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In "Return of the Jedi," "Star Wars" fans were introduced to a rancor, then known as "the" rancor, a jagged-toothed, hungry monster who eats poor Oola (Femi Taylor), the Twi'lek dancing girl under orders from Jabba the Hutt. Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) ended up killing the beast in a moment that's intended to be heroic, but always sat wrong with me as a child. The rancor's handler, Malakili (Paul Brooke), openly weeps as he holds his dying pet, which led me to believe that maybe he wasn't just a mindless murdering machine, but something more like a giant guard dog. 

One thing the "Star Wars" shows on...

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Stars: Peter Capaldi, Hugh Grant, Amanda Donohoe, Catherine Oxenberg, Sammi Davis, Stratford Johns, Paul Brooke, Imogen Claire, Chris Pitt, Gina McKee | Written and Directed by Ken Russell

This very British monster movie from 1988 is based on the final, unfinished novel by Bram Stoker. The book was apparently written in a state of sweaty delirium, so it’s easy to see why enfant terrible Ken Russell was drawn to it.

Starring Hugh Grant and Peter Capaldi (both remarkably fresh-faced) and some dodgy regional accents, the setting is rural Derbyshire, and the enemy is a mythical giant worm that lives in a cave. Scottish archaeology student Angus (Capaldi) comes to stay in a guest house owned by the Trent sisters, Mary (Sammi Davis) and Eve (Catherine Oxenberg). After digging up the skull of an oversized reptile, he discovers that the Trents’ parents went mysteriously missing a year ago. Could these events be related?...

Stars: Peter Capaldi, Hugh Grant, Amanda Donohoe, Catherine Oxenberg, Sammi Davis, Stratford Johns, Paul Brooke, Imogen Claire, Chris Pitt, Gina McKee | Written and Directed by Ken Russell

Some of the most memorable cult horror films come from eccentrics of the genre. Ken Russell was a director who left his unforgettable mark on film history, with the likes of Tommy and The Devils. In The Lair of the White Worm he creates a truly cult experience that has stayed a truly unique piece of horror entertainment.

When Angus Flint (Peter Capaldi) a Scottish archaeologist discovers a strange skull on the site of an old convent, it seems he may have discovered the remains of the d’Ampton Worm. A legendary snake-like creature killed by local landowner James D’Amton’s (Hugh Grant) ancestor, it soon vanishes. With villagers disappearing it appears that an ancient evil has been awoken once again.

Watching...

The Lair of the White Worm

Blu-ray

Lionsgate / Vestron

1988 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 94 min. / Street Date January 31, 2017 / 34.97

Starring Amanda Donohoe, Hugh Grant, Catherine Oxenberg, Peter Capaldi, Sammi Davis, Stratford Johns, Paul Brooke, Imogen Claire, Chris Pitt, Gina McKee, Christopher Gable, Lloyd Peters.

Cinematography: Dick Bush

Film Editor: Peter Davies

Special Effects makeup: Stuart Conran, Paul Jones

Original Music: Stanislaus Syerewicz

Written by: Ken Russell from the novel by Bram Stoker

Produced and Directed by Ken Russell

Wild man director Ken Russell struck back against commercial indifference with this alternately elegant and outrageous horror offering, that excepting a few hard- ‘R’ moments, comes off as a real (snake) charmer. Few horror movies have a real sense of wit, and fewer still can laugh at themselves without crumbling into sad parody. As if reclaiming horror as a British-made product, Russell’s The Lair of the White Worm shows us what a next-generation Hammer...