Three movies, three very different surprises: The Lair of the White Worm turned out to be considerably more disturbing than I expected, The Shout finally gave me a theory about why Tim Curry’s character is there at all, and The Christmas Baby brought an unexpected connection to the very first X-Files episode I ever watched. A few recent Letterboxd mini-reviews, now making their way over to the blog.

You can find me here at https://letterboxd.com/tell_me_a_movie/ Feel free to drop your Letterboxd profile, or anywhere else you’re publishing now, in the comments!

The Lair of the White Worm, 1988, 2.5 stars

I wasn’t ready for this. Like a goofy music video, with some disturbing stuff that probably was considered sexy at the time because the female snake vampire was hot. I did like the hallucination aspect. The horror was creepy, but the comedy was unfunny. Makes a good argument against religion.

The Shout, 1978, 3.5 stars

Every time I’ve watched The Shout, for 30 years, I’ve wondered why Tim Curry was in this. Not the actor, the character. 

And now that he’s on our collective unconscious due to his passing, I think I’ve got it.

Tim’s character is us, the viewer. Alan Bates is laying this whole load of balderdash on him, and as Tim pictures it in his mind, THAT’S what we’re seeing on the screen.

Not what allegedly happened, not what Alan Bates imagines, but the mental picture the neutral listener forms. 

And the great thing about a surreal movie like this? I can watch it again in 5 years and have a whole new theory!

The Christmas Baby, 2025, 3.5 stars

Of course I love that there’s a Christmas movie about a lesbian couple. The mystery of whose baby they adopt kept me guessing and kept the story from being as formulaic.

But the bonus was that the grumpy neighbor with a heart of gold was played by The Pusher, the villain from the very first X File I ever watched. That guy’s fearsome performance kicked off a 30 year love for that show! And here he is again making a Christmas movie a little more interesting. Thanks dude!