The Lair of the White Worm, or, She’s Got You Pegged

I decided to watch The Lair of the White Worm in preparation for watching the new release of Ken Russell’s The Devils this weekend. I know that movie only by reputation, and am not that familiar with Russell’s other movies. I had no patience for Tommy, and I might have seen Crimes of Passion, but have no memory of it if I did. The only ones that I’m sure I’ve seen before are Altered States and Women in Love, and I only watched each of them once, years ago.1 To be completely honest: I’ve always had Ken Russell and Peter Greenaway conflated in my mind. Some vague category of “horny British filmmakers,” with no regard to just how different their work actually is. I’ve seen a lot more of Greenaway’s movies, and they’re rarely to my taste. It would be outright false to say that Greenaway’s movies are humorless, but the ones I’ve seen seem to be going for more of a dry, dark humor. Firmly in the realm of art movies, more sophisticated and challenging than simply provocative.2 This also came…