‘Lair of the White Moose’ scheduled for shooting in 2016.
It has just been announced that
there is to be a sequel made to Ken Russell’s 1988 cult horror movie ‘Lair of
the White Worm’ and that production of the film, which will be shot during the
first half of 2016, will be entirely in and around Egilsstaðir in eastern Iceland.
The Nordic-flavoured sequel, ‘Lair
of the White Moose’ will begin in a similar fashion to the original movie with
the unearthing of a giant moose skull in the frozen highlands around
Egilsstaðir by Peter Capaldi who will be taking time off from his exploits as
Doctor Who to reprise his role as the enterprising archaeologist Angus Flint.
Capaldi will be joined by other members of the original cast namely Hugh Grant
as the ever-pompous Lord James D’Ampton, Catherine Oxenberg as Eve Trent and
Sammi Davis as Eve’s sister Mary. Amanda Donohoe will unfortunately not be
reappearing as the delightful and dangerous Lady Sylvia Marsh as she was eaten
by the white worm in the original movie.
A director for the project has not yet
been named but an announcement is due sometime in the near future. Speculation
is that the job will be given to an 'up and coming' Icelandic talent.
Ken Russell,
the enigmatic British director of the original movie and such cult classics as
‘Tommy’, ‘Altered States’ and ‘Gothic’ passed away in 2011. Capaldi, Grant,
Oxenberg and Davis all reportedly leapt at the opportunity to work on the
sequel citing the original film as one of the highlights of their careers.
Oxenberg in particular was thrilled
by the news and said that it would be a nice change of pace from working on
such tedious drivel as ‘The Dog Who Saved Christmas Vacation’ and ‘Sharktopus
vs. Whalewolf’.
“When an opportunity to work on a
project such as this comes along you don’t even think about turning it down,”
said the daughter of Princess Elisabeth of Yugoslavia and star of the 80’s
super-soap ‘Dynasty’.
The former Amanda Carrington went
on to say that, “Even though Ken Russell obviously won’t be involved this time
around, having met a few Icelanders in my time, I am confident that we will be
able to come up with something equally original and authentically crazy.”
When asked if she would be hanging
over an open pit that descended into the middle of the earth in her underwear once
again in ‘The Lair of the White Moose’ she giggled slightly but refused to
comment. Shortly after that question she was led away from the interview by a
heavily-set man in a bright red Hawaiian shirt who may or may not have been
Samoan.
Hugh Grant also seemed excited
about taking on the project twenty-seven years after the original film was
released.
“It’s time I got back to the roles
that put me where I am today,” he said. “Without opportunities from directors
like Ken I would never have been able to move on to such hits as ‘About a Moose’
and ‘Moose Actually’.