Reptilicus (1961) on Netflix
Passed19611h 22mActionAdventureDrama
In Lapland, miner Svend Viltorft digs part of a giant reptile's tail out of the frozen ground. Flown to Copenhagen's aquarium, the piece thaws and begins to grow.
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- Netflix1.6/5
- IMDb3.7/104,846 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes25%
Trailer
Plot summary
A drilling crew in Lapland cuts a piece of giant reptile tail out of the frozen ground, and the miner Svend Viltorft is the one who finds it. The piece is sent to the aquarium in Copenhagen and stored in a chilled room for study. Left open by mistake, the room warms, the piece thaws, and the scientists see that it is growing back into a full animal. Otto Martens, the professor in charge of the aquarium, gives the species the name Reptilicus, which a reporter suggests, and compares its renewal to the way planarians and starfishes replace lost parts. Once the creature is whole, it can fly, swim and walk, and its scales turn aside the weapons used against it.
Cast
- Birthe Wilke
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Reptilicus (1961)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Poul Bang and Sidney Pink shot two separate Reptilicus films at the same time, one in Danish and one in English with an almost identical cast, taking turns each shooting day so that Pink filmed a shot in English and Bang then filmed the same shot in Danish.
- Sidney Pink's English-language Reptilicus was deemed virtually unreleasable by American International Pictures and was reworked by screenwriter Ib Melchior, who added footage of the monster vomiting acid saliva and dubbed the Danish actors' English with American voices. Pink's legal dispute with AIP was dropped after he saw Melchior's version.
- The only cast difference between the two films was UNESCO representative Connie Miller: Danish actress Bodil Miller played her in Poul Bang's Danish-language version, while German actress Marla Behrens took the role in Sidney Pink's English-language film because Miller could not speak English.
- Poul Bang's Danish-language Reptilicus, Denmark's only giant monster film, went on to build a cult following in its home country.
- Charlton Comics' Reptilicus comic ran only two issues in 1961; after the license lapsed, the publisher changed the creature's look and renamed it Reptisaurus, continuing the series as Reptisaurus the Terrible until issue #8 in 1962.
