Sssssss |
  • USA • 1973 • 99m •   • Directed by: Bernard L. Kowalski. • Starring: Strother Martin, Dirk Benedict, Heather Menzies-Urich, Richard B. Shull, Tim O'Connor, Jack Ging, Kathleen King, Reb Brown, Ted Grossman, Charles Seel, Ray Ballard, Brendan Burns, Rick Beckner. • Music by: Patrick Williams.     David, a college student, is looking for a job. He is hired by Dr. Stoner as a lab assistant for his research and experiments on snakes. David also begins to fall for Stoner's young daughter, Kristina. However, the good doctor has secretly brewed up a serum that can transform any man into a King Cobra snake-and he plans to use it on David.
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Review:
The plot of "Sssssss" fits in with the early seventies, drive-ingrind house market. Strother Martin, previously seen in "Brotherhood of Satan," is Dr. Stoner, a snake expert. Along with his daughter, Kristina, he runs a snake farm and research center. The prizes of their collection are Harry, a python and beloved pet, and a regal, female King Cobra. Dr. Stoner seems harmless enough but is actually a mad scientist. He begins to inject his new lab assistant (and Kristina's new boyfriend) with a strange chemical compound. Soon, David's skin begins to peel and scales grow under it... "Seven S" is delightfully kooky in spots. This is mostly due to Strother Martin's performance. Dr. Stoner has one-sided conversations with Harry the Python. He almost worships the enormous Queen Cobra. He is open about enjoying the company of animals to most people. Martin is a warm, if slightly eccentric, fatherly figure at first. Slowly, he reveals his sinister side. He murders someone with a Black Mamba, sticks a collage that has seen too much in a death trap, and feeds someone to Harry's starved mate. His ultimate end game? Turn a human into a snake. While this is obvious to the viewer early on, the film holds off on revealing exactly why he's doing this. In a climatic monologue, he reveals his motive, that he considers snakes superior to man, and believes the human race will survive the future if transformed into slithering reptiles. Martin's best moment as an actor is when he stares down the Queen Cobra, treating the animal like real royalty. The character is obviously insane but Strother never raises his voice, making him all a more effective villain.
There's some home-made, low budget camp at play here as well. Hunk-of-meat actor Reb Brown, a decade apart from the hilariously low budget action-fest that would make him a dubious cult icon, plays an asshole jock. To show how big of an ass he is, he starts aggressively hitting on Kristina. Dirk Benedict doesn't like that and a fist fight breaks out. In the film's most hysterical moment, Benedict leaps onto Reb and starts biting him like a snake. It's hilarious. Reb's exaggerate jerkery is just one of the film's silly joys. In order to maintain a PG rating, all the nudity is blocked by out-of-focus foliage or lamps. This is also, probably the only film in the history of existence where a mongoose causes a woman to scream in slow-motion agony.
If you're looking for camp, you'll find it. However, "Sssssss" is ultimately a bit too effective as a horror film to be laughable. There is something definitely unnerving about the half-formed "snake man" central to the plot. The way he flops his stumped arms and legs and grunts wordlessly is genuinely grotesque. The facial features are human but the body is not, creating an uncanny effect. David's slow transformation is rather horrifically realized. His skin peels like bad sunburn. He writhes on the ground as his innards change. The special effects are a little shaky but the film sells them. As the opening titles tell us, all the snakes are real. Even the ones that look like puppets, like the perpetually poised King Cobra. Seeing actors interact so freely with venomous snakes is liable to make viewers a little nervous.
There's another reason I love the movie. I had a major crush on Heather Menzies, all because of this movie. She has an infectious girl-next-door charm. Her conversations with Harry the Python are adorable and I love how she treats the snakes with love, not fear. She sports a pair of clunky seventies eye-glasses fantastically, emphasizing her charm and vulnerability. Her romance with Benedict evolves naturally. The skinny dipping scene is played more for innocent cuteness then wanton titillation. Menzies proves a strong scream queen too, properly horrified by the snake man. She's adorable in "Piranha" too. It's a bummer she's retired from acting. I blame Robert Urich.
"Seven S" is a favorite of mine I return to quite frequently. There's little reason to love it but I do anyway.
Review by Bonehead-XL from the Internet Movie Database.
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