Sssssnake Kobra

No snakes were harmed during the filming of this movie. The concept was interesting. A brilliant doctor has the formula to help mankind survive the event of the holocaust and other cataclysmic proportions. Think of this, a snake with the intelligence of a human. So the girlfriend of the human test subject, David, witnesses her boyfriend's demise in the freakish predicament of a snake, his precious life ends at the paws of mortality itself, the otherwise innocuous ferret, who, in this case, does not stop to think that the snake he is killing for his next meal might and could just be a human, which the very same species he depends on for his survival.

How could the so-called medical geniuses not have seen it all along, turning humans into snakes to endure the next holocaust? What are my hard earned tax dollars going toward if not funding for the study of human-snake transformation! Idiots!

A college student becomes lab assistant to a scientist who is working on a serum that can transform humans into snakes.

This film is far from perfect. It could use a few more horror or science fiction elements, perhaps. Where it excels is with the use of real snakes and the knowledge that the professor has. I am not a herpetologist, and would not claim to be any sort of snake expert. But when the professor is explaining different things about snakes, it sounds very real, like he really knows what he's doing. So, well done on the script.

The premise is a bit silly, but not overly so. This seems like the sort of thing that might be in a 1950s movie rather than a 1970s film from Universal. Director Bernard Kowalski (1929-2007), perhaps not surprisingly, is a veteran of such Roger Corman-produced films as "Night of the Blood Beast" and "Attack of the Giant Leeches". (Kowalski was director on both, but you can imagine that Corman had his fingers in the pie.)

What we have here is a failure to....OH, wrong Strother Martin film. Well, Martin is the star of Sssssss(7 s's), and I must admit he is rather enjoyable to watch as a kindly, softspoken, insane, murderous herpetologist trying to save the human race by turning men into cobras. The story is absurd and rather difficult to follow. The special effects suck(being blunt and candid) as we see Dirk Benedict get an occasional scale on his green body. The snakes are impressive, however. Martin's over-the-top performance saves this film from being utterly mundane and makes it fun to watch.

A doctor who specializes in snakes develops a way to turn a human being into a king cobra! Will he use this on the college student who has just became his new assistant?

Sssssss (love that campy title, that's seven S's folks) is an above-average man-becomes-creature horror film. The film is very well made and despite its seemingly cheesy premise actually creates itself an effectively serious tone. The story is intriguing, thanks largely to the likable and well-rounded characters, and builds to some terrifically chilling scenes as well as a nice show-down finale. The makeup effects are solidly created and genuinely creepy. The lovely music score by Patrick Williams is also a highlight.

The cast is definitely one of the films best features. Veteran actor Strother Martin is excellent as he balances his performance between fatherly teacher and sinister scientist. Young Dirk Benedict is charming as Martin's young assistant and attractive Heather Menzies delivers a sincere performance as Martin's daughter, and Benedict's love interest. Also Reb Brown makes for a good bully.

So, you don't have to like snakes to enjoy this intelligent old-fashioned horror tale. It's definitely one of the best of its kind and well worth catching for fans of old school B horror.

*** 1/2 out of ****

The film deals a mad doctor(Strother Martin),his former helper has disappeared and he asks to University professor(Richard B. Shull)a student. A young man called David (Richard Benedict)looking for employment is hired by the scientific.The doctor works a secrets experiments on snakes.Meanwhile David falls in love with his daughter(Heather Menzies).Then the ¨mad doctor¨ injects him a serum into becoming a King Cobra snake causing a horrible transformation.

The motion picture packs horror,romance,shocks and is quite entertained. In the film appear known actors from the 70s and 80s as Dick Benedict(¨Galactica Battlestar,A Team¨),Strother Martin(Peckimpah's usual player:¨Wild bunch¨),Heather Menzies(Robert Urich wife and little girl actress in ¨Sound of music¨)and Reb Brown(a beefcake who played many hunk men vehicles). John Chambers provides a deliriously imaginative make-up ,he won an Academy Award by the classic ¨Planet of Apes¨and made the sequels among others films(Phantom of the paradise ans Island of Dr. Moreau).Executive producers are Richard D. Zanuck and David Brown ,short time after they produced the successful ¨Jaws¨to Steven Spielberg. The motion picture is well directed by Bernard L. Kowalski who worked with Roger Corman.Slick film aimed at youthful audiences and terror lovers.