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Reptilicus

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Reptilicus
Danish theatrical release poster
Directed byDanish version:
Poul Bang
English version:
Sidney W. Pink
Written byIb Melchior
Sidney W. Pink
StarringCarl Ottosen
Ann Smyrner
Mimi Heinrich
Dirch Passer
CinematographyAage Wiltrup
Edited bySven Methling
Edith Nisted Nielsen
Music bySven Gyldmark
Production
company
Distributed byAmerican International Pictures (USA)
Saga Studios (Denmark)
Release dates
  • February 20, 1961 (1961-02-20)
(Denmark)
1962 (United States)
Running time
94 minutes (Denmark), 81 minutes (USA)
CountriesDenmark
United States
LanguagesDanish
English
Budget$233,000[a]
Box office$800,000[3]

Reptilicus is the mutual title of two Danish-American monster films about a giant, prehistoric reptile. The films were produced by Cinemagic[4] and Saga Studio, with Poul Bang's Danish-language film released by Saga in Denmark in 1961, and Sidney Pink's English-language film released by American International Pictures in the US in 1962. They've frequently been incorrectly described as two release-versions of the same film[5].

American theatrical release poster by Reynold Brown.

Plot[edit]

Danish miner Svend Viltorft digs up a section of a giant reptile's tail from the frozen grounds in Lapland, where he and other miners are drilling. The section is flown to the Denmark's Aquarium in Copenhagen, where it is preserved in a cold room for scientific study. But due to mishandling, the room is left open and the section begins to thaw, only for scientists to find that it is starting to regenerate.

Professor Otto Martens, who is in charge of the aquarium, dubs the reptilian species "Reptilicus" (upon a reporter's suggestion) and compares its regeneration abilities to that of other animals like starfish.

Once fully regenerated from the tail section, Reptilicus goes on an unstoppable rampage from the Danish countryside to the panic-stricken streets of Copenhagen (including one of its famous landmarks, Langebro Bridge). The monster is finally rendered unconscious by a sedative developed by ingenious scientists and shot into its mouth from a bazooka fired by General Grayson.

However, the film is left open-ended. A final shot shows one of Reptilicus' legs, which had been blown off earlier by the Danish Navy's depth charges, sitting on the sea floor, raising the possibility that it could regenerate into a new Reptilicus.

Cast[edit]

Production[edit]

Production of the two films started in July 1960. They were shot simultaneously, one directed by Danish director Poul Bang and filmed in Danish language, the other directed by American producer-director Sidney Pink and filmed in English language with an almost identical cast. Pink and Bang took turns throughout each shooting day, so that Pink would direct and film a shot in English, after which Bang would direct and film the same shot in Danish. [6]

The only difference in the cast of the two films is UNESCO representative Connie Miller, played by Danish actress Bodil Miller in Bang's Danish-language film and, because the latter could not speak English, by German actress Marla Behrens in Pink's English-language film. Filming took place in several locations in Denmark, including Sjælland (especially Copenhagen) and Jylland.[7]

The Danish-language film directed by Poul Bang was completed swiftly and released in Denmark on February 25, 1961.

Following delivery of his negative to American International Pictures, Pink's film was deemed virtually unreleasable and had to be extensively reworked by the film's Danish-American screenwriter, Ib Melchior. This including altering footage to show Reptilicus vomiting acid saliva; the Danish actors' voices (speaking English with Danish accents) were dubbed over by mainly American actors (and in several cases by Melchior himself).

Pink was angry at the changes and wound up in a legal dispute with AIP.[2] After Pink and others viewed Melchior's new version, however, the lawsuit was dropped.[8] Pink's film was finally released in the United States in 1962.[9]

Pink & Denmark[edit]

Sidney Pink produced four films in Denmark: Elefanter på loftet, Journey to the Seventh Planet and the two Reptilicus-films. Following his return to Hollywood, he praised Denmark and Danish filmmaking, including the Danish miniatures, saying that "Danish miniature work has surpassed that of Japan, up to generally acknowledged to be the finest in the world. Facilities in Denmark, by Hollywood standards, are notably lacking; but fine craftsmen who put everything together by hand are not concerned with the time it takes, (and) are excellent". Pink also said "the Scandinavian countries have never truly been exploited by Hollywood filmmakers, so the settings have remained unusually fresh ground for motion pictures. Reptilicus at Saga Studios in Copenhagen made "at a cost of $380,000 (equivalent to $3,913,701 in 2023), about a third of what it probably would have cost if made in the U. S."[10] Pink attempted to produce a remake of the film in 2001, due to the box office success of Godzilla in 1998, before his death in 2002.[citation needed]

Release[edit]

Theatrical release[edit]

The Danish-language Reptilicus directed by Poul Bang was released in Denmark on February 25, 1961. The English-language Reptilicus directed by Sidney Pink and reworked by Ib Melchior was released in the US in late 1962.

Home media[edit]

Poul Bang's Danish-language Reptilicus was released in Denmark on VHS from Video Action as Rædselsuhyret, on VHS from Video International as Dus med uhyret, and in 2002 on DVD from Sandrew Metronome as Reptilicus. In 2019, the Swedish company Studio S released Poul Bang's Reptilicus on a DVD that as a bonus feature included Sidney Pink's English-language Reptilicus (both films in incorrect 4:3-ratio).

Sidney Pink's English-language Reptilicus was released on DVD on April 1, 2003, by MGM Home Entertainment under the Midnite Movies banner.[11] In June 2015, it was released in the Blu-ray format by Scream Factory as a double feature with the 1977 film Tentacles.[12]

Reception[edit]

Upon its theatrical release in 1961, Poul Bang's Danish-language Reptilicus received negative reviews by the Danish film critics. However, as Denmark's only giant monster film, is has since achieved a cult following in its home country.[13]

Sidney Pink's English-language Reptilicus, released in 1962, received mostly negative reviews from American critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 25% based on eight reviews, with a weighted average rating of 3.9/10.[14]

Film critic Glenn Erickson described the monster as "a wiggly marionette that moved like something from Kukla, Fran and Ollie," that the film's "dubbing was terrible and the optical effects so distractingly bad that I couldn't help but roll my eyes," that the film includes "a jaw-droppingly dreadful musical number, in which bumbling aquarium janitor Mikkelsen / Petersen (Dirch Passer) romps in a park with a bunch of barely-interested kids, singing a horrible song about a loveable monster," and that the film "comes in dead last in the list of movies where giant monsters attack cities."[15] Describing the film as a "hilarious sci-fi mess," critic Hans Wollstein further noted in AllMovie that it "contains filmdom's perhaps least convincing monster and some of the worst performances imaginable," that "Ottosen's wooden performance is second only to that of Bodil Miller, a former Universal starlet who appears here for no apparent reason," and "a low point of the film is pop star Birthe Wilke's rendition of a ditty, 'Tivoli Nights', to a visibly dazed audience."[16] Writing in DVD Talk, Kurt Dahlke reported that "Reptilicus seems aimed squarely at the monster kids in the audience," that no viewers "will concern themselves with the plot," and that "Special Effects are not this movie's strong point, but they are its selling point," with a monster that "often slithers about slowly, like an arthritic hand-puppet."[17]

Author and film critic Leonard Maltin awarded the film a BOMB, his lowest rating for a film. In his review on the film Maltin wrote that the film was "only good for laughs as [the] script hits every conceivable monster-movie cliché, right to the final shot".[18] TV Guide gave the film one out of a possible four stars, calling it "a fair-to-poor monster film".[19] Matt Brunson from Creative Loafing gave the film a negative review: "Awkward dubbing of foreign actors, special effects that look like they cost a buck fifty, laughably earnest dialogue, wince-inducing comic relief from a dim-witted character — if ever a movie was made that deserved to be showcased on the cult series Mystery Science Theater 3000 it's this one".[20]

Novel and comic book adaptations[edit]

A novelization of the film was released in paperback at the time of its original release (Reptilicus by Dean Owen (real name: Dudley Dean McGaughey) (Monarch Books 1961)).[9]

In 1961, Charlton Comics produced a comic book based on the film. Reptilicus lasted two issues.[21] After the copyright had lapsed, Charlton modified the creature's look and renamed it Reptisaurus. The series was renamed Reptisaurus the Terrible and would continue from issue #3 before being cancelled with issue #8 in 1962.[22] This was followed by a one-shot called Reptisaurus Special Edition in 1963.[23] Reptisaurus also made a cameo in the 12th issue of another Charlton giant monster comic, Gorgo.

In 2012, Scary Monsters Magazine reprinted the Reptisaurus the Terrible series as a black and white collection called Scarysaurus the Scary.[24]

In 2020, PS Artbooks published the two issues of Reptilicus as a bonus in the first two volumes of their Kona, Monarch of Monster Isle trade paperback series.

In popular culture[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ The Danish version cost $133,000,[1] while the American version cost an additional $100,000.[2]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Newsom, Ted. "Book Feature: Reptilicus - The Screenplay". Archived from the original on December 4, 2005. Retrieved June 1, 2022.
  2. ^ a b Mark McGee, Faster and Furiouser: The Revised and Fattened Fable of American International Pictures
  3. ^ Doto, Kip. Reptilicus the Screenplay. Bayou Publishing. p. 15.
  4. ^ Craig, Rob (2019). American International Pictures: A Comprehensive Filmography. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. p. 304. ISBN 9781476666310.
  5. ^ Nicolas Barbano: Twice Told Tails – The Two Versions of Reptilicus in Video Watchdog #96, 2003
  6. ^ "Filmland Events". The Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. July 20, 1960.
  7. ^ "Reptilicus (1961) – Filming Locations – IMDb". IMDb.com. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
  8. ^ White, Mike (2013). Cinema Detours. Lulu.com. pp. 135–. ISBN 978-1-300-98117-6.
  9. ^ a b "Reptilicus (1961) – Trivia – IMDb". IMDb.com. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
  10. ^ "Dane's Miniature Work the Bestest". Variety. November 1, 1960. Retrieved September 2, 2022.
  11. ^ "Reptilicus (1962) – Sidney Pink". AllMovie.com. Allmovie. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  12. ^ Gallman, Brett (4 July 2015). "Horror Reviews – Reptilicus (1961)". Oh! The Horror. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  13. ^ "Monsterfiasko blev kult". Dansk Filmskat (in Danish). Archived from the original on August 11, 2020. Retrieved February 25, 2018.
  14. ^ "Reptilicus (1963) – Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes.com. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  15. ^ Erickson, Glenn. "Reptilicus". DVD Savant. Glenn Erickson. Retrieved 2023-09-25.
  16. ^ Wollstein, Hans. "Reptilicus (1961)". AllMovie. Netaktion LLC. Retrieved 2023-09-25.
  17. ^ Dahlke, Kurt. "Tentacles / Reptilicus". DVD Talk. DVDTalk.com. Retrieved 2023-09-25.
  18. ^ Maltin, Leonard (29 September 2015). Turner Classic Movies Presents Leonard Maltin's Classic Movie Guide: From the Silent Era Through 1965: Third Edition. Penguin Publishing Group. p. 568. ISBN 978-0-698-19729-9.
  19. ^ "Reptilicus – Movie Reviews and Movie Ratings". TV Guide.com. TV Guide. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  20. ^ Brunson, Matt. "Chappie, Reptilicus, Spirited Away, The Sunshine Boys among new home entertainment titles". Creative Loafing.com. Matt Brunson. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  21. ^ "GCD :: Covers :: Reptilicus". comics.org.
  22. ^ "GCD :: Covers :: Reptisaurus". comics.org.
  23. ^ "GCD :: Covers :: Reptisaurus Special Edition". comics.org.
  24. ^ "SCARYSAURUS #1 – Reprint Book". creepyclassics.com. Archived from the original on 19 January 2013.

Further reading[edit]

  • Dean Owen: Reptilicus (Monarch Books 1961)
  • Sidney W. Pink: So You Want to Make Movies (Pineapple Press 1989)
  • Robert Skotak: Ib Melchior – Man of Imagination (Midnight Marquee Press 2000)
  • Nicolas Barbano: "Twice Told Tails – The Two Versions of Reptilicus", in Video Watchdog #96 (2003)

External links[edit]

Wikiquote has quotations related to Reptilicus.
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