LAIR OF THE WHITE WORM is back! Now, stream Ken Russell's juiciest, naughtiest, campiest treat

It's been decades since TrustMovies first viewed this little horror treat, brought to the screen by no less than Ken Russell, and starring a very young Hugh Grant, a very sexy Amanda Donohoe, a younger-than-you'll remem-ber-but-funny-as-ever Peter Capaldi and chock full of just about everything Mr. Russell loved to rub in our faces: trans-gressive sex, Christianity trashing and paganism, here joined by a delectably sexy fanged female, a giant snake, and other fun tropes most often found in the horror genre. THE LAIR OF THE WHITE WORM, I believe, is the only one of Russell's films that was a "pure" (or maybe impure) genre piece, though many movie buffs found many Russell movies horrors of another sort.

I've always had a mixed response to this filmmaker's work. (Mr. Russell, who died in 2011 at the age of 84, is shown at left). My favorites are his black-and-white musical biographies made for British television and his very interesting artist bio Savage Messiah. Now that I've seen Lair/Worm again, I must add it to that list of favorites, too. Ken probably ought to have tackled even more genre pieces, because what these film require, along with what Russell clearly had in spades -- the knack for bringing to the horror genre his special kind of transgression -- apparently produced that rare match made in sleazy-movie heaven.

The filmmaker guides his oddly assembled cast (which also includes the likes of Catherine Oxenberg (above, left), that adorable little blond Sammi Davis, (above, right) and everyone's favorite British oddity Paul Brooke (below) to pile on everything from horror to comedy, romance to adult/teen sex (and then teen murder) arriving at a destination that can only be called Camp Wonderful.

Just viewing that old and fondly remembered Vestron Pictures/Vestron Video logo should jolt a number of viewers back to a certain low-end-but-lots-of-fun memory lane. But Lair/Worm is so all-over-the-place that, if you are anything like me, and have not seen the film in decades, then you will also probably have forgotten so much of it that it will seem new and funny and pretty special all over again.

Mr Russell is not particularly good on suspense or surprise, and the villain is rather obvious from the start. But the filmmaker is so good on doing what he loves best -- shocking us with some heavy-duty fantasy elements that combine religion and sex (remember The Devils?) along with pairing Jesus (above) with, well, you'll see -- that the movie almost immediately assumes pride of place in the hearts of the irreligious.

Plus, there's Ms Donohoe, one of whose first major roles this was, and -- boy, oh, boy -- does she impress. So much so, in fact, that I am not sure anything she did subsequently registered quite so strongly. The actress gives her all, whether it's in black boots, panties and negligee (above) or sporting a set of fangs (below) that would have Dracula himself running for the hills.

Mr. Grant (below, left) is almost the straight man in the piece, and so is rather wasted by not being able to show much of his usual charm. Mr. Capaldi (below, right) has more fun with his role and actually registers more strongly here. But we're not coming to a Ken Russell film for charm or romance, are we? So lean back, hold on (yes, it is rather a bumpy ride), and enjoy the utterly bizarre, creepy and funny goings-on.

You can now stream The Lair of the White Worm via Netflix (click here for the link) or via Amazon Instant Video and on DVD.

Smithsonian Channel's TITANOBOA: MONSTER SNAKE arrives on DVD & Blu-ray

Get ready for the big one -- all you kids and grand-kids who are into dinos, crocs, snakes and other reptiles, present and past -- because TITANOBOA is coming. Shown first on the Smithsonian Channel and making its Blu-ray and DVD debut this week, the documentary is a sure-fire crowd-pleaser. Thanks to today's super repertoire of special effects, the filmmakers create a visually stunning and quite believable reproduction of the giant water-and-sort-of-land snake (this guy was evidently way too big to move gracefully or easily on land) who lived 60 million years ago. The movie provides enough good scientific information to keep adults watching, while cleverly (and repeatedly) showing kids that special giant-animals-duke-it-out footage (below) that they never seem to tire of watching.

We critics, however, may tire of being told for the umpteenth time during the 92-minute movie what an important discovery this was, or listening to a narrator whose every sentence, no matter how mundane the verbiage, sounds fraught with intense expectation. But this is now standard documentary procedure, so get used to it and enjoy what you can.

And Titanoboa -- the snake and its movie -- is interesting, as it takes us from a huge coal-mining operation in Colombia where the first snake fossil vertebrae was discovered (bigger than anything ever seen up to now) to the laboratories and research facilities where scientists pour over each new "find."

We go on location to the wilds of the Amazon and elsewhere, meeting the two snakes that currently hold the title of world's largest: the Burmese Python and the Anaconda. Watching trained biologists getting whipped and/or bitten bloody by these creatures should give snake-o-phobes pause and tingle the spines of the younger set.

The arc of the documentary follows that team of researchers, scientists and diggers looking for ever more fossils from this giant snake, especially its head. (Snake heads, it seems, are unusually delicate and so rarely survive in fossilized form.) Once enough of these fossils are found, a replica of the snake can be created. When it is (see below), it's a doozy.

Titanoboa, released through Inception Media Group, hits the streets this Tuesday, April 3, on DVD and Blu-ray. Suggested retail for the DVD is $14.98; the Blu-ray sells for $19.98. Neither Netflix nor Blockbuster appears to stock the title, and I've not found it on streaming venues. For now, it looks like a purchase is the only way to catch it -- other than via re-runs on the Smithsonian Channel....

In Michael Webber's THE ELEPHANT IN THE LIVING ROOM, that pachyderm proves no mere metaphor

Nor does the 300-pound gorilla in the room. Nor the pair of full-grown lions and their three cubs. Nor the 12-foot python. Usually when we hear a phrase like "the gorrilla in the room," it refers to a subject about which no one wants to talk, and so it sits there, looming, with everyone looking and speaking around it. This is not the case with Michael Webber's new documentary THE ELEPHANT IN THE LIVING ROOM, in which each and every "exotic pet" featured is more than happy to be talked about by the filmmaker and his subjects.

An award-winner at a number of festivals (it's easy to understand why), Webber's documentary tackles an issue that would seem to go to the heart of a citizen's rights. No, not the right to bear arms, but the right to bear lions, tigers, cougars, chimps, snakes, elephants and whatever exotic pet you might want, despite the possible harm it can bring to you, your family, your neighbors and your community. If you dont think this is a big issue, you should try seeking out one of the Exotic Pet marketplaces shown in the movie, where like-minded buyers and sellers gather and cameras are not permitted.  (Fortunately, Webber -- shown above, right -- managed to get around that rule somehow.)

What makes this movie work as well as it does is the fact that Webber's two main protagonists are likeable and can see both sides of the issue, to some extent.  If the owner (Terry Brumfield, above, with Lacie) of that pride of lions (mom, pop and four offspring) is less able to look at things from the perspective of frightened neighbors, he at least understands the risks involved. But so attached to his brood is he that at times, it seems he'll go off the deep end.

Keeping things clear and as far from the deep end as possible is police office, martial-arts expert and animal protection advocate, Tim Harrison (above) who has captured and resucred a slew of exotic pets of all kinds across the USA. His best friend was killed by his own "exotic pet," so Harrison can easily move from one side of the argument to the other. His connection are pretty impressive, too. If I needed to place an odd pet, this is the guy I'd go to first.

Harrison explains the situation very cleverly and carefully: "There are now more alligator "nuisance calls" in Dayton, Ohio, than there are in Florida."  "We have dog-tags for dogs," notes another fellow, "but not for lions."  The officer takes us to a desolate spot outside of a town where a large tiger, evidently a no-longer-wanted pet, has been shot several times in the face and then left by the side of the road.

We see the damage done buy the idiotic talk shows hosts and their guests, on which chimps, bears, elephants and other wild beasts appear to charm the audience without ever cluing it into what taking care of an animal of this size, strength and danger-quotient is like.  Entertainment trumps intelligence every time.

The movie finally comes down to the story of Terry's increasing difficulty housing his lions, and how officer Harrison seems to move heaven and earth to find a decent home for the animals. While the end titles tell of updates on lions and other exotic pets in Ohio, I think it may be the simple prayer spoken by the group of men, in-cluding Terry (below), Tim and his strongman friend (above) who've helped with the final move of the lion pride, that will surprise you most. You don't have to believe in any higher power to be moved to tears at the sadness and strangeness of the human race.

The Elephant in the Living Room opened in Los Angeles last week and will open here in New York City this week, with many other openings in cities around the country in the weeks to come. You can find all the screenings -- cities, dates and theaters -- by clicking here, then scrolling down.