Reptilicus le monstre des mers

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.

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.

Being a Dane and being born in the 1970s, then I would eventually get acquainted with "Reptilicus", especially since it is a cult movie here in Denmark. But I will try to keep a neutral viewpoint on my review here.

Taking into consideration that the movie is from 1961, then of course the effects were bound to be limited and also to be nothing compared to the effects of modern day movies. With that in mind, then lets just put it out in the clear; the movie had horrible effects. No doubt about it.

The creature, Reptilicus, might have worked in thought and concept idea, but brought to the big screen in 1961 it was an eyesore to look at. It was so obviously fake that it fooled no one. And it is fun to witness how there are no scenes with actual people interacting with Reptilicus. Sure there were some scenes where Reptilicus was in the backdrop of scenes with people, but even then it looked painfully fake. And in my lifelong track record of watching movies, then I have never seen anything as fake and laughable than the scene where Reptilicus eats a farmer that decides to bolt and leave his wife and children to fend for themselves in a crumbling farmhouse. It was awful to witness, and I keep laughing every time I watch the movie.

Should you decide to sit down and watch "Reptilicus", then make sure that you don't get a fully dubbed English language version, because it it just insulting to the movie. "Reptilicus" should be watched in its original Danish language (albeit there still is some English in the original Danish version as well). And to further add insult to injury then the English dubbed version is left with the spontaneous song by actor Dirch Passer cut out. I was outraged by that editing, because that song is great. Yeah, I have watched the original Danish language version and the English dubbed version of course.

Aside from a very questionable reptilian creature which moves about by pulled strings and spewing some equally fake green slime, then the scenes with Reptilicus was also sporting very fake buildings, toy cars and train model trees.

"Reptilicus" is one of those types of movies that are so bad that they are fun to watch, and that is the reason why I have watched the movie three times by now. It is fun to return to watch it every now and then with years in between, because it never stops to amuse me.

This movie might certainly have put Denmark on the monster creature features map of the world, but sadly it is not because the movie was a great movie. But hey, even crappy movies can make a lasting impression.

And even though I am rating "Reptilicus" a mere four out of ten stars, then it is still a movie that is entertaining and one that it well-worth to be able to say "yes, I have seen that one!".

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.

Make no mistake, Reptilicus is a bad movie but it is one of the most enjoyable bad movies ever made. If you want substance, watch Apocalypse Now but if you want junk entertainment, watch Reptilicus. Give Ib Melchior and Syd Pink credit for at least coming up with an interesting idea of a regenerating monster. Problem is they don't use it to it's full potential and leave alot of questions unanswered. For instance, what about the tiny peice the one doctor cuts off and examines under a microscope? What happens to this peice or for that matter the original peices of skin found in the movie's opening? My best guess is that they kept them under ice a little more successfully this time. But how does one kill the creature? The filmmaker's obviously backed themselves into a corner with this one. Although Reptilicus is knocked out at the film's conclusion, he is not dead. General Grayson swears that the Proffesor can kill the creature if they get him immobilized but only a moment before the Proffesor admitted he had no idea how to kill Reptilicus. And why does Sven stick around for the whole movie? He isn't a scientist or military man and his romantic conquests of the Professor's two daughters don't go very far. It would have made far more sense if he had been the one to sacrifice himself at the end and not Grayson's second in command as Sven showed alot of guilt earlier about being the man who found the creature but this film is not about sense. Notice how the characters say the word "where" with great regularity, so much so that it becomes a running joke. And how about those effects? No men in costumes knocking over finely detailed miniature cities but an unweildy rod and string puppet that can barely knock over a cardboard representation of Coppenhagen. Although Repti's acid slime venom is a fairly plausible power (And well animated. The day glow slime is easily the film's best effect) it spews forth in a rather rude manner that makes one feel that the monster might have made good in X rated films. Speaking of the acid slime, we are told of it's effects, we never see them as acid scar makeup and burned out buildings would have taken too much money out of an already low budget.

Make sure you have a stomach distress bag ready for the sickening antics of Peterson the comedy relief handyman who likes electric eels and the "Tivoli Nights" song, sung by a woman with the tiniest waist this side of Vampira. Also remember that Reptilicus was a trailblazer in one respect. It was a pioneer in the "set up for a sequel that never happens" sweepstakes.

Grab a bag of popcorn and get ready to laugh. Reptilicus is wonderfully awful and deserves it's rank as one of the best of the bad.