A Scottish archeologist (Peter Capaldi), the lord of the manor (Hugh Grant), and two local girls (Catherine Oxenberg & Sammi Davis) team up to uncover the truth behind the myth of the D’Ampton Worm. That truth is guarded by the serpent priestess and vampire, Lady Syliva (Amanda Donohoe), who is in need of a virgin sacrifice.
Quick Review: Lord D’Ampton: “Do you have children?” Lady Sylvia: “Only when there are no men around.”
That tells you what to expect from Lair of the White Worm, a cult favorite from director Ken Russell. It’s the wit, the subtle and not so subtle (and the completely over-the-top) jokes in almost every line of dialog that sets this above most horror films. These people don’t speak the way people really do, but the way you would like them too.
The Pogues-like song, The D’Ampton Worm, played at a party scene is a treat and sets the mood. Here’s a film that has it all. It has bodies lopped in half, a nude serpent vampire girl painted blue, gory bites, seduction and drowning of a boy scout, blasphemy and religious desecration, nuns raped and impaled on pikes, a giant strap-on phallus, and all with a sense of humor. Hugh Grant, in one of his earlier roles, is a standout as the good-natured, if spoiled, Lord D’Ampton, but it is Amanda Donahoe’s film. Who else could manage expressions of delighted distain as she lies in her bra and panties and washes a boy scout?