The Lair of the White Worm (1988) and Its Villain

“I change my cars as regularly as a snake sheds its skin.” – Lady Sylvia Marsh, The Lair of the White Worm

A villain can make or break a movie.  They need to be a formidable opponent for the main character(s) so that there is a satisfying struggle.  That means a villain should have a flawed toughness.  They need to be nearly impossible to defeat, yet flawed enough that the hero can overpower them.  More importantly, a villain should be entertaining.

There are various ways to make a villain interesting to watch.  Mystery can make an audience want to know more about them.  Charisma can draw characters into their charm.  Physical characteristics can also make a villain stand out.  If you look at the James Bond movies, you can see villains that fit each of these character types.  But what about The Lair of the White Worm, which is nothing like a James Bond movie?  (Okay, maybe it shares the whole British thing)  How does its villain work?

First thing’s first.  What was the story of The Lair of the White Worm?  To understand the villain, one must first understand the conflict.  Angus Flint (Peter Capaldi) and Mary Trent (Sammi Davis) were excavating the yard of Mary’s bed and breakfast.  They uncovered the skull of what looked like a dragon, which they said was the ancestor of the modern snake and worm.  It seems weird that all of these animals are connected, but sure, let’s go with it.  They went to a party with their friend Lord James D’Ampton (Hugh Grant), and Mary’s sister Eve (Catherine Oxenberg) to celebrate the local legend of the D’Ampton Worm.  While they were partying, Lady Sylvia Marsh (Amanda Donohoe) stole the skull.  She began controlling people’s minds to find a virgin to sacrifice.  When Sylvia targeted Eve, the three remaining friends teamed up to save her and defeat the evil snake woman.  Yes, snake woman.  That’s what the rest of this post will be about.

The whole reason for Sylvia Marsh to steal the skull and kidnap Eve was to give a sacrifice to the god Dionin.  The D’Ampton Worm had survived an attempted slaying by James D’Ampton’s ancestor.  In order to appease the Dionin, it needed to be fed a virgin after a ritual involving the skull was performed.  The trio of heroes were out to stop this from happening and prevent the D’Ampton Worm from wreaking havoc on the English countryside once again.

They took on Sylvia Marsh by finding her weaknesses.  She didn’t have many, but the weaknesses all revolved around one thing.  Snakes were a big part of her personality.  Everything that she did revolved around snakes.  There were three big moments within The Lair of the White Worm that showcased how much her life revolved around being a snake and loving snakes.

The first and least important of the three traits appeared early in the movie.  A man named Kevin (Chris Pitt) was walking down the street in the rain trying to hitchhike.  He came upon Sylvia sitting on the side of the road in her car.  When he asked for a ride and asked what she was doing, she replied with “snake watching.”  That was the point in the movie where I knew that there would be a lot of snake jokes.

When Sylvia let Kevin get into her car, she convinced Kevin to go to her house.  He thought that the visit was going to be about having sex.  And, from his point of view, that seemed like what was going to happen.  Until his death, that is.  But that’s not something that matters here.  What came into play before then was the activity that Sylvia chose for the two of them to do.  She pulled out her Snakes and Ladders board and they played a game.  The board would come up again later when James visited the house.  Sylvia, in front of him, took the board and threw it into the fireplace.  She then stood there and said “Rosebud,” making reference to the famous line from Citizen Kane.

But it’s the third snake characteristic that meant the most.  It was also introduced through the section of the movie with Kevin.  After Sylvia won the game of Snakes and Ladders, she said that they needed some music.  She went to play a record.  Kevin pulled out his harmonica first.  As he was playing, Sylvia went into a trance and began dancing toward Kevin.  She was being charmed.  He was a snake charmer.

Somehow, the other characters figured this out when they were trying to figure out how to save Eve.  James put on a snake charming record in his house and blasted the sound out through large speakers on his roof.  This caused Sylvia to be charmed toward his house so that Angus and Mary could sneak into hers.  They wanted answers for why Eve had gone missing.  The record player cut out when the power was shut down to the house, causing danger to James.

The snake charming came back one more time at the end of the movie.  The police picked up Mary at her house and took her to Sylvia’s house.  That was because the police officer was another snake person.  Mary was trapped between the snake man and a locked gate when Angus appeared out of nowhere, playing bagpipes.  The bagpipes charmed the police officer away from Mary, allowing her to escape.  Three different things were used to charm snake people.  It was an interesting weakness for the snake people that made them more than your standard monster villain.

One of the key elements of building a villain is their charisma.  Sylvia had that.  One of the other elements is to make them original and interesting.  The originality of the snake people came from how they reacted to anything involving snakes.  Sometimes it was that they liked snakes and anything involving snakes.  But what made them more interesting to watch was their weakness.  Seeing the snake characters get distracted by music was one of the things that made them stand out among other, similar villains.

The Lair of the White Worm was an interesting watch.  It was just weird enough to work.  There were elements that were great, and a lot of snake puns that weren’t so great.  The villains made it as enjoyable as it was.  They brought that dangerous yet entertaining element through charisma, weakness, and looks.  Had Sylvia Marsh not been written and performed in that way, the movie wouldn’t have been nearly as fun.  It’s not the greatest movie by any stretch of the imagination, but the villain at least made it a good time.

These notes might not be a good time, but they’re here anyway:

• The Lair of the White Worm was suggested by @Mimekiller, who previously suggested Gymkata, Gnome Alone, and Timeline.
• One actor from The Lair of the White Worm has already been in a Sunday “Bad” Movie.  Imogen Claire appeared in Flash Gordon.
• James Bond was mentioned early in the post.  One James Bond movie has been covered for the Sunday “Bad” Movies.  That was Die Another Day.
• This is also October 15^th, which means we just passed a Friday the 13^th.  I’ve covered two Friday the 13^th movies.  They were Jason Goes to Hell and Friday the 13th: A New Beginning.
• Have you seen The Lair of the White Worm?  Did you like it?  Do you know any other villains who are obsessed with what they are?  Leave your comments below.
• If there are any movies you think that I should watch for the Sunday “Bad” Movies, let me know in the comments below.  I’m open to all suggestions.  You could find me on Twitter to let me know, as well.
• Sometimes while I’m watching bad movies, I put clips of them onto my snapchat story.  I did it with The Lair of the White Worm.  If you’re interested in this sort of thing, add me.  Jurassicgriffin.
• We still have half of October to go, which means two more horror movies in a row.  Next week, I’ll be diving into a not-so-classic John Carpenter movie as I watch The Ward.  I’ll even write a post for you guys to check out.  See you soon.