Reptilicus

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 careless 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.

• Carl Ottosen as General Mark Grayson
• Ann Smyrner as Lise Martens
• Mimi Heinrich as Karen Martens
• Asbjørn Andersen as Professor Otto Martens
• Bodil Miller as Connie Miller (Danish version)
• Marla Behrens as Connie Miller (American version)
• Bent Mejding as Svend Viltorft
• Povl Wøldike as Dr. Peter Dalby
• Dirch Passer as Peterson
• Ole Wisborg as Captain Brandt
• Mogens Brandt as Police Chief Hassing
• Kjeld Petersen as Police Officer Olsen
• Alfred Wilken as Commander Vanggaard
• Poul Thomsen as Captain Naval
• Claus Toksvig as himself
• Birthe Wilke as herself
• Alex Suhr as Alex
• Bent Vejlby as Brandt's Driver
• Børge Møller Grimstrup as Farmer
• Dirk Melchior as Farmer Eaten by Reptilicus

The original Danish-language version was directed by Danish director Poul Bang and released in Denmark on February 25, 1961.

In July 1960 the American version started production.[7] This version was filmed in English with a nearly identical cast and was directed by the film's American producer-director Sidney W. Pink. Initially, this version was deemed virtually unreleasable by American International Pictures and had to be extensively reworked by the film's Danish-American screenwriter, Ib Melchior, before being finally released in America in 1962. Pink was angry at the changes and wound up in a legal dispute with AIP.[2] After Pink and others viewed the English-language version, however, the lawsuit was dropped.[8]

Reptilicus 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.[13]

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."[14] 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."[15] 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."[16]

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".[17] TV Guide gave the film one out of a possible four stars, calling it "a fair-to-poor monster film".[18] 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".[19]

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)).[6]

In 1961, Charlton Comics produced a comic book based on the film. Reptilicus lasted two issues.[20] 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.[21] This was followed by a one-shot called Reptisaurus Special Edition in 1963.[22] 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.[23]

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 the 2010 Futurama episode "In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela", the film was referenced by Richard M. Nixon's head.
• A clip of the film was featured in the 2003 South Park episode "Cancelled".
• Clips from this film often appeared on various episodes of the 1960s TV show The Monkees.
• In the Green Acres TV show, 1968 season three episode, "Instant Family", this film was playing at the drive-in theater.
• The film was featured as the premiere episode for the 2017 revival of Mystery Science Theater 3000.
• Argentinian music group Los Twist composed a song about this movie for their album La máquina del tiempo.
• In the TV show Disenchantment (Season 1, Episode 3), King Zog refers to his wife Oona as Reptilicus.
• In the 1960s TV show The Beverly Hillbillies (Season 5, Episode 3), Jethro double-dates in a sports car to a drive-in movie theater featuring this film.

• 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)

Wikiquote has quotations related to Reptilicus.

• Reptilicus at IMDb
• Reptilicus at AllMovie
• Reptilicus original Danish movie trailer at bellabio.dk
• Reptilicus at Rotten Tomatoes
• Official website