Whither Ken’s White Worm?
Jun 19th, 2007 by milo
When my colleague Julian Upton asked “Where the Devil are Ken’s Films?” he caused quite a stir. Ken Russell’s fleeting, rotund appearance on Celebrity Big Brother seems to have reminded people how few of this idiosyncratic, iconoclastic director’s films have made it to DVD.
MovieMail’s guerrilla campaign to release - or, at the very least, screen - the uncut version of Ken Russell’s The Devils (1971) continues apace, and for news on that, keep your eyes on Julian’s blog.
Of course, the argument to re-release a truly great film like The Devils is unanswerable.
So, instead, I want to talk about one of my favourite of Ken’s films - The Lair of the White Worm (1988), a film generally held to be irredeemably awful.
Of course, I love it to bits.
The films star-studded cast includes Hugh Grant (before he became famous), Peter Capaldi (before he started swearing for Britain in The Thick of It) and, of course the amazing Amanda Donohoe - who, wielding fangs and a fierce-looking strap-on, is probably responsible for as many sleepless teenage nights as Britt Ekland’s body double in The Wicker Man (1973).
Lair of the White Worm is loosely based on Bram Stoker’s somewhat turgid 1911 novel - but features, in true Ken Russell style, many, many more raped nuns.
The film’s anti-religious sentiments were apparently wholeheartedly embraced by its star, Amanda Donohoe, who played Lady Sylvia Marsh, a boy-scout munching vampiress in thrall to a subterranean pagan deity.
I’m an atheist, so it was actually a joy. Spitting on Christ was a great deal of fun. I can’t embrace a male god who has persecuted female sexuality throughout the ages. And that persecution still goes on today all over the world.
Well, if it’s female sexuality you want, Lair of the White Worm has it in spades, and if you like your ladies covered in blue paint, then so much the better. Ok, so the film is a little daft, but it manages a combination of sex, horror and black comedy that is rarely attempted nowadays. And it has some great music.
At present, Lair of the White Worm - complete with director’s commentary - is only available on Region 1 DVD.
MovieMail are looking at finding a way to sell DVDs from America, and if we do, I will attempt to use my influence to ensure that this lurid, orgiastic, hallucinogenic and hilarious horror film will be on the list!
There are countless classic films still awaiting DVD release, or UK distribution, but let’s not lose sight of all the bad ones. They are still loved, and they deserve to be seen.
Lair of the White Worm is on my wish list. What’s on yours?
Good question!
When / if we get Region 1 DVDs sorted, I’ll be awarding myself with copies of Nashville, Short Cuts (for a top notch, albeit lengthy, Altman double-bill) and The Conformist.
re: White Worm. I watched this as it should have been seen - late at night on Channel 4, and enjoyed it thoroughly. They’d never show it now, never mind any world cinema. A shame.
Its a film I don’t like that much despite all the pyrotechnics BUT. the line producer on Lair of the White Worm was Ronaldo Vasconcellos who Dan and I both worked with and whose latest credit is on Hot Fuzz. Isn’t that interesting? I asked him about White Worm once but I can’t remember his answer at all.
Ronaldo was a Brazilian who came over here in the eighties as an accountant but he’s still got a strong accent and is famous for his bon mots:
“I was a vegetarian for 12 years, except for bacon sandwiches of course”.
“If anyone give me another Pizza Margharita, I will slash my wrists”.
You can see why he’s a line producer rather than stand up comedian.