Reptilicus

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.

A movie that has a line like " You'll have to shoot it at point blank range from very close up".

Truly mind numbing and entertaining at the same time. The monster looks like a cousin of the the bird in the Giant Claw. It's so obviously a marionette I kept looking to see if the strings were showing. I could swear I saw them in a couple of scenes. Actually I've see more realistic puppets in shops in Prague.

I'm still trying to figure out why the bridgekeeper raised the bridge when the crowds were running over it. I guess Syd wanted the scenes of the cyclists going over the edge. Probably the best part.

Not the worst, very far from the best but still a lot of fun to watch. MGM Midnight Movies has been putting these gems out on DVD this summer. I hope they keep it up, I'm getting addicted to them.

Without a doubt the best BAD movie ever made. From beginning to end, "Reptilicus" has it all:

1) Weird Location: Copenhagen 2) Bad Dubbing: Phonetic English over Danish 3) Cheesiest Monster: Rubber snake hand puppet thingy 4) Worst acting: Carl Ottosen as Gen. Mark Grayson, plus the whole cast! 5) Worst stock footage: Obviously unrelated to the movie 6) Worst special effects: Acid vomit + cut-out farmer entree' 7) Worst crowd control: Copenhagenagers running amok!

I know there are CHEAPER monster flicks out there, but "Reptilicus" gets the honorary "OsKar" for totally bad in all major respects. I dare you to watch it and not laugh... a lot.

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.

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.