Reptilicus (1961)

	Reptilicus
	Reptilicus
See alternate titles
Directed by	Poul BangDK, Sidney W. PinkUS
Producer(s)	Cinemagic; Saga Studio
Written by	Ib Melchior; Sidney W. Pink
Music by	Sven Gyldmark
Distributor	American International PicturesUS; Saga StudioDK
Rating	Unrated
Budget	$133,000
Box office	$800,000
Running time	81 minutesUS; (1 hour, 21 minutes); 96 minutesDK; (1 hour, 36 minutes)
Aspect ratio	1.66:1

Reptilicus is a 1961 Danish-American giant monster film produced by Cinemagic and Saga Studio. Two versions of the film were made with largely the same cast, with Sidney W. Pink directing the English version and Poul Bang directing the Danish version. United States distributor American International Pictures released a significantly altered version of Pink's English version supervised by screenwriter Ib Melchior in 1963.

Plot

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Part of a giant reptilian tail is dug up by danish miners during dig. The tail is brought into the hands of scientists and was put in the freezer room. The scientists examine a small piece of the tail under a microscope and discover that fragments of this prehistoric reptile that have a trait that allows them to regrow the missing parts of a severed body part, which means that the tail will regrow the rest of the body soon if it isn't stopped. The rest of the body is regrown and the monster is known as Reptilicus. Reptilicus goes on a rampage destroying the danish countryside before being destroyed by scientists and the military. However the last shot is a severed part of Reptilicus's leg, underwater, setting the movie up for a sequel that never happened.

Adaptations

Main article: Reptilicus (Novelization).

Monarch Books released a paperback novelization of the film, written by Dudley Dean McGaughy under the pseudonym Dean Owen, in 1961. Like the Monarch Books adaptation of Gorgo, the book includes sexual content not present in the film. The method used to kill Reptilicus is also depicted: after he is drugged, soldiers remove his scales with crowbars and pickaxes, allowing mobile flamethrowers to immolate him.

A second adaptation was published by Charlton Comics in August 1961. The first issue simply retold the events of the film, while the second issue saw a piece of the monster (but not the severed leg shown at the end of the film) regenerate into another Reptilicus and terrorize northern Africa. Though Charlton's rights to the character expired after that issue, the company continued the series by changing its name to Reptisaurus the Terrible and making the monster red. Its design remained unchanged until issue #7, when it sprouted legs and a nasal horn. Reptisaurus the Terrible ended with issue #8 in December 1961, though a one-shot called Reptisaurus Special Edition was published the following summer. Reptisaurus also made a brief appearance in Gorgo #12 (April 1963), attacking a squadron of Venusian flying saucers. Though they are shown together on the cover, Reptisaurus does not meet Gorgo and Ogra in the story itself.

In 2012, Scary Monsters magazine reprinted the Reptisaurus the Terrible series as a black and white collection called Scarysaurus the Scary.

Staff

Staff role on the left, staff member's name on the right.

Directed by Sidney W. Pink, Poul Bang (Danish-language scenes)
Written by Ib Melchior, Sidney W. Pink
Produced by Samuel Z. Arkoff, Sidney W. Pink
Executive producing by Johann Zalabery
Music by Sven Gyldmark, Ronald Stein (Additional cues, U.S. version)
Cinematography by Aage Wiltrup
Edited by Sven Methling, Edith Nisted Nielsen
Assistant directing by Solveig Ersgaard, Gitte Müller
Special effects by Kai Koed

Cast

Actor's name on the left, character played on the right.

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 Dirch Mikkelsen (named "Petersen" in American version)
Ole Wisborg as Captain Einer Brandt

Ryder Sound English Looping

Actor's name on the left, character played on the right.

Bob Cornthwaite as Professor Otto Martens
J. Edward McKinley as General Mark Grayson / Radio Operator / Firing Officer
Lee Millar as Svend Viltorft
Jim Boles as Dr. Peter Dalby / Henrik Klint / Farmer / HQ Voices / Observer
Janet Waldo as Lise Martens / Karen Martens
Athena Lorde as Connie Miller
Art Romans as Dirch Petersen / Captain Einer Brandt / Nielsen / P.A. Voice I
Ib Melchior as Olsen / Hassing / Newsman / Soldier / P.A. Voice II / Captain
Bonnie Hovet as Girl
Tony Carras as Alex / Radar Operator / Petty Officer / Non-Com
Chris Holmes as Reporter
Pat DeLeone as B.G. Radio

Appearances

Monsters

Reptilicus

Weapons, vehicles, and races

M24 Chaffee Tank
Centurion tank
M101 howitzer
Albatros-class corvette (F 346 - HDMS Flora)

Gallery

Main article: Reptilicus (film)/Gallery.

Alternate titles

Invincible Monster: Reptilicus (Monstruo Invencible: Reptilicus; Argentina)
Reptilicus the Monster of the Seas (Reptilicus le Monstre des Mers; France)
Threat to the City (Apeili Stin Poli; Greece)
Against All Nations (Enantion Olon ton Ethnon; Greece)
The Dinosaur is Avenged (O Deinosavros Ekdikeitai; Greece)
Reptilicus - The Destructive Monster (Reptilicus - Il Mostro Distruggitore; Italy)
Slaughter of Frozen Evil Beast (冷凍凶獣の惨殺; Japan)
Primitive Beast Reptilicus (原始獣レプティリカス; Japan)

Theatrical releases

Denmark - February 20, 1961 [view poster]
United States - January 20, 1963 [view poster]
Mexico - May 30, 1963
Argentina - June 10, 1964

Video releases

MGM (2001)

Region: 1
Discs: 1
Audio: English, French
Subtitles: French, Spanish
Special Features: Trailer

Sandrew Metronome DVD (2002)

Region: 2
Discs: 1
Audio: Danish
Subtitles: Danish
Special Features: Trailer

Shout! Factory DVD (2013)

Region: 1
Discs: 1
Audio: English (2.0 Mono)
Subtitles: None
Special Features: Stills gallery (8 minutes)
Notes: Packaged with The Amazing Transparent Man, The Neanderthal Man, and The Brain That Wouldn't Die.

Scream Factory Blu-ray (2015)

Region: A/1
Discs: 1
Audio: English (LPCM 2.0 Mono)
Subtitles: English
Special Features: Trailer, radio spot, photo gallery
Notes: Packaged with Tentacles.

Fabulous Films DVD (2016)

Region: 2
Discs: 1
Audio: English (2.0 Mono)
Subtitles: None
Special Features: None

Videos

Danish Reptilicus Trailer

American Reptilicus Trailer

American Reptilicus Trailer (no narration)

American Reptilicus Radio spot

Reptilicus in flight

Mikkelsen's song

Trivia

Reptilicus was featured on Season 11 of the movie-mocking television series Mystery Science Theater 3000.

External links

References

This is a list of references for Reptilicus (film). These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: ^[1]

↑ Book Feature: Reptilicus - The Screenplay by Ted Newsom
↑ Kip Doto. Reptilicus the Screenplay. Bayou Publishing. p. 15. 1999.

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