Saturday, February 2, 2013

SSSSSSS! - "The Year Of The Snake" (1973)

Before we get any further into this year of 2013, it's time to take note that this is the year of the SNAKE! That bit of information coupled with the fact that I just bought myself a brand new Amp Cobra Driver says it all! "Sssssss!!!!!!!"

The director of "Sssssss" was Dungeon hero, the late Bernard Kowalski! I was lucky enuf to meet Bernie on a couple of occasions because he was one of my father-in-law's Army buddies. We never had a chance to speak much, but if I knew then what I know now,  I would have asked him a few questions about this production like "Why?" Bernie was also the director of such cult favourites as "Night Of The Blood Beast," and "Attack Of The Leech Monsters" before going on to have a long and lucrative career as a TV director!

As the movie opens we find a weird cage being loaded up onto an old pickup truck with the driver telling another guy that he's a freakin' genius!

That genius guy happens to be Ssssstrother (TARGET ZERO) Martin as the kindly Dr. Karl Ssssstoner! And what a stoner he has to be to think he's going to get away with this crap for very long!

And I quote: "We wish to thank the cast and crew for their courageous efforts while being exposed to extremely hazardous conditions." Cobras? No Ssssshit!!

The Doctor puts on snake shows for the stinkin' massive hordes on the weekend while they drink King Cobra malt liquor!

Dr. Stoner's last assistant left mysteriously in that cage, and so he recruits a new student from the local college, Dirk (BATTLESTAR GALACTICA) Benedict as David Blake! The Doctor is shooting David up with various snake potions, and what do you know, imagine that, he's starting to shed his skin!

If you're under 20, you probably don't know what this is, and if you're over 20, you're probably feeling  kind of nostalgic right about now!

The carnival comes to town!

Imagine that, one of the main attractions is the living snake boy, now where do you suppose he came from?

In the old "If it doesn't work the first time, try it again department," "Sssssss" was released a second time with a new tagline as "Sssssnake!"

Dr. Stoner gives the local bully a tassssste of his own medicine! That little toe proves you don't have to be prefect to work in Hollyweird!

For all you reptile lovers, there are plenty of sssssnakes in this movie!!!

Actually quite weird, the Doctor's life and his experiments have totally gone to the dark side! At this point there is virtually no room left for any shred of hope!

Rikky-Tikky-Tavi! Everybody knows mongooses kick cobra's asses on a regular basis, so the fact that there is a caged mongoose in this story kind of predicts that somewhere along the line the snakes are going to lose somehow, no matter what!

Can you spell FUSTERCLUCK? As in all wrapped up and no place to go!! WAZZZZ!!!!!!! Sometime before the year of the snake is over,  we'll get around to "Rattlers!"

5 comments:

  1. Just watching this movie on You Tube... The Dr.'s House...is the very same house used on "Night Gallery" ( episode "Green Fingers" ..with Elsa Lanchaster)

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  2. I remember seeing the article about this movie in Famous Monsters and getting to see it when it was new in the theater. Always love the greasy, snake-oil characters that Strother Martin could play so well, regardless of the film's quality. Thanks for posting this!

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  3. Maybe I am the only one on the Earth who knows that the animal inside the cage is not really a mongoose, but a tayra, which is a sort of giant weasel from the south american rainforest. These mammals are Carnivora, but belong to different families.

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  4. You probably need to be from Chile to know the difference between a mongoose and a tayra Victor. Do tayras kill snakes too?

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  5. There are no tayras in Chile.
    Surely a tayra can kill a serpent, but never will find a king cobra in its habitat.

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