The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

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.

With so much going for it, one can't help but wonder why the filmmakers chose to keep THE REPTILE itself under wraps; when it's on screen, it works very well (the makeup is top notch), but, when it's NOT on screen, the movie plods slowly along to its foregone conclusion. It's an old gripe, but a valid one: if you're making a MONSTER movie, it behooves you to get said Monster on screen as often as possible- otherwise, you might as well be making a murder mystery. Not a BAD movie, per se, but by no means a Timeless Classic, THE REPTILE is the kind of Fright Film that only the more devout Hammer fans can appreciate.

... to have a thankless child! This is a marvellous companion to the other excellent Hammer film made previously, Plague Of The Zombies - both had good daft stories, used the same sets, and also stalwart Michael Ripper was in both.A man meets a horrible frothing death in an insular Cornish village, his brother (Ray Barratt) finds he's inherited his cottage that needs no locks and decides to move in with his wife, much to everyone's consternation. The village apparently has no police or a doctor - except an unfriendly doctor of theology (Noel Willman) with a rather weird daughter, but pub landlord Ripper seems to more than adequately cover for everyone. Is it the Black Death that's stalking the land or is there a weirder or a more prosaic explanation? If you know your Hammer you should know the answer, but the story is expertly and atmospherically delivered, and on the usual studio shoestring budget. Therefore that means the special effects aren't so special, but in those circumstances totally forgivable. Favourite bits: the way Barratt kept unintentionally emptying the pub; the pleasant but maybe too short after dinner sitar solo; Willman's frantic explanation to the wife – and he thought he sounded so plausible to her!I enjoyed it when I was a kid and still do, it's very easy for me to settle comfortably into and receive the familiar mild frisson - admittedly not most people's idea of the requirements for a decent horror movie! It's one of my favourite Hammer films with no gore, garish colour or torn bodices but plenty of atmosphere and plot.

Reptile, The (1966) ** 1/2 (out of 4) After the mysterious death of his brother, Harry Spalding (Ray Barrett) and his new wife (Jennifer Daniel) travel to his home where they discover all sorts of strange things. It seems Dr. Franklyn (Noel Willman) and his mysterious daughter (Jacqueline Pearce) might be hiding a few secrets including the fact that she turns into a half-woman, half-snake creature. THE REPTILE isn't the greatest Hammer film but there are enough strong moments to make it worth sitting through. With that said, there are still many, many problems and most of them are due to a rather stupid screenplay that includes some laughable dialogue as well as simply containing way too much dialogue. Once again I'm scratching my head as to why Hammer would go through the trouble of creating a pretty good looking monster but keeping it in the background for the majority of the running time. Again, this wouldn't be a problem if they would have at least given us a decent story but everything is pretty predictable and like I said earlier, the dialogue isn't the greatest. I think the film does benefit from a strong cast with Willman doing a very good job as he makes you hate him one second yet feel sympathy the next. Both Barrett and Daniel are good in their roles as is Hammer regular Michael Ripper. The real standout here is Pearce as she's quite seductive in her role and makes for a great villain. The snake make up is actually a pretty effective one and I especially loved the look of the eyes. The scale-like skin is another plus and I really enjoyed the color as well. THE REPTILE has way too many slow moments to be a complete success but director Gilling is able to create a rather strong atmosphere and add that to the look of the monster then it's worth waiting through all the bad moments for.