REPTILICUS (1961)

REPTILICUS (1961)

Tagline: See a mighty city trampled to destruction! See missiles and atom bombs powerless! See civilization rioting with fear!

(Adventure, Drama, Dumb Scientists) [PG]

This is Grayson, execute Plan A…

Note: This movie wasn't given an MPAA rating, but I gave it a PG due to some scenes that include blood because I think that is what it would have gotten if it came out today. 

In this one, some miners near the arctic circle discover a part of something that once lived. While checking it out, some scientists accidentally let it thaw and regenerate into a full giant reptile. It can fly and swim and is bulletproof, so it’s just doing whatever it wants destroying everything in its path. Can mankind kill it, before it kills hundreds, maybe thousands?

First off, this is apparently the first and only attempt so far from the Danish to ever make a giant monster movie. Director Sidney Pink had apparently considered remaking this movie back in 1998 but has since died without that having happened. This movie has both a Danish and American version. The American version actually features one completely different character. 

After the original GODZILLA came out, some countries tried capitalizing on the “giant monster” or kaiju craze. While most American films ended up in giant bugs and other animals, Denmark tried this thing and GORGO (Ireland) were a few other attempts. In this movie, Reptilicus is even given both projectile green goo and a very GODZILLA-like “regenerative” property. 

In this movie Dirch Passer plays a man named Peterson with a lesser IQ than the scientists he works with, only they are the ones who end up making all the mistakes. Passer being in this movie would have been like the modern-day equivalent of casting Robin Williams in a GODZILLA movie. Passer was widely known for being a comedic actor at the time. Outside of Passer, the acting is pretty good. General Mark Grayson ends up being one of the main characters and he is played by Carl Ottosen. Ottosen was in a ton of movies including another sci-fi flick right up my alley called JOURNEY TO THE SEVENTH PLANET. 

The monster design in this is decent, but the effects make me kind of wish this was in black and white. It feels like it would have looked less “unnatural” rather than looking like an enamel-painted model I could do in my living room while typing this review and drinking caramel-flavored coffee. I would rather than had abandoned the puppet stuff, and gone with stop motion, but if they were going for a GODZILLA type film, it makes sense that they would try for something a lot like “Manda’s” movements in the TOHO films. We even get one crazy scene where Reptilicus even eats a dude that is clearly just a paper cut out of a guy. Not joking, it’s pretty gloriously goofy.  

This movie had both a novelization and a short-lived comic series named after it, but I am more bummed we never got a series out of this. I think the same thing about GORGO. One of the elements in this movie clearly pointed to a big opening for that to happen. 

Overall this is a pretty fun watch for any kaiju fans even just for how freakin mind-blowingly goofy it is, and especially if you liked “Manda” in the TOHO films.  I give this one a solid 4 out of 7, for the design work and the occasional effects-driven laughs.

GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF SAGA STUDIO AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY. 

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