Reptilicus - Il mostro distruggitore

Reptilicus is a classic film of the merits and failings of science. The creature is discovered as miners dig up tissue of an ancient "fossil", later that tissue is essentially grown in a nutrient-rich vat by scientists. Big surprise, the creature regenerates and goes amok. This is classic Hollywood, yet it is filmed, acted, directed and produced by the good people of Denmark.

The scenery is beautiful, the actors play the perfect American stereotypes of the era. Sure the monster is cheesy but, given the time and technology available, this film was pretty entertaining.

There are a legion of American-made monster movies that pale in comparison with Reptilicus. What most viewers tend to forget is that the modern concept of the monster movie was still new in 1961. Cheesy monster-effects are what really sold me on this movie.

Carl Ottesen playing General Mark Grayson was the key character of the movie. He could easily be moved to a multitude of roles in US films playing the hardened American officer sick of dealing with bureaucrats and been the guy to "push the button". Kudos to Carl for being ahead of of his time.

This movie is a much a classic to cinema as "King Kong" and "Godzilla". Take off the "critic-hat" and give it a chance.

If you like cheesy special effects, limited plot, limited acting talent, and garish acidic monster vomit, you'll love this movie! While it is far from the worst monster movie ever made, Reptilicus has very little to recommend it. But if you really, really liked the original Godzilla, then maybe you will like this also.

This is the movie that we Danes can be proud of!! It is the worst movie ever made but it is so funny that I am about to die. I just got the American Version as a gift for Christmas and it is a bit different than the danish version. In the Danish version Reptilicus doesn't puke green slime at people and it does't eat the little farmer. By the way that was the scene I laughed my lungs up. It looks so god damn funny!!! But it is a pretty good movie to see with your friends and have a good laugh! Note that Reptilicus is destroying the Golden Gate bridge on the cover of the DVD.

I think that there should be a different grading chart for low budget films. To automatically make fun of the production value is unfair. The makers of such films are well aware of the limitations of their vision due to budgetary constraints. While a movie like Reptilicus may not be a ten it is a hell of a lot better than Anaconda. Ib says he substituted imagination for dollars.

And this is how it should be viewed. A great task of suspending belief is what the audience is required to do. Set the sophistication of our current media consumption aside and enjoy a campy horror/sci-fi/adveture/whatever film that was probably meant to be a fun time at the drive-in that worked double duty at putting the kids to sleep before the picture everyone went to actually see begins.

Reptilicus is certainly more watchable for this reason alone than many simliar in the genere that had a much larger budget.

That being said, Reptilicus, still, is not a classic.

Check out Ib's other movies. Deathrace 2000 you might actually fall in love with.

An original title may be the only saving grace of "Reptilicus", but somehow it works subliminally on one's head... I can't forget the beast's expressions, there are at least two shots in which it has a strange sad grimace, although the origin of this creature is so weird that one can hardly develop sympathy or any other kind of emotion for it, as it often happens with film monsters. The character of the American general is not a very pleasant fellow, but the filmmakers put the weight of 70% of their movie on his shoulder, since the engineer does not do much and the professor is not only too old but also a cardiac patient... Then there is a bit of comic relief, two daughters that add nothing to the plot, a little travelogue of Copenhagen, a musical number, two different scores, and beautiful Miss Germany 1958 playing the leading lady in the American version. No more choices. Strange bad film, but somehow unforgettable. Maybe it has to do with poor Reptilicus. When I see things like this, that needed more than its two-cent budget I wonder why they made it.