THE REPTILE
THE REPTILE
Set in the 19th century, this horror film from the Hammer studio follows a young couple who inherit a cottage in Cornwall, only to discover that the residents are plagued by attacks from a snake woman. In the title role is Jacqueline Pearce, whose performance made THE REPTILE a favourite film of Tomasz Beksiński.
No respectable overview of British genre cinema would be complete without at least one film from Hammer Studios. With their vibrant, colour adaptations of the works of Mary Shelley and Bram Stoker (and their numerous sequels), the London-based studio dominated the British horror film scene for nearly two decades. The films featuring Dracula and Frankenstein's monster, often starring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, have left a lasting mark on pop culture. However, Hammer's financial successes allowed them to experiment with different narratives.
One such experiment was THE REPTILE —a stylish horror film about a young couple who move into an inherited cottage in the Cornish countryside in the 19th century. They quickly discover that the locals are not particularly welcoming, as the village is plagued by a series of murders potentially linked to the mysterious Doctor Fraklyn, who lives on the outskirts with his beautiful daughter.
It was this film that captivated the imagination of one of Poland's most legendary radio broadcasters and translators, Tomasz Beksiński. THE REPTILE was the only Hammer horror to be screened in Polish cinemas during the communist era, and an eleven-year-old Beksiński was so terrified during the screening that he compared every horror film he watched afterwards to it. Jacqueline Pearce, who portrayed the titular creature—a brunette with deep green eyes—became for him the epitome of feminine beauty, a standard he sought until the day he died.
Grzegorz Fortuna
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