As Cobras Atacam

"Silent Predators" uses every single cliche from countless other horror movies which have "nature vs. the greedy interests of capitalism" as a theme e.g. "Empire of the Ants" Although this formula is tired, sometimes two big heaping scoops of banality is just what the doctor ordered. Rating: 6 out of 10

SILENT PREDATORS is your usual monster-of-the-week TV movie with snakes being the menace of choice this time around. As a typically sanitised television movie this offers up few scares and even fewer thrills, instead happy to plod through TV-level inanity for the most part; everything is predictable, clichéd, and well-telegraphed in advance.

The only thing of note about this film is that John Carpenter had a hand in writing the story, which in any case is entirely derivative. Folk in a small town discover that some killer foreign snakes have been breeding in the area and are now killing the townsfolk. A smarmy property developer (Jack Scalia) tries to cover everything up while loner hero Harry Hamlin (once of CLASH OF THE TITANS fame) strives to save the world.

SILENT PREDATORS is a film populated by ageing TV stars and features a non-threatening menace, although I'm happy that real snakes were used instead of stupid CGI creations. The PREDATOR-style snake vision is a step too far, though, and the attempts to create an exciting climax fall flat.

"Vic Rondelli" (Harry Hamlin) is the new Fire Chief for the small town of San Catalona and on the first day at his job a teenage boy is bitten and killed by a rattlesnake. Although the rattlesnake managed to escape Vic is surprised at how fast the venom took effect. Not long afterward six or seven rattlesnakes are found in the crawlspace of a new home but before Vic has a chance to examine any of them a real estate developer named "Max Farrington" (Jack Scalia) has them killed and quickly burned. Concerned about this sudden appearance of such aggressive rattlesnakes Vic attempts to take certain proactive measures but is thwarted at every opportunity by Max-even as the death toll rises. Now rather than reveal any more of this movie and risk spoiling it for those who haven't seen it I will just say that, although the plot greatly resembled the film "Rattled" which was produced three years earlier, this was a still a decent movie none-the-less. It had good suspense and some solid performances by Jack Scalia, Shannon Sturges (as Max Farrington's assistant "Mandy Stratford") and Harry Hamlin. Again, while this movie was hardly unique it still wasn't too bad and for that reason I rate it as about average.

Twenty years ago there was a car accident one night in a small southern California town San Catalano where a crate of tropical rattlesnakes escaped into the area. Now the area is experiencing a boom in housing development, and this has disrupted the nest of these deadly predators. Vic Rondell the new fire chief has just arrived, and when one snake attack after another occurs. He goes about trying to discover why the sudden attacks, but the greedy property developer Max Farrington doesn't want to start a panic and tries his best to get Rondell on the wrong side of the community. So it's left up to a tainted Vic and Farrington's business associate Mandy Stratford to put a stop to it.

Routine, repetitive and lame creatures run amok TV b-feature. Not that I think it's the complete pits, but everything that happens here has been done to death. Even in the film itself! It's always the same actions occurring over and over again. Not helping out is that it's not bad enough to be hilarious, of course stupidity fills nearly every moment and everything about it is clumsy. However it doesn't have that schlock presence or any sense of fun. The low-rent script (supposedly written by John Carpenter in the 70s) throws a bit of everything into the contrived premise, but in the long run it's a poisonous venture that's witless and incredibly textbook stuff. Director Noel Nosseck does a real nothing job with it, and makes sure you're in for something of extreme blandness, poor pacing and tired false jumps. While the deaths are mostly random there's no suspense, nor thrills. Nothing is sustained or delivered, because they are poorly staged and too goofy to have any sort of effect. While the obnoxious score gets in the way. A special mention though, at least they didn't succumb to digital effects for the snakes. We even get some snake vision, using a red filter. Strange the title actually makes no sense, since we're talking about rattlesnakes here. The no-frills performances are your standard mould found in these features and so are their stock characters. A dopey looking Harry Hamlin is here to save the day! Dominic Purcell and an animal loving Patty McCormack also feature in minor parts.

Formulaic and unexciting is what it ends up being.

In 1979, a rare breed of rattle snake – naturally, a more ferocious variety than the typical species – is set loose after the truck carrying it overturns. After fatally striking both the occupants of the crash, it then descends on a disused mine shaft where it breeds with regular rattlesnakes, and 20 years later the effects of this lethal concoction are awoken by a housing development. Harry Hamlin is the new fire chief whose first day on the job sees him dealing with a fatal snake bite, after a pair of juveniles frolicking in a thicket stumble on a specimen. From there, matters deteriorate as locals are overcome by a plethora of the new breed, the venom from which is more deadly than any known to man, and predictably, for which no serum currently exists. A herpetologist is enlisted but with the local economy's purse strings being controlled by greedy developer (Scalia), action is far from swift or decisive. So, inevitably, several bystanders quickly become victims until Scalia decides to take matters into his own hands, with disastrous results.

Not bad for a tele-movie, with capable performances and well conceived sub plots. McCormack as the local snake enthusiast comes off best, in spite of her whacky idea to address the problem by introducing more snakes, while Scalia plays a remarkably restrained villain, whose worst trait is being unethical moreover than exhibiting any overtly sinister behaviour. The blossoming romance between Hamlin and Sturges offers gentle respite in the film's troughs, and generally speaking, the show moves along with reasonable momentum and pace. While the special effects aren't all that special, director Nosseck still manages to build the suspense and an effective balance between storyline and detail. Perhaps the only real faux pas is the film's title – unless fitted with a silencer, one would assume that rattlesnakes indeed rattle, and would therefore only be silent to the hearing impaired.

A sharp eye for detail will reveal that the location is clearly not the USA in which the picture is set, but actually Queensland, Australia, as such the peripheral cast will be familiar to Australian audiences with familiar faces in bit parts and some supporting roles. Not movie of the week material, but competent within in its own limitations and definitely worth a look for those who don't suffer from snake phobia.