The Lair Of The White Worm (1988)

Set in the English midlands, an archaeology student (Peter Capaldi) unearths the skull of a strange unidentifiable creature. Shortly after, the mysterious Lady Marsh (Amanda Donohoe) returns to her stately manor and suddenly strange things begin to occur. Very loosely based on the novel by Bram Stoker (DRACULA) and directed by Ken Russell (THE DEVILS). Ken Russell is cinema's most notable enfant terrible and this outrageous horror comedy couldn't have come from anybody else. Like all good horror comedies, Russell balances the laughs with the chills. Most of the cast play it straight which leaves Donohoe's snake priestess to provide the camp humor. The reviews were mixed when it opened and I'm not sure that the critics understood that this was a comedy. The snake monster is laughably fake (which I'm sure was Russell's intention) and Russell's outrageous sense of humor pops up in the most unexpected places like when Catherine Oxenberg's virgin is stripped down to her underwear for a human sacrifice yet she's wearing the ugliest grandma panties imaginable. If you like your horror movies dead serious, skip this but if like laughs along with your scares, you should find much to enjoy here. With Hugh Grant, Sammi Davis, Paul Brooke and Stratford Johns.