REPTILICUS (1961) – The Dungeon Review!

Reptilicus was not a premeditated choice, but there was not much of a selection left at the library on a Saturday afternoon. Not that I wouldn’t choose Reptilicus; it features a giant reptile after all! I was hoping to find a film that wasn’t a giant monster flick, to mix it up a bit. But poor Reptilicus was sitting there all alone and friendless and I had no choice but to take it home! Reptilicus comes all the way from Copenhagen, Denmark and the version I borrowed was dubbed. The dubbing actually isn’t that bad. I wish I could say the same about the rest of the film. You definitely need an appreciation for so bad they are good flicks to enjoy Reptilicus.

The first few minutes of Reptilicus where a team drilling for copper discover blood, flesh and bones is one of the film’s better moments. It also provides the film with a bit of gore! The discovery turns out to be the tail of our titular character Reptilicus. The tail finds a new home in the freezer at the Aquarium of Copenhagen. A careless accident causes the tail to thaw out which becomes a far more significant discovery. It appears the creature’s cells are able to regenerate at an alarming rate. They move it into a tank and hire the daftest guy they can find as security. One stormy night the power goes out and lightening strikes seemingly accelerate the reptile’s growth. The now massive creature escapes wreaking havoc on Denmark’s population!

Reptilicus is not going to win you over with its story. It is not going to score any points with its terrible dialog either. There is plenty of yakking too. Some of the chat is amusing in its badness, but much of it unfortunately is just dull. There is a section of the film where three of the characters tour Copenhagen that must have been financed by the Copenhagen tourism board! It is a rather lengthy scene where we get up close and personal with numerous Copenhagen attractions like fountains and of course Tivoli. One can not go to Copenhagen without visiting Tivoli! The trio end their evening with dinner in Tivoli and are serenaded with a song about Tivoli nights! Oh yes, and they include several shots during the song of Tivoli at night! Why do I have a sudden urge to visit Copenhagen? There is no purpose whatsoever for this long scene! It is because of scenes like these that Reptilicus seemed longer than its actual runtime.

The craptacular effects are what earned Reptilicus its passing grade. The effects are just awful! The creature itself might not have been too bad if it never moved or had to interact with anyone or anything. Reptilicus bobs and weaves like it is drunk! Every last scene where Reptilicus “interacts” is poorly shot and unconvincing. A scene where the creature eats a man is so hilariously awful I had to rewind it 3 times! It has these rather disproportionate wings that don’t look as though they could support the beast. But sadly we never get to see the creature fly. Apparently Reptilicus does fly in the original Danish version. I am betting that was an awesome sight! The crappiest of the craptacular effects had to be the green acid Reptilicus vomits up. The first time the creature spit the neon green bile I actually thought there was something wrong with the DVD! Seriously. The green stuff is supposed to be acid but not only does it never harm a soul, it never even makes contact with anyone! I laughed each time it spewed, which it does several times! The film’s creature and effects definitely gave me some good laughs.

The characters are an assorted lot. We have Professor Otto Martens who was actually a likeable enough bloke. He has two attractive daughters who are both man crazy. They spend a lot of time just hanging about for no apparent reason. We have General Mark Grayson who is an irritable and excitable son of a bitch who spends a good portion of the film barking orders and being pissed off. They give him a love interest in the form of female scientist Connie Miller. For some reason Svend, the man from the drilling team who found the tail in the first place shows up to help. I have no idea why, and he never actually helps with anything. He does however have an emotional scene where he regrets having ever found the damn tail! Ouch. And than we have the aforementioned daft security guy who was clearly intended to be the comic relief and actually did give me a few laughs.

There aren’t a whole lot of good things I can say about Reptilicus. It is quite bad, but it nonetheless gave me some good laughs. The so bad they are good moments however are not consistent enough to give Reptilicus more than a borderline pass. You are watching this one at your own risk!

Dungeon Rating: 2.5/5

Directed By: Sidney W. Pink

Starring: Carl Ottosen, Ann Smyrner, Mimi Heinrich, Asbjørn Andersen, Bodil Miller, Bent Mejding, Povl Wøldike, Dirch Passer, Ole Wisborg, Birthe Wilke, Marlies Behrens