Tag Archives: Bram Stoker

Exploring the Lair of the White Worm

The Lair of the White Worm

audio In a panel discussion recorded at The Horse Hospital arts club after a screening of Ken Russell’s lurid Bram Stoker adaptation on Wednesday 14 March, Mark Pilkington discusses The Lair of the White Worm (1988) with BFI Flipside programmers Vic Pratt and Will Fowler, touching on the legend of the Lambton Worm, titillation and absurdity in British cinema and Russell’s three-picture deal with Vestron Pictures in the 1980s.

Podcast recorded and produced by Alex Fitch.

Russell Forever: The Lair of the White Worm + talk

Lair of the White Worm

The Lair of the White Worm + talk

Writer/director: Ken Russell

UK 1988

96 mins

Certificate 18

Screening date: Wednesday 14 March 2012

Doors: 7pm

Venue: Horse Hospital

Address: Colonnade, Bloomsbury, London WC1N 1JD

Price: £6/£4

Advance tickets: £5 from WeGotTickets

Horse Hospital website

Electric Sheep and Strange Attractor Present:
The Lair of the White Worm + Talk with Flipside programmers

‘It has a lair, it has a worm, the worm is white.’ Roger Ebert

Electric Sheep and Strange Attractor are proud to present a rare outing for this unjustly neglected horror romp from the late Ken Russell as part of Ken Russell Forever, a tribute to the director organised by the good people of Scala Forever to coincide with the release of The Devils on DVD in March that runs from 10 to 20 March 2012.

Tenuously based on a 1911 novel by Bram Stoker – itself inspired by the ancient tale of the Lambton Wyrm, a staple for every book of true monster stories – this shamelessly camp horror comedy is generally considered to be Russell’s last great film.

Our Ken gleefully captures the spirits of Hammer and Carry On, doses them both with LSD and then dangles them over a bottomless pit containing an 80ft phallus while standing at the side pointing and laughing.

Featuring a soon-to-be-all-star cast including Hugh Grant, Peter Capaldi and Amanda Donahoe, gags and gore galore, not to mention sex, folk rock and slapstick, The Lair of the White Worm is a joyful outrage from beginning to end.

Plus talk with BFI archive curators and Flipside programmers Vic Pratt and Will Fowler.

Advance tickets £5 from WeGotTickets.

Ken Russell Forever runs from 10 to 20 March. For more information on other Russell Forever events, please see the Ken Russell Forever website, the Facebook event page, or follow Scala Forever on Facebook and Twitter.