Gina McKee | 80's Movie Guide

The Lair of the White Worm movie synopsis. Scottish archaeologist Angus Flint discovers an odd skull amid the ruins of a convent that he is excavating. Shortly thereafter, Lady Sylvia Marsh returns to Temple House, a nearby mansion, far earlier than expected. At a party in the village, Angus meets Lord James D'Ampton, who has just inherited his family's land right next to Temple House. Angus learns of the D'Ampton Worm, a huge dragon-snake that an earlier D'Ampton killed by cutting it in half. (There's a pretty catchy rock-folk song that tells the D'Ampton Worm legend.) As people begin disappearing and acting strangely over the next few days, the skull is stolen from Angus's room, and the watch of a missing person is found in a cavern that was the legendary home of the D'Ampton worm. Angus and James discover that there was an ancient cult that worshiped the worm as a god, and they theorize that the creature somehow survived its destruction, but it was trapped inside the cavern. The Lair of the White Worm is a 1988 British horror film based loosely on the Bram Stoker novel of the same name and drawing upon the English legend of the Lambton Worm. The film was written and directed by Ken Russell and stars Amanda Donohoe and Hugh Grant. The Lair of the White Worm (1988) Directed by: Ken Russell Starring: Amanda Donohoe, Hugh Grant, Catherine Oxenberg, Peter Capaldi, Sammi Davis, Stratford Johns, Paul Brooke, Gina McKee, Miranda Coe, Caron Anne Kelly, Linzi Drew Screenplay by: Ken Russell, Bram Stoker Production Design by: Anne Tilby Cinematography by: Dick Bush Film Editing by: Peter Davies Costume Design by: Michael Jeffery Art Direction by: John Ralph Music by: Stanislas Syrewicz Distributed by: Vestron Pictures Release Date: September 14, 1988