The Snake Woman
| The Snake Woman | |
|---|---|
 Original lobby card | |
| Directed by | Sidney J. Furie |
| Written by | Orville H. Hampton |
| Produced by | Edward Small (executive) David Rose (executive) George Fowler |
| Starring | Susan Travers |
| Cinematography | Stephen Dade |
| Edited by | Antony Gibbs |
| Music by | Buxton Orr |
Production company | Caralan Productions |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
Release date |
|
Running time | 68 min. |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
The Snake Woman is a low budget 1961 British horror film directed by Sidney J. Furie and starring Susan Travers, John McCarthy.[1]
Plot
Over many years, a brilliant scientist in a turn of the century English village successfully keeps his wife's mental illness under control by injecting her with snake venom. When the wife dies giving birth to a daughter, a local witch claims that the child is pure evil and must be destroyed. The scientist is killed by an angry mob, but the baby girl is miraculously saved with the help of an understanding doctor. 19 years later several corpses are discovered on the moors, containing lethal amounts of snake poison. Fearful villagers believe the curse of the snake woman has struck, but a young Scotland Yard inspector is sceptical of the supernatural as he begins his investigation.[2]
Cast
- Susan Travers as Atheris
- John McCarthy as Charles Prentice
- Geoffrey Denton as Colonel Clyde Wynborn
- Elsie Wagstaff as Aggie Harker
- Arnold Marlé as Dr. Murton
- Michael Logan as Barkis
- Stevenson Lang as Shepherd
- John Cazabon as Dr. Horace Adderson
- Dorothy Frere as Martha Adderson
- Hugh Moxey as Inspector
- Frances Bennett as Polly, the barmaid
- Jack Cunningham as Constable Alfie
Production
Orville Hampton's script was purchased by Sidney Furie's Caralan Productions. Furie rewrote it to be set in England.[3]
Critical reception
- Video Confidential wrote, "obviously hoping to ride the wave of success that Hammer studios were enjoying, this black-and-white programmer blatantly misses all the cues that would insure even the slightest spark of box office fire. The script is clumsy, overly-talkative and there is practically no action to allieviate the plodding pace." [4]
- Drewe Shimon described the film in Britmovie as "neither underrated nor a classic. What it is is a competent enough B-movie programmer, entertaining in its own way and enjoyable enough to fit into the ‘cosy horror’ subgenre." [5]
References
- ^ "The Snake Woman (1960) | BFI". Explore.bfi.org.uk. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
- ^ Seller Information: unhingedfilm. "The Snake Woman (1961) for sale". Ioffer.com. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
- ^ John Hamilton, The British Independent Horror Film 1951-70 Hemlock Books 2013 p 115-118
- ^ mormovies (5 January 2014). "VIDEO CONFIDENTIAL: THE SNAKE WOMAN (1961- U.K.)". Videoconfidential.blogspot.co.uk. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
- ^ "The Snake Woman (1961)". Britmovie.co.uk. 1 January 1970. Retrieved 26 July 2014.