Sssssss (1973)

User Rating:

5.0/10   

Director:

Bernard L. Kowalski

Writers:

Hal Dresner (writer)
Daniel C. Striepeke (story)

Release Date:

July 1973 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Terror is ready to strike!

Plot:

David, a college student, is looking for a job. He is hired by Dr. Stoner as a lab assistant for his research and experiments on snakes...

Plot Keywords:

Snake | Experiment | Serum | Cobra | College Student

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Strother Martin	...	Dr. Carl Stoner
Dirk Benedict	...	David Blake
Heather Menzies	...	Kristina Stoner
Richard B. Shull	...	Dr. Ken Daniels
Tim O'Connor	...	Kogen
Jack Ging	...	Sheriff Dale Hardison
Kathleen King	...	Kitty Stewart
Reb Brown	...	Steve Randall
Ted Grossman	...	Deputy Morgan Bock
Charles Seel	...	Old man
Ray Ballard	...	Waggish Tourist
Brendan Burns	...	Jock #1
Rick Beckner	...	Jock #2
Jim Drum	...	Hawker #1 (as James Drum)
Ed McCready	...	Hawker #2

Also Known As:

SSSSnake (UK)

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Italy:VM18 | Australia:M | Finland:(Banned) (1973) | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | USA:PG

Company:

Zanuck/Brown Productions

Trivia:

The poisonous snakes were not defanged during production. Five King Cobras were imported from Thailand for this feature, they ranged from 10-15' in length. They were recently wild caught and in good health with full venom capabilities. The "Snake Park" milking scenes were real and meant to mimic what Bill Haast did at his Serpentarium in Florida daily. About one ounce of venom was collected during each take with no harm to the snakes. A different cobra was used for each take. The filming of this part of the movie took most of a day, as the cobras spent most of their time trying to escape the fenced enclosure rather than raising up in the traditional cobra attack mode.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Sugarland Express (1974)

Still enjoyable after all these years.

I have fond memories of watching this film as a kid. So often those movies you enjoyed as a kid turn out to be trash when you watch them as an adult, but this was a rare case of a movie that managed to hold up.

Sure it has it's faults, but nothing that can't be over looked. The plot is a bit silly, and the ending more so, but the way the movie is played you ignore the rampant over acting and outside of reality plot.

Plus, the film doesn't seem aged. So many films from the Seventies look so out of place looking at them in modern times, but this film managed to avoid all of the trappings that put it out of time. It holds up amazingly well for a thirty plus year old movie.

If you've seen this once and remember it fondly, i recommend a fresh look through grown up eyes.