SSSSSSS
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| SSSSSSS | |
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| Directed by | Bernard L. Kowalski |
| Produced by | Daniel Spriepeke |
| Written by | Hal Dresner Daniel C. Striepeke |
| Starring | Dirk Benedict Strother Martin Heather Menzies Reb Brown |
| Music by | Patrick Williams |
| Cinematography | Gerald Perry Finnerman |
| Editing by | Robert Watts |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
| Release date(s) | July 1973 |
| Running time | 99 mins. |
| Country |  USA |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1,300,000 est. |
SSSSSSS (released as Ssssnake in the UK) is a 1973 horror film starring Dirk Benedict, Heather Menzies, Reb Brown, and Strother Martin. It was directed by Bernard L. Kowalski and written by Hal Dresner and Daniel C. Striepeke. The makeup effects were created by John Chambers and Nick Marcellino. The film has developed a small cult reputation and is acclaimed by many horror fans.
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[edit] Plot
College student David Blake (Benedict) is hired as an assistant by Doctor Stoner (Martin) who specializes in snake sciences and the medicinal benefits of venoms. Little does David, who has become a love interest to Stoner's daughter Kristine (Menzies), know Stoner is about to use him for a sinister experiment. Stoner believes he has developed a way to transform a human into a King Cobra snake and David may just be in danger of being sacrificed for science. The purpose of the experiment is to help prolong mankind into and past the nuclear age, where snakes (now with human intelligence) can survive, where humans wouldn't be able to. In the meantime, Kristine is sent away to collect a rare snake for her father as a means to get her away during the transformation period David must endure when becoming a snake. Kristine is told by a mailroom attendant that there is a snakeman exhibit in the visiting carnaval. She suspiciously sneaks into the tent that houses the snakeman, and recognizes it as a former apprentice who worked the previous summer at her father's lab. Fearing David may have succombed to the same fate, she races home. While she makes her way home, Dr. Stoner is unexpectedly visited early the next morning by a bitter, rival professor. Stoner quickly dispatches him with a gargantuan python that eats him whole down to the shoes. The police are tipped off to a possible missing persons case that eventually brings them to Stoner's lab in the country, where the doctor lies dead as a result of several bites from a King Cobra. Kristine returns just in time to see David fighting for his life - as a newly reborn King Cobra - with a mongoose that has escaped from its cage. The film ends abruptly with Kristine screaming repeatedly, "David!"
[edit] Cast
- Strother Martin as Dr. Carl Stoner
- Dirk Benedict as David Blake
- Heather Menzies as Kristina Stoner
- Richard B. Shull as Dr. Ken Daniels
- Tim O'Connor as Kogen
- Jack Ging as Sheriff Dale Hardison
- Kathleen King as Kitty Stewart
- Reb Brown as Steve Randall
- Ted Grossman as Deputy Morgan Bock
- Charles Seel as Old man
- Ray Ballard as Waggish Tourist
- Brittney Bitch as Sammy Idol
[edit] Trivia
- This film was released by Universal as a double feature with The Boy Who Cried Werewolf (1973), making the program one of the last double bills released by the studio.
- The library was a real herpetological library
- The film debut of actor Reb Brown.
- The title for the films release in Spain was Ssssilbido de muerte, which translates to Hiss of Death in English.
- The poisonous snakes were not defanged during production. Five King Cobras were imported from Thailand for this feature, they ranged from 10-15' in length. They were recently wild caught and in good health with full venom capabilities. The "Snake Park" milking scenes were real and meant to mimic what Bill Haast did at his Serpentarium in Florida daily. About one ounce of venom was collected during each take with no harm to the snakes. A different cobra was used for each take. The filming of this part of the movie took most of a day, as the cobras spent most of their time trying to escape the fenced enclosure rather than raising up in the traditional cobra attack mode.
