It's All in the Details: Lair of the White Worm

[BoyScoutKevin]

Bonus

110. Each couple in the film kisses differently.
Kevin and Sylvia: they rub noses before kissing.
James and Sylvia: she flicks her tongue like a snake before kissing.
James and Eve: he gives her a brotherly peck on the forehead by the way of kissing.
Angus and Mary: the only couple to kiss like one expects kissing to be.

111. The largest prehistoric snake was 13 meters long or 42 feet and weighed in at 1135 kilograms or 2500 pounds. Thus, the one in the film most likely is 13.63 meters long and weighs in at 1190 kilograms. Thus, it probably dates back to prehistoric times and could have possibily survived to today.

112. Like most modern horror films, the film's characters seem to be oblivious to what is going on around them.

113. Each character bitten in the film is bitten upon a different part of their anatomy.
Angus: his knee.
Erny: his ankle and then his wrist.
Jesus Christ: his arm.
Kevin: his genitalia.
Mary: her neck.
Peters: his face.

114. A male wyrm would hibernate for 150 days or from October to March. A female wyrm would hibernate for 180 days or from September to March. An hermaphrodite wyrm . . . Somewhere in between.

115. This is one of the few contemporary British horror films to comment on then then current British class system.

116.a. Each death in the film is due to a different cause.
Jesus Christ: crucified
Kevin: drowned in a sunken bathtub
Eve: impaled
Mary: stabbed to death
Peters: broken neck
Dorothy: cut in half by a sword
Erny: fell and struck his head on a sundial
Sylvia: . . . ?

116.b. Sylvia might still be alive. After the grenade exploded, as she was in the wyrm's belly, which was killed by the exploding grenade, which swallowed her and prevented her from being killed in the fall. Now if she could only prevent herself from bleeding to death from her hand being severed, which caused her to fall into the wyrm.

117. The film also references the class structure found in British horror films.
Sylvia: the upper class villainess.
Angus: the middle class hero.
Mary, Eve, Kevin, Dorothy, and Peters: the lower class victims.
James: the upper class hero and the only difference from most British horror films.

118. Visions are exclusive to the women. Angus, Erny, Jesus Christ, Kevin, Peters, and maybe even James, bitten by Dorothy, are bitten, but we never see whether they had any type of vision. Only Mary and Eve have visions.

119. And one need not be bitten to have a vision. Only to come in contact with the venom.
Mary is bitten.
But Eve's first. Touched the venom on the crucifix.
And Eve's second. Venom spit on to her face.

120. The film is also said to be a work of anti-Thatcherism. who was prime minister of the United Kingdom at the time the film was made.

Concluded . . .

And next time . . . ?

[BoyScoutKevin]

Continuing . . .

101. Angus contravened English law by bringing a mongoose into the country.

102. Sylvia wears blue body paint, because her ancestors, the pre-Roman Celts, wore blue body paint.

103. The villainess' hair color is dark, while the hair color of the two heroines is a lighter shade.

104. The women in the film have more hair on their legs (Eve) and under their arms (Sylvia), then the men in the film (James, Jesus Christ, Kevin) have on their chests.

105. Each bite seems to endow one with a different gift.
Angus: where before he wore glasses, he now seems to have 20/20 vision.
Dorothy: superhuman strength, or enough strength to toss Peters off the balcony.
Erny: the ability to sprout fangs and to sway in time to snake charming music.

106a. Eve: to be sacrificed to the wyrm, while wearing her Marks & Spencer underwear.
Joe: most likely fed to the wyrm while fully clothes.
Kevin: most likely fed to the wyrm while stark naked.

106b. Kevin's fate. We know Kevin is dead, because we saw Sylvia drown him in the tub, but if any effort is made to dispose of the wyrm, they still make discover what happened to him, because the wyrm has not had enough time to completely digest his body.

107. Maybe the name of Temple Grove ought to be changed to Birnbaum Wood, as the grove seemingly moves from place to place, or maybe there is more than one.
1st. Between the village pub and Mercy Farm, where Joe and Dorothy vanished last year.
2nd. Near Temple House.
And these are not the same groves.

108. That on his 1st trip to Stonerigg Cavern, James drives up in a Land Rover, but on his 2nd trip to Stonerigg Cavern, he drives back in a Morgan.

109a. The verbal references to the wyrm are both direct Mary's "A serpent!" and oblique James' "Slither in!"

109b. At the end in James' automobile, does James come on to Angus, or does Angus come on to James? Which raises the question . . .

109c. Were James and Angus always homosexual, or, at least, bisexual, or did being bitten change their sexual orientation from heterosexual to homosexual, or, at least, bisexual?

To be continued . . .

[BoyScoutKevin]

Continuing . . .

091. The tree from which Sylvia tempts Eve is an apple tree. The same type of tree from which the Bible says the serpent tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden.

092. Lesbian snake porn for female snakepires.

093. Notice that it was Joe Trent, who was fed to the wyrm, while it was Dorothy Trent, who became Sylvia's thrall.

094. You do not take your butler to Turkey, but you do take your valet. Thus, Peters was most likely D'ampton sr.'s--James' father's--valet, before he was promoted to butler to oversee the household staff at D'Ampton Manor.

095. The sword used by James to cut Dorothy Trent in twain is a two-handed landesknecht sword. One of the longest, non-ceremonial swords ever made.

096. Thus, it cannot be the sword used by James' ancestor to cut the wyrm in twain. For it requires two hands to wield and is an infantryman's weapon. From the painting in D'ampton Manor, James' ancestor was a cavalryman and thus had to keep one hand on the horse's reins, and the use of only one hand to wield his sword.

097. If James keeps this on a fireplace mantel at D'ampton Manor, then Sylvia keeps a strap-on on a fireplace mantel at Temple House. Along with a plastic toy dinosaur.

098. If Sylvia drives a Jaquar XKE, and James drives both a Morgan and a Land Rover, then Erny drives a Morris Minor.

099. When Angus starts his snake charming music on his bagpipes, one of the snakes charmed, starts out as a boa constrictor, but then turns into an anaconda.

100. The shape of the wound on Angus' cheek, when he injects himself with the antidote, is in the shape of an inverted cross.

To be continued . . .

[BoyScoutKevin]

Continuing . . .

81. But, it is an in-joke. Russell was in the RAF, too.

82. Sylvia and James talk to each other in the manner of Gertrude Lawrence and Noel Coward. Indeed, Russell had the actors portraying the characters listen to records of Lawrence and Coward on stage.

83. The phone system at D'Ampton Manor (cellphone, speaker phone, etc.) like so much at the Manor, is more up to date than the phone system at Mercy Farm (rotary phone, etc.)

84. The beds and other furnishings at D'Ampton Manor and Temple House are baroque, while the beds and other furnishings at Mercy Farm are plain and basic.

85. Film by Melies.

86. The paper that James is reading in is dream is dated Saturday, March 19.

87. The glass with the green venom in it, can be seen next to Sylvia's foot, when she beckons to James in his dream.

88. Note Sylvia's earrings. How they coil like a serpent. Besides the earrings of the other women, Eve's ring and necklace, and James' signet ring, there is little jewelry seen in the film.

89. But, many of the characters are wearing some sort of insignia.
Angus: Scotsman
Erny: police constable
James: RAF member
Kevin: boy scout or scout
The women: flight attendants

90. The women in the film are the ones with the hard heads. For, they are bareheaded in Stonerigg Cavern. It is the men who wear hardhats, when potholing in Stonerigg Cavern.

To be continued . . .

[BoyScoutKevin]

Continuing . . .

71. And we never find out what type of music she was going to play on the cd player, except, it was not . . .
(a) headbanging
(b) "Scheherazade"
(c) Turkish snake charming music

72. The artwork in the film is not only decor, but has a symbolic significance. For example: the painting over the fireplace at Temple House is the Hindu god Kali, "The Bloodrinker."

73. Thus, what is the name of the artwork behind Kevin at Temple House?

74.a. The character of Kevin is thought to be no more then 15. Thus, when he stands up in the sunken tub, and she sinks down out of sight of the camera, if she had done nothing more to him, then provide him with his first taste of fellatio, she'd still have been contravening the law.

74.b. And if her fangs are 2" in length, as some have suggested, then it must extend straight out and be 4 1/2" in length.

74.c. There is also the question of whether she just bit it or bit it off.

75. Equally bold was Russell hiring an actor who was no more than 17 to play the role of Kevin. But, for the most part, it takes a teen actor to play a teen character.

76. It has also been suggested by some, that instead of drowning him in the tub, Sylvia should have kept Kevin alive and used him as her thrall. Her boy toy. Her toy boy. At least, he'd have drawn less attention, if seen, then Dorothy Trent, who everyone in the area knew had disappeared last year.

77. Paralysis. Yet Kevin's eyes move. Though, the paralysis may not have totally set in yet. The paralysis does wear off eventually, which is why Sylvia has to drown him in the tub, when the doorbell rings, announcing an unexpected guest.

78. And some couples recreate the scenes with Sylvia and Kevin, from the time she picks him up in her automobile, while he is trying to thumb a ride in the rain, till she drowns him in the tub.

79. Nor is that bust a bust of "The Rebel Roman Emperor," but most likely a bust of Augustus Caesar.

80. It is said that the RAF uniform James wears to visit Sylvia--like Erny's police uniform and Kevin's scout uniform--is incorrect.

To be continued . . .

[BoyScoutKevin]

Continuing . . .

61.a. The insignia on Kevin's campaign hat or Stetson is in the shape of the Christian cross.

61.b. Sylvia: "Put your rucksack in back." Not "Put your rucksack in the boot," which Americans may not understand, nor "Put your rucksack in the trunk," which Brits may not understand, but she does use the word "rucksack," when most Americans would use the word "knapsack."

62. Kevin's "It'll be getting dark soon." If anybody was said to be the wrong person, in the wrong place, at the wrong time, it is he, as he falls prey to Sylvia by happenstance. And the reasons he falls prey are both positive and negative. Positive: it is a "wicked" car driven by a beautiful and sexy woman. Negative: besides it getting dark, he is wet, tired, hungry, and chilled to the bone.

63. Sylvia's automobile has not one, not two, but three windshield wipers.

64. How did Sylvia know that Kevin was still a virgin and thus "suitable" for her purposes? (a.) We never hear her ask him, if he is a virgin. (b.) She never tests his virginity, as she does with Eve. (c.) He even has a little girlfriend, which would seem to preclude him from being a virgin.

65.a. Is that why she is checking out his crotch? (Is she checking out his crotch?) When they are in the car together.

65.b. How embarrassing for him, if her mere presence is making him become sexually aroused. And it is said that a scout uniform shows sexual arousal in a boy, better than most of the clothes that a boy wears.

66. The Snakes 'n' Ladders board in the film was especially made for the film, as it configures with none of the other boards out there: neither the American, the English, nor the Indian.

67.a. Since double sixes or boxcars is one of the hardest dice rolls to roll, the dice used in the Snakes 'n' Ladders game were probably loaded to roll that particular number.

67.b. And it should be one die and not two dice. Snakes 'n' Ladders is played with one die.

68. The comforter that Kevin wears. The feminization of Kevin has begun. Though, he'll be even more effeminate in a couple of minutes.

69. First Kevin was wet, tired, hungry, and chlled to the bone. Now he is wet, tired, hungry, chilled to the bone and drunk or semi-drunk. The semi-full brandy snifter in front of him. Sylvia is serving him alcohol on an empty stomach. Good for her. Not so good for him

70. Sylvia's "Let's have a little music shall we." And Kevin plays a bit of Rimsky-Korsakov's "Scheherazade" on his harmonica or mouthorgan.

To be continued . . .

[BoyScoutKevin]

Continuing . . .

51. In comparing in size to the average adult male, the mosaic supposedly discovered by Angus, measures somewhere between 25 and 36 square feet.

52. Sylvia's religion predates not only Christian Britain, but also Roman Britain. Both of which incorporated local religions into their religion. Thus, the mosaic of a white worm wrapped around a cross.

53. James: "Eve's had a bad trip."
Trip = fall
Trip = hallucination

54. Kevin's uniform is badly out of date. His short sleeve khaki shirt became a long-sleeved dark green shirt, his short khaki trousers became fawn-colored long trousers, and his long stockings became short stockings in 1967. And his campaign hat or Stetson was replaced by the beret in 1945 to honor those who served during WWII.

55. He is also shown wearing an anorak.

56. And anorak = nerd in British slang.

57. Here the film is shot and edited to reflect the movements of a snake.

58. One of the strengths of a vampire is the ability to control the weather, such as the rainstorm that brought Kevin and Sylvia together at her automobile.

59. One of Russell's strengths is to make his films as realistic as possible. There need not have been a storm in the film, but it was that storm that made Kevin most likely accept a ride from Sylvia.

60. His accent denotes Kevin as a lower class London lad, who most likely now lives in Sheffield with his Mum.

To be continued . . .

[BoyScoutKevin]

Continuing . . .

41. Sylvia's: "Here's to the first swallow." A line with a triple meaning.
A bird whose return heralds spring.
What one does with a drink.
What a snake does with its prey.

42. One of the weaknesses of vampires is a sensitivity to light. Sylvia wears sunglasses, when she is out in the daytime.

43. Sylvia first tells us she might be something more or less than human, when she spots the skull in Angus room, during her visit to Mercy Farm.

44. Russell gleefully proclaimed, that Amanda Donohoe, who plays Sylvia in the film, did not need any type of apparatus, when she supposedly spat venom on the crucifix hanging on the wall at Mercy Farm. Actually, if one looks closely, one can see the plastic tube used to spit the venom on the crucifix.

45. Over a dozen sources of light (both natural and artifical) are used in the film.

46. Eve and later James and Joe Trent all walk toward the light in the film.

47. One of the nuns is seen being crucified through, the historically correct, wrists.

48. Jesus Christ, though, is seen being crucified through the artistically common, but historically incorrect, palms of the hands. He is also portrayed as being beardless, which is also historically incorrect. And, according, to one version of the script, he was suppose to receive fellatio from the nuns. That would not happen here, but a scene involving fellatio would happen later in the film.

49. No shift at all. While the nuns are seen to be nude under their habits, they would actually be wearing some type of shift under their habits.

50. This is one of four sexual assaults seen in the film. The others are . . .
Mary by the witchdoctors.
Kevin by Sylvia, which is the rare female on male.
Eve by Sylvia, which is the even rarer female on female.

To be continued . . .

[BoyScoutKevin]

Continuing . . .

31. Neither Angus nor Mary are carrying a torch nor flashlight . Though, it is dark out.

32. Angus and Mary: "Still playing 'Happy Families' at your age."--"Not since we lost Mum and Dad."
Happy Families = a four-handed card game.
Happy Families = also a emotional state.

33. Both James and the Trent Sisters lost their parent(s) sometime last year and within a few months of each other.

34. Sylvia, who is--seemingly--coming back from her winter hibernation, is coming back in the wrong direction. Most animals winter in the south and head north in the spring, but she--apparently--spent the winter in the north and is headed south, when she is first spotted.

35. Erny is--apparently--wearing the wrong uniform. Wearing the uniform of the Staffordshire Police Constabulary, instead of the Derbyshire Police Constabulary, which is what he should be wearing.

36. Note the English local's hostility to the Scottish outsider. Erny: "It is tomorrow!"

37. Erny not only expresses hostility toward the outsider, but he also expresses a classic case of classism. Showing indifference to members of his own class, Mary and Eve, by never warning them of the dangers of leaving their doors unlocked, but then sucking up to the local members of the upper class--James and Sylvia.

38. Joe and Dorothy Trent, the parents of Mary and Eve, have one of the oddest appearances in any film. Both first appearing in a family photograph with their daughters.

39. The miminalist furnishings, apparently caused by the film's meager budget, gives another air of reality to the film.

40. Sylvia's treatment of Erny's snakebite is no longer the proscribed treatment of a snakebite.

To be continued . . .

[BoyScoutKevin]

Continuing . . .

21. The writhing waterhose. The 1st symbolic snake of many in the film. How many more can you find?

22. Mary, except at the party, is often seen in masculine clothing. For after her parents disappeared, she seemingly took on the male role (truck mechanic, etc.) in the family, while her sister Eve took on the female role (cooking, baking, etc.) in the family.

23. James 1st appears in military dress.

24. Note the paratrooper patch, which means he's in the paratroopers. The medals. And the stripes on the uniform sleeves, which means he holds the rank of 1st lieutenant.

25. The song "The D'Ampton Worm" is used in lieu of a flashback.

26. The foreshadowing. Note who is threatened by the papier mache wyrm at the party.

27. The number of times that people are seen eating and drinking, and the number of times that food and drink are mentioned. That is deliberate. How many can you find?

28. Peters 1st appearance in the film is near the buffet table at the party.

29. Green is the color associated with the wyrm. The food at the party is green.

30. Russell was keen to note, that after the scene of Angus eating the pickled earthworms in aspic, Capaldi vomited up what he was eating.

To be continued . . .

[BoyScoutKevin]

Continuing . . .

11. Thus, the Lord owns all north and west of the crossroads, and the Lady owns all south and west of the crossroads, but who owns east of the crossroads, and who owns the village?

12. Realism. The archaeological dig is fairly realistic, down to using a toothbrush to clean off the skull.

13. Marcus Carosius. That is not Marcus pictured on the coins. We know, because Roman coins with his profile have been found and still exist.

14. Angus. "No, they missed each other by 60 million years." Angus only missed it by 6 million years. Dinosaurs died out 66 million years ago. And Rome was founded in the 8th century B.C.

15. That is quite a significant discovery at the dig. The first evidence of Christianity in Roman Britain was found in St. Albans and dates from 308 A.D. This evidence predates it by 22 years.

16. Eve. "Me spotted dick!" The first of many double entendres found in the film. How many more can one find?

17. Ken Russell. "Hello, Mary." The person seen with Ken is said to be his wife at that time.

18. And are they the other guests staying at the Mercy Farm B&B? The ones who got potluck at the pub.

19. The farm was turned into a B&B, before Mary's and Eve's parents, Joe and Dorothy, disappeared that night on the way home from the pub. And not after they disappeared.

20. Mary. "Don't worry. It's an old fossil. It won't bite." Is an example of foreshadowing in the film. How many more can one find?

To be continued . . .

[BoyScoutKevin]

One of the delights of Russell's films is the details. His films are so detailed, that no matter how many times you watch it, you still pick up a new detail. As an example of what I mean, here is Ken's "Lair of the White Worm."

01. The wyrm or worm or snake is masculine, while the lair or its opening is feminine.

02. The day is Saturday, March 19. And later we'll get to the reason for that. Thus, the film takes place between Saturday, March 19, and Tuesday, March 22.

03. The year? Several objects in the film should date it to a particular year.
1964-1973 Sylvia's Jaquar XKE.
pre-1967. Kevin's scout uniform.
post-1973. James' cellphone.
post-1982. Sylvia's cd player.
But, there is no year that overlaps them all, so the year is unsure.

04. Other than these, there's a timelessness to the film, as neither the fashions nor the furnishings nor the language date the film.

05. Sylvia changes fashions 9 times during the film or once almost ever 10 minutes in a film that lasts 93 minutes.

06. Sylvia's age. Old. At least 1697 years old. From 286 A.D., the date of the first convent on the site, to 1982. But nothing more specific can be determined as to age.

07. Victims. Unknown. But surprisingly few. 1 likely with the wyrm wakes from hibernation in March. 1 likely when the wyrm goes into hibernation in September or October. And maybe 1 in between in June or July. So 3394 to 5091. Thus, with so few victims, and many of those just passing through, Sylvia even in the present day could sacrifice victims to the wyrm without being suspected.

08. The place. Longendale, or in real life, the English village of Crowden-in-Longendale. Except the road which once ran East and West, now runs North and South.

09. Some of the film is shot in real time.

10. Thus, we can do better. Mercy Farm is .117 miles north of the crossroads. Temple House is .845 miles south of the crossroads. The Longendale youth hostile or hostel is 1 mile south of Temple House. The village in the film is west of the crossroads. D'Ampton Manor is north and west of the village. And Stonerigg Cavern is north of D'Ampton Manor, but within walking distance of Mercy Farm.

To be continued . . .