Rattlers
by John McCauley
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Canada
Canada
DVD details
Actor: Dan Priest, Elisabeth Chauvet, Gary Van Orman, Ron Gold, Sam ChewDirector: John McCauley
Brand: Image Entertainment
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 1.0; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 1.0
Format: Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Special Edition
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 81 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-10-08
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Image Entertainment
DVD Reviews of Rattlers
DVD Review: "I don't know what it is you're looking for...man, there's nothing out here but sand and mesquite."
Summary: 4 Stars
My girlfriend hates snakes...nay, she despises them with an extreme passion...why? I haven't the slightest idea...she's also not a big fan of horses, but that's only because one fell on her (no foolin'). At least with equines she can see them without going into a tizzy, which isn't the case with snakes. Needless to say, Rattlers (1976) is the kind of movie I could never get her to sit through, at least not without some very strong sedatives...released through Harry H. Novak's Box Office International Pictures, the film was produced, directed, and co-written by John McCauley, whose only other credit includes a feature titled Deadly Intruder (1985). Starring in Rattlers is Sam Chew Jr. (Voyager from the Unknown, Time Walker) and Elisabeth Chauvet, in her only silver screen appearance. Also appearing is Tony Ballen (Under the Rainbow), Ronald Gold (Helter Skelter), and Dan Priest (Tag: The Assassination Game, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer).
As the film begins we see two young boys leave their family's campsite in the desert to fool around on a ridge, and soon enough they find themselves in a den of bitey snakes (well, that's two less places at the dinner table tonight). We later discover this wasn't an isolated incident as snake related deaths within the Mojave County area are on the rise, so much so the sheriff (Ballen) contacts a nerdy, chauvinistic herpetologist (a specialist in reptiles and amphibians) by the name of Dr. Tom Parkinson (Chew) for help. After reviewing the evidence (the bit up dead kids), Tom thinks something is hinky due to not only to the large number of bites suffered by the victims, but also the seemingly aggressive nature of the attacks (apparently snakes don't normally attack unless given a good reason, something like, oh, I don't know, a couple of snotty children clomping around within their den). After a couple more incidents (i.e. deaths), the county ponies up and hires Tom to investigate the matter further, saddling him with a hot `liberated' female photographer named Ann Bradley (Chauvet) for documentation purposes. As the pair head out into the desert, the bitey snake attacks continue, including a hot divorcee getting nipped in her bathtub. The trail eventually leads Tom and Ann to a nearby army base where Tom gets an earful from a gabby helicopter pilot about some sort of canister he dumped in an abandoned mineshaft, one the army subsequently sealed over with a couple of tons of concrete. Tom, in a fairly large speculative leap, thinks whatever was in the canister may be linked to the recent overly aggressive reptile activity, but the colonel in charge, played by Priest, dummies up good. About this time Tom states he needs to go to Las Vegas and visit the county recorders office to get information on the mine, but really it just seemed a ploy to get Ann, who's obviously not used to camping in the desert, in a comfy hotel room to romance (i.e. nail) her proper, which he does...upon returning to the desert (we never even saw them visit any gooberment offices), things get a might bit hairy (and bitey) as the proverbial stuff hits the fan.
Rattlers wasn't a great film, but it was a lot of fun and actually featured some decent production values given the type of movie it was, that being a small scale production cranked out for the popular drive-in market of the 1970s. The story is basically comprised of a mixture of Tom and Ann running around the desert, along with numerous sequences of various individuals being attacked. The most memorable bit, without a doubt, is the bathtub scene, where a woman soon finds herself sharing her evening bath with a few slippery companions after a plumber, working under the house gets bit up and leaves a pipe disconnected, allowing serpents easy access into the pipes. There are no spectacular performances here, but there are a whole lot of snakes. Sam Chew Jr., who played the character of Tom, did all right I suppose, but he seemed better suited for a job as a weatherman on a local news program than that of a male lead in a film. I think if the filmmakers had gotten a more recognizable actor, say a William "The Shat' Shatner, for the part, I would have enjoyed the movie even more, but then one must work within ones budget. At least they had the presence of mind to toss in a relatively attractive female lead in that of Elisabeth Chauvet. Her character, the photographer, seemed pretty pointless, particularly since she snapped so few pictures and then ones she did take didn't appear to be related to the investigation. At one point she was directed to take some shot at night, which she did, but I didn't notice the flash, so either she was using some sort of infrared photo equipment or her skills as a photographer were questionable (she did engage the flash during some later shots taken at night, so I'm opting for the latter). As I said, there are a decent amount of real snakes throughout the film, but not a whole lot actual shots of snakes biting people. Given the quick cuts during the snake scenes there's an inference of people being bitten, but otherwise the action's pretty tame stuff. There were some attempts at character development (Ann relates a boo hoo story about her childhood), but this felt unnecessary and only serves to fill out the running time. I would have preferred more sequences of snakes invading and attacking the residents in the area, but whatever. One of the more humorous aspects of the film, for me at least, was how the characters of Tom and Ann where initially presented as being at odds with each other, he a chauvinistic sort who thinks women should be happy with their lot in life, and she a liberated, independent sort frustrated with a male dominated society. The pair has a few conversations expressing their opposing opinions, and then later on, out of the blue, they're involved in a romance with each other. I guess chasing snakes around in the desert serves as some sort of aphrodisiac given how hot and heavy they got towards the end. Ah well...there were a couple of good scares in the film, especially if you have an aversion to snakes. All in all, this ain't a bad way to kill an hour and twenty minutes, if you dig creepy crawly features from the 1970s.
The picture quality, presented in full screen aspect ratio, on this Something Weird Video DVD release looks decent (there's a few lines and other age related signs of wear), and the Dolby Digital mono audio comes through relatively clean. The real treat here comes in the form extra features, as thrown in as a bonus is the 1971 Mexihorror film The Snake People, starring Boris Karloff, near the end of his lengthy career. The picture looks rough, and it's certainly not one of Boris' finer cinematic moments, but it's here, and doesn't include the `SWV' imprint logo Something Weird sometimes slaps on the bottom right hand corner of its material. Also included are six `Snake-O-Rama' shorts (some featuring nekkid women), a gallery of comic cover art with accompanying music by the Dead Elvi, an original theatrical trailer, along with trailers for other films including Attack of the Giant Leeches (1959), The Black Cat (1966), The Crawling Hand (1963), The Crawling Thing (1971), Creature of Evil (1971), Creature of the Walking Dead (1965), Devil Woman (1970), Dragons Never Die (1986), Don't Open the Window (1974), The Horror of Party Beach (1964), The Killer Shrews (1959), Night of the Cobra Woman (1972), and a promotional bit for something called the Spasmitus Midnight Thrill Show. I give three stars to the main feature on this release, along with an extra star for the bonus materials.
Cookieman108
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Description of Rattlers
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