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Reptilicus
Denmark 1961
produced by Sidney W. Pink, Johann Zalabery (executive) for Saga Studio
directed by Poul Bang
starring Bent Mejding, Asbjørn Andersen, Ann Smyrner, Mimi Heinrich, Dirch Passer, Carl Ottosen, Bodil Miller, Povl Wøldike, Ole Wisborg, Mogens Brandt, Kjeld Petersen, Birthe Wilke, Jens Due, May Reimers, Dirk Melchior, Alex Suhr, Poul Thomsen, narration by Claus Toksvig
idea by Sidney W. Pink, screenplay by Ib Melchior, music by Sven Gyldmark, songs by Victor Skaarup
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Note: There are a Danish and an American version of the film that
differ not so much in story or cast, but (reportedly) in edit and special
effects. This review is based on the Danish version alone. Somewhere
in Lapland, Svend (Bent Mejding) and his crew are drilling for oil - but
hit blood instead, and upon digging find it to be the frozen tail of a
prehistoric reptile. They bring their find to Professor Martens (Asbjørn
Andersen) and Dr. Dalby (Povl Wøldike) of the Danish Aquarium in
Copenhagen, who keep the thing on ice - until the caretaker Petersen
(Dirch Passer) accidently turns off the freezer - and surprisingly, the
tail starts to regenerate and grow a full reptile out of itself. When hit
by lightning, the creature, dubbed Reptilicus, grows to enormous size and
escapes the Aquarium, killing Dr. Dalby in the process. The creature
leaves behind a trail of destruction, calling the army onto the scene, and
now it's up to General Grayson (Carl Ottosen), his scientific advisor
Connie Miller (Bodil Miller), Professor Martens, and, inexplicably, Svend,
to come up with a way to destroy the creature - made all the more
difficult that every time Reptilicus is wounded, it actually just evolves,
and eventually even grows wings. So in short, traditional firepower won't
kill it. But what about a shitload of sedative shot right into its mouth? Denmark's
first and to the best of my knowledge still only giant monster flick, Reptilicus
is actually not all that good a film. Basically, it's not that
well-written, almost half of the film is only set-up for the monster
action, with even a couple of irreverent musical numbers thrown into the
mix and a focus on comic actor Dirch Passer, who pretty much vanishes at
the film's halfway point without explanation, and then the
earth-vs.-monster part of the film is too functional without any emotional
grounding - and of course, that the monster's not exactly convincing even
for the early 1960s doesn't make it any better. That all said, it's still
somewhat of a hidden gem for trash movie enthusiasts like myself, it's
just something for acquired tastes ...
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