But unbeknownst to the pursuers is that they have been set-up in a trick to lure them out of London. As a drug-injected Dr. Armstrong is transported back to London by helicopter, he dies from a hemorrhaging bloodstream leaving his body which materializes into our girl's form (giving a whole new meaning to bloodclot) who escapes again when she spills into a vomit-burst splash(!) By now, the Capital City has been infected with a catastrophic plague resulting in martial law. The 2 male aliens who rose from their siesta and were earlier thought dead from being shot in a fire fight and hit with grenades, have escaped the Lab Facility disguised as soldiers. The seemingly indestructible duo immediately set about turning the population into rampaging soul-suckers who proliferate the cycle of widespread virus into contagion. The outbreak has caused panic and triggered burning, rioting & chaos throughout the city, and not even the Prime Minister (or his secretary for that matter) is safe. And with the military overwhelmed and government collapsed, NASA seriously considers nuking England as a drastic means of quarantine to save the world.
The accumulated "lifeforces" taken by the 2 males are cerebrally siphoned (acting as conduits) to the femalien, who then funnels the massive gathering of nourishing & rejuvenating energy to their huge spaceship which makes its way pronto to hover in orbit directly above London like a beacon. (In a parallel, this is not unlike the docking of the Russian ship, Demeter, in Bram Stoker's Dracula). Dr. Fallada impales one of the males with an ancient sword of leaded iron, and Carlsen tells Caine that back on the Churchill, he was drawn with desire beyond his control to the femalien while she was in her sleep chamber. She is tracked to St. Paul's Cathedral where in a basement crypt, she lies on top an altar; the weaponized Queen feeding her harvesting alien vessel. After telling a shocked and stripped nude Carlsen that they mentally bumped uglies in space (giving a whole new meaning to the cosmic mile high club), like raging hormoned teenagers they makeout like gangbusters. As Caine kills the other male, horny Carlsen in self sacrifice goes for double penetration by impaling himself to femalien with the über sword but she is only wounded. From a rising energy column still surging and reaching high into the sky like a tentacle (with the scene more than a little borrowed from RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK), a huge explosion blows the dome off the Cathedral. With the femalien and Carlsen each still embraced together in lover's union, they are beamed on board the craft with the presumption of he now having fully merged with "the feminine in his mind." Caine is left looking upward as the ship ventures back into space towards Halley's Comet. Based on the 1976 novel 'The Space Vampires' by Colin Wilson, some may remember back in the day how LIFEFORCE was quite commonly and most often referred to as "that naked space vampire chick movie." From every video rental recommendation citing the hot babe with hairy bush whose near entire role is almost completely in the buff (and in rampant full frontal), to top shelf publications, it was an alternative title not undeserving as the voluptuous boobie parade remains the most mentioned and taboo feature characteristic that everybody who sees it will recall.
The femalien is a trance-inducing, gliding literal opiate who is first introduced as sleeping beauty, and debilitates helpless victims with lust before they succumb to ghoulish terror. She can shapeshift by bodyjumping, and like her 2 male companions, can transfer consciousness and blast out any obstacle in their path without breaking a sweat. Her specialty is mesmerizing anyone into a kind of erotic fever dream that renders powerlessness in an aura of phantasmagoria(!) The victims from all 3 are physically depleted of the very essence of their spirit that looks like electric blue sparks of static lightning. Such discharge for the unfortunately damned means their fatal emaciation into a mummified husk of a skeletal zombie-vampiric creature who likewise "drain" in order to sustain themselves. An aspiring French ballet dancer, very attractive 20yr old Mathilda May resembled Alyssa Milano and her subsequent filmography often featured nudity (with one 1994 movie called THE TIT AND THE MOON figuring prominently on the namesake breasts). For a young woman with barely any lines in a mainstream picture to saunter about gracefully in complete undress is blunt, bold & brave, and it's no wonder that May, probably overnight, gained a countless legion of male fans. The 2 boys in Hyde Park who hope to witness the femalien in some lesbian action, are highly & smirkingly representative of any hetero guy's mindset (juvenile or mature) instantly transfixed by a gorgeous bombshell confidently walking around in her birthday suit. Remember nubile Natasha Henstridge strutting around in SPECIES? May is clearly her titillating exotic predecessor. As for sullen overacting Railsback, he's made a career in brooding performances as tormented types teetering on the edge of obsession and instability bordering on full madness. At the time of filming he was best known for playing Charles Manson in the 1976 TV miniseries, HELTER SKELTER.
While it failed in the theatres and was despised by critics (Wilson himself called it "a textbook example of how to make a bad movie"), LIFEFORCE actually stands as one of Tobe Hooper's most exciting offerings, and he clearly went to town. The film's nostalgic popularity amongst the vcr crowd's loyal audience can't be denied. It's slight blend of the first ALIEN mixed with some of the QUATERMASS films also incorporates amazing sfx from John Dykstra (best known for his work on STAR WARS) and solid cinematography. At one point an impressive cast of John Gielgud, Klaus Kinski, Olivia Hussey, and George Peppard had all been tapped for parts but all 4 dropped out. Co-written by Dan O'Bannon, and with grandiose music composed by Henry Mancini, the beginning of the movie also has a basis in reality for Halley's Comet (visible every 75-76yrs) was due to return to our solar system as it did in March 1986. LIFEFORCE is slammed for being somewhat incoherent and inconsistent with its swerving mood swings of mystery into mayhem, but the transitioning territorial havoc and climactic frenzy unleashed by the trio who run amuck isn't really that difficult to follow as the unfolding events (and May's every footstep) are just brought in different subgenre styles. While it doesn't sound like it should, everything meshes well. For all the head-scratching weirdness, imperfections or negative complaints of switching narratives being too complicated, this is a straight-up comic book presented in graphically garish and gross-out live action, rife with a fetish for voyeurism. Some reviewers have analyzed that the diseased "draining" is a subversive dreadful metaphor for both homosexuality and the 1980's AIDS epidemic. Ultimately, the picture overall is an alluring & lurid, high-spirited nightmarish romp of a sci-fi horror yarn spilled into sudden apocalyptic invasion. And in total, has more than enough 'go for broke' ingredients to be a very enjoyable crazy yet cool movie.
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