I feel like I watched The Reptile a month too soon. As is the case with most films from the Hammer camp, The Reptile is rich in atmosphere and absolutely perfect for the month of October. While a bit of a slow burn director John Gilling’s creepy tale about a small village in Cornwall suffering from an outbreak of mysterious deaths is one that should not be missed. And the recent Blu-ray release from Anolis Entertainment is quite splendid.

After the strange and sudden death of his brother Charles, Harry Spalding (Ray Barrett) inherits his cottage in Clagmoor Heath. Despite being treated poorly by the locals upon his arrival, Harry decides to move into the cottage with his new wife Valerie (Jennifer Daniel). After getting the keys Harry and Valerie head to the cottage only to discover that it has been ransacked. Determined not to be deterred the newly weds quickly get to cleaning the place up and making it their new home.

The one person in town that doesn’t immediately take to disliking the Spaldings is Tom Bailey (Michael Ripper), the local publican. Tom still warns Harry that living in the cottage may not be the best of ideas but in no way is he trying to run Harry and his wife out of the village. Tom explains that what killed Charles is known as the “black death.” No one is quite sure what it is or how it happens, but it’s beginning to become an epidemic spreading over the entire community and it has everyone a bit on edge. To make matters worse for the Spaldings, their neighbor Dr. Franklyn (Noel Williams) isn’t the nicest of fellows and is quite honestly a bit of a strange character. On his first visit to the Spalding home he just busts right in, blowing past Valerie, on hunt for his daughter Anna. Dr. Franklyn never actually threatens Valerie or Harry, but he definitely comes off as very sinister. I don’t care for him one bit.

In attempt to figure out what happened to his brother and what is exactly plaguing the town, Harry and Tom decide to get together and do some investigating. What they eventually fine turns out to be quite shocking. I don’t want to reveal too much more as to not spoil things, but since it’s very prevalent in all marketing for the movie I will say there is a reptile-human hybrid terrorizing the town. One bite from this creature has enough venom to kill people nearly instantly. The real shock comes from finding out what exactly this creature is and that’s precisely what Harry and Tom set out to do.

As I mentioned above the film does move at a bit of a slower pace. When you couple that in with a script that is slightly uneven at times, and kind of ridiculous when you really think about it, you run the risk of going off the rails and losing the audience. Fortunately The Reptile is carried by great performances and fantastic set pieces. Ripper, who I believe holds the distinction of appearing in more Hammer films than anyone else, steals just about every scene he’s in. Ripper never really was a lead, he always played these interesting side characters, but he just has a way about him that makes him so damn memorable. I love him in this movie. When I go into a tavern, he’s exactly how I want the barkeep to be. The world could use more actors like Michael Ripper.

Ripper isn’t the only one that shines, however. The wonderful John Laurie, another character fine actor, turns in a masterful performance as the town crazy simply known as Mad Peter. I love characters like Mad Peter. They’re a bit cliché, especially these days, but the crazy person that no one listens to who knows exactly what’s going on is really a crucial character to stories like this. There’s one scene in particular with Mad Peter eating dinner with the Spaldings that is just fabulous. Laurie at his best.

Les Bowie, the special effects wizard responsible for creating some of the best monsters the Hammer universe has to offer, did a wonderful job with bringing The Reptile to life. I think the creature really looks fantastic. Yeah, it may look a little cheesy, but overall I think it works perfectly. I am quite fond of the nose and eyes in particular. I really love how massive and red the eyes are. The special effects for the bites look fantastic as well. The area directly around the bite marks starts to turn a greenish-black. This eventually spreads to the head right around the eyes and victims begin to foam from the mouth. It all looks disgusting and quite frankly icky, which is precisely what you want.

Because Hammer wisely liked to keep things in-house, the music was composed by Don Banks who did a terrific job. The music is very brooding with sprinkles of Indian flavor mixed in. One of the highlights of a Hammer film is the tone, which always lets you know something dark is lurking in the shadows, just waiting for the right moment to strike. Banks manages to create that feeling throughout. Combine the music of Banks with the detailed costume design and set pieces and you’re completely engulfed by this small British village that is in constant fear of an unknown plague.

This new Blu-ray release Anolis Entertainment is stunning. The transfer looks gorgeous. This isn’t the first Blu-ray release of The Reptile, as it’s also been released in the U.K. and Australia (all release thus far are Region B), but this is the first Blu-ray release of the film I have seen. I cannot compare this Anolis release to the others to let you know how it stacks up, but I can tell that the Anolis release is a great one. The Reptile features some wonderful camera work from the great Arthur Grant and this Blu-ray release brings it all to life in nice vivid colors.

The Reptile is a winner all across the board as far as I’m concerned. The movie itself is classic Hammer, high in atmosphere and chills, and the release from Anolis Entertainment is top of the line.

The Reptile is now available on Blu-ray from Anolis Entertainment.