With the popularization of the horror genre in Hollywood, the producers had an incomprehensible desire to make films about the entire flora and fauna of our planet, which at least somehow can scare and disgust the viewer. Films were shot about literally everything: about bears, frogs, worms, birds, fish, crocodiles, dogs, spiders, mosquitoes – you can continue for a very long time. Some of these films, shot by skilled directors, have become cult and are still loved by moviegoers, but most of them were very weak pictures and over the years have been forgotten.
To be honest, this film caught my attention only two things: a cute poster and an unusual title imitating the hissing of a snake. This technique well reflects the whole essence of the picture and as if immediately tells us: "Here will be a huge number of snakes!". At the very beginning of the film, even before the opening credits appear, we are warned that all snakes used, venomous or not, are real. Five young King Cobras were captured and brought from Thailand, whose venom was most lethal at that age. And poor actors had to adapt to such conditions and act without doubles. Such recklessness is certainly admirable and adds to the movie. Surprisingly, such a reception for the viewer can be a minus. If you do not feel any emotions for snakes, then real reptiles will seem small and boring, there are no giant bloodthirsty anacondas or cobras with unrealistically huge fangs from which poison drips.
Analyzing the film into components, you can immediately see that it barely reaches the average. Retell the plot of the picture does not make sense, since it is absolutely not interesting and straightforward. This is a classic teenage horror film about a small quiet city and its secrets. The director of the film, Bernard Kowalski, shot only TV series and detectives about Colombo, his only full-length work was the film “The Attack of Giant Leeches”, the quality of which can already be judged by the title. That is why the film is very boring and events in it develop extremely slowly, because who is not the director of infinitely long series of the 60s knows how to stretch the timing of the picture. From television of those years, actors also migrated to the film, for example, the main character David, performed by actor Dirk Benedict, who became famous for the series “Team A”. Special attention deserves only makeup tape John Chambers, whose works can be contemplated in the Oscar-winning work on the classic “Planet of the Apes”. His vision of turning man into a snake is very interesting.
In the end, I just want to add that the film is curious about another small historical detail. This was the last Universal film to be released in the form of a grand house paired with the film The Boy Who Told About the Werewolf.
5 out of 10