{"id":14067,"date":"2017-01-22T13:52:42","date_gmt":"2017-01-22T21:52:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/?p=14067"},"modified":"2021-03-20T10:00:18","modified_gmt":"2021-03-20T17:00:18","slug":"review-lairofthewhiteworm-bd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/2017\/01\/review-lairofthewhiteworm-bd\/","title":{"rendered":"The Lair of the White Worm Blu-ray Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>The Lair of the White Worm<\/em><\/strong> is a fun and uber-campy horror-comedy from the 1980s that might not be well written, even for camp, and could\u2019ve used some tightening of the story, yet it\u2019s hard to say it wasn\u2019t at least entertaining.<\/p>\n

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The Lair of the White Worm
\n— Collector’s Series —<\/span><\/span>
\n(1988)<\/span>
\n<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Genre(s): <\/strong>Horror, Comedy
\nLionsgate | R \u2013 94 min. \u2013 $34.97 | January 31, 2017<\/p>\n

Date Published:<\/strong> 01\/22\/2017 | Author:<\/strong> The Movieman<\/span><\/p>\n

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MOVIE INFO:
\n<\/u>Directed by: <\/strong>Ken Russell
\nWriter(s): <\/strong>Bram Stoker (novel); Ken Russell (screenplay)
\nCast: <\/strong>Amanda Donohoe, Hugh Grant, Catherine Oxenberg, Peter Capaldi, Sammi Davis<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
DISC INFO:
\n<\/u>Features: <\/strong>Audio Commentaries, Featurette, Interviews, Theatrical Trailers, Still Gallery
\nDigital Copy: <\/strong>No
\nFormats Included: <\/strong>Blu-ray
\nNumber of Discs: <\/strong>1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Audio: <\/strong>English (DTS-HD MA 2.0)
\nVideo: <\/strong>1080p\/Widescreen 1.78
\nSubtitles: <\/strong>English SDH
\nDisc Size: <\/strong>30.8 GB
\nCodec: <\/strong>MPEG-4 AVC
\nRegion(s): <\/strong>A<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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THE MOVIE \u2014 3.5\/5<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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Plot Synopsis: <\/strong>James D’Ampton (HUGH GRANT) returns to his country castle in England. Legend has it that James’s distant ancestor once slayed the local dragon \u2014 a monstrous white worm with a fondness for the sweet flesh of virgins. The young lord dismisses the legend as folklore, until archaeology student Angus Flint (PETER CAPALDI) explores James’s property and unearths a massive reptilian skull and a pagan snake god’s ancient site of worship. When James’s virtuous girlfriend, Eve Trent (CATHERINE OXENBERG), suddenly disappears, James and Angus set out to investigate the foreboding cavern said to be the worm’s lair, where a centuries-old mystery begins to uncoil.<\/p>\n

Quick Hit Review: <\/strong>I\u2019ve heard of The Lair of the White Worm<\/em><\/strong> but never got the chance to see it until now. It\u2019s a fantastic blend of 1960-era horror (especially with the sexual component) with campy comedy and while there\u2019s very little mystery to the story, and a script (loosely based on Stoker\u2019s book and written by director Ken Russell) that wasn\u2019t focused very well, the fun factor makes the film so entertaining. The cast, which includes a young Hugh Grant and current Doctor Who Peter Capaldi, not to mention a trio of lovely ladies headlined by the sultry and seductive Amanda Donohoe, all turn in great performances knowing exactly what kind of movie they\u2019re in.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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SPECIAL FEATURES \u2013 3.75\/5<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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This is the sixth movie in the Vestron Video Collector\u2019s Series and comes with a glossy slip cover<\/strong>. The selection of features aren\u2019t bad, but it is a shame they couldn\u2019t get interviews with the cast members other than Sammi Davis (would\u2019ve been especially nice to hear from Peter Capaldi or Hugh Grant).<\/p>\n

Audio Commentaries:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

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  • Screenwriter\/Producer\/Director Ken Russell<\/strong><\/li>\n
  • Lisi Russell with Film Historian Matthew Melia<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Both commentaries, including one by Ken Russell which has been missing on a variety of previous releases, offer varying perspectives on the movie with Russell giving anecdotal stories while Lisi Russell, Ken\u2019s widowed wife, recollects on her husband with Melia serving as a decent moderator.<\/p>\n

    Interviews:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

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    • Worm Food \u2013 Special Effects Artists Geoffrey Portass, Neil Gorton and Paul Jones (27:08; HD)<\/strong><\/li>\n
    • Cutting for Ken \u2013 Editor Peter Davies (9:32; HD)<\/strong><\/li>\n
    • Mary, Mary \u2013 Actress Sammi Davis (15:42; HD)<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Each of the interviewees chat about their experiences not only on the project but working with Ken Russell and just the character he was.<\/p>\n

      Trailers from Hell (2:45; HD)<\/u><\/strong> \u2013 Producer Dan Ireland comments over the trailer for The Lair of the White Worm<\/em>.<\/p>\n

      Lastly, we get the Theatrical Trailer (2:11; HD)<\/u><\/strong> and a Still Gallery (2:59; HD)<\/u><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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      VIDEO \u2013 4.25\/5<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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      The Lair of the White Worm<\/em><\/strong> is presented in its original 1.78 widescreen aspect ratio and given an AVC-encoded 1080p high-definition transfer. For the most part, this is a fine looking video with good pops of color and sharp, well defined, detail throughout. If there was a flaw, there were some very minor instances of dust marks which I only noticed while getting screen captures, otherwise it\u2019s nothing too evident.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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      AUDIO \u2013 4.0\/5<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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      The disc comes with a respectable DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track with crisp and clear dialogue levels throughout and when the horror picks up, especially during the finale, there is an appreciable amount of depth. It appears any hisses or pops were removed. As a movie of its age, this is a nice sounding lossless track.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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      OVERALL \u2013 3.5\/5<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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      Overall, The Lair of the White Worm<\/em><\/strong> is a fun and uber-campy horror-comedy from the 1980s that might not be well written, even for camp, and could\u2019ve used some tightening of the story, yet it\u2019s hard to say it wasn\u2019t at least entertaining. This \u201cCollector\u2019s Series\u201d Blu-ray released by Lionsgate offers up very good video\/audio transfers and a fine selection of bonus features.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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      The Lair of the White Worm is a fun and uber-campy horror-comedy from the 1980s that might not be well written, even for camp, and could\u2019ve used some tightening of the story, yet it\u2019s hard to say it wasn\u2019t at least entertaining.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,970],"tags":[226,4795],"class_list":["post-14067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blurayreviews","category-quick-hit-reviews","tag-hugh-grant","tag-vestron"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14067","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14067"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14067\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25648,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14067\/revisions\/25648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}