La morsure du crotale

Unfortunately not very good as a movie. These Netflix originals are really hit or miss stuff and I think I can see a pattern already. In many cases they are something that would work better as an episode of an anthology series and don't really benefit from movie length. There simply isn't enough substance to carry a full movie.

We have a mother and a child who for whatever reason are moving by car and decide to take a short cut through a small desert road. Tyre goes flat and a rattlesnake bites the kid while the mother is changing the tyre. Mysteriously a trailer appears nearby where they go to seek help (cell phone naturally does not work). Kid is cured, but the cure comes with a price that puts the mother in a difficult situation. While kind of interesting setup, there is zero beef to the story, nothing is explained or based on anything. And this is often the case with these "direct-to-Netflix" movies, things just happen. When there is no story to base the plot on, it's not very interesting. Just so many why's .. And the ending is fittingly unsatisfying.

The direction - while not exactly bad - definitely does not add any artistic value to the movie. A movie either needs to be artistically interesting or tell a proper story, this one did neither. Why a rattlesnake? Who was the lady? What was the movie all about? Is there some folklore about a rattlesnake bite and cure that I as a European don't know? I mean the movie is even titled "Rattlesnake" and not "The Curse of The Desert Lady", which it probably would have been called had it been made in the 50s. It kind of has the same b-movie quality to it.

The acting is ranging from ok (Ejogo) to bad (Rossi).

Its not bad. Decently paced thriller keeps you watching as there's so many variations of what could happen next it keeps you guessing. Atmosphere is pretty good and the lead actress does a good job. Don't get me wrong there is no Oscar winners here but for an hour and a half at home with your feet up it will keep you entertained.

Rattlesnake was not the worst movie Netflix has attached their name to yet. This movie is definitely one to add to your list and watch when you simply can't find anything else interesting to watch. The acting is weak, the script is boring and the movie is lonnngggg! Oh wait, it's not! It is only an hour and a half long - but feels like 2 and a half.

It had a lot of potential but failed. It did you get thinking about many different scenarios, outcomes, questions in general. It doesn't however give you a final answer - nor does it really try to make you wonder if she's not right in the head, is the town cursed, was she seeing things, could this be legit, did the daughter actually get bit? Nothing! It just sort of ends...

Worth a watch if you're bored - but there's plenty of movies to waste your time on that are much better than this one.

Can't say I had exactly high hopes for this, but it's even more disappointing coming from the director whose previous movie (also a Netflix original) was the decent and effortful "1922". "Rattlesnake" knows exactly what it is, but it doesn't try to excel at it at all.

For the most part "Rattlesnake" feels like an uninspiring slow-burn, a familiar tale of a familiar dilemma explored only vaguely as if the filmmakers behind this were uninvested and half asleep. You know when you start cleaning up your room but give up halfway through? That's how "Rattlesnake" felt like. Some of the qualities include a good main performance by Carmen Ejogo (who tries her best while portraying a character in search of any real personality), a story that holds potential (but instead chooses the uninventive, watered down approach) arguably good cinematography (which kinda wears down with time by just not changing, impressing, surprising) & an original score that goes from seemingly effective to either repetitive or feeling like it's been wasted on this movie. Both the script and the direction is bland and comes off as simply not very smart. The pacing's very even throughout and also very slow, it doesn't quite pick up at the end either.

I believe "Rattlesnake" is a fine friday flick, but I can't put this anywhere above average, because in the end it feels more like just another filler for the mass market of movies on digital media than it feels like a sophisticated, well crafted and entertaining thriller/horror movie. My rating: 5/10.

I'm not sure why Netflix decided to pick up (and make a Netflix exclusive) this low budget thriller. It's not a terrible effort, but I could see much more wasted potential than what the movie actually grabbed on and used. It gets to an okay start, having a little atmosphere and not taking too long to set up the situation the female heroine finds herself in. However, after that point, the movie quickly gets bogged down. Though the heroine is racing against time, I couldn't get that feeling at all - there is no feeling of tension or speed, and the heroine seems to be taking the situation more calmly than I think anyone else in her shoes would be feeling. The situation also feels too stretched out for its own good, even though the movie only has a running time of 85 minutes. As for the ending, I won't spoil what happens in the climax or conclusion, but I will say that I had a strong feeling of dissatisfaction from these final few minutes; there are a number of unanswered questions as well as future potential problems for the heroine that simply are not resolved. I guessed the movie is fairly well produced for its very low budget, but I would have accepted a less slick look for a stronger atmosphere and more suspense.