Released in 1988, Ken Russell’s The
Lair of the White Worm is a great example of a campy horror flick that you
just wouldn’t get today.
Serpent ladies, snake gods and seduction are the order of the day
with the odd hallucinogenic (and literal) acid trip sequences thrown in for
good measure. Featuring a young Hugh Grant and Peter Capaldi, this is a fun and
very liberal take on Bram Stoker’s novel of the same name. The above mentioned
duo are great as they play it straight, but the film also has some really campy
performances from the other players not to mention some of dodgiest ‘northern’ accents put
to film.
However the real standout is Amanda Donohoe, who commits 110% to the
role as the villainous Lady Sylvia Marsh. Her numerous gaudy outfits alone make
this worth the watch and her performance is iconic.
It’s the overall campy tone that makes this one so fun to watch.
There are obvious comedic moments but also lurid horror and pulpy violence aplenty
- a mix that more modern films generally don’t take the shape of. Horror films
today are either played entirely seriously or if featuring comedic elements
would openly market themselves as ‘horror comedies’ and in turn these generally
tend to favour self-referential humour that seeks to parody or satirise the
genre. No so with The Lair of the White
Worm, which is often humourous at how straight it plays with its
horror at times but also knows what kind of film it is and actively revels in
its extremes.
Horror, sex and camp have all had a history together in film as they were often looked down on as being of the lesser genres that thrived during the
b-movie exploitation era. When you hear the phrase: ‘They certainly don’t make ‘em like
they used to’, well that’s because it’s mostly true. Not mainstream horror films
anyway. Today you would only likely find similar campiness at the bottom of the
direct to DVD bargain bin where this tradition is still kept alive. Sadly those
films are uniformly terrible though.
6th May 2020
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