Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Sssssss (1973)


"Sssssss" is a pretty original movie that has a few good scares, but overall comes up short.  The movie is drawn out and the climax is a bit of a let down.

"Sssssss" is about a scientist who is trying to come up with a formula to turn a man into a snake.  He wants to create a new species of  snake, which has a human mind.  The scientist has an assistant, which he experiments on.  Pretty soon, the assistant shows signs of becoming a snake.  His eyes become slits, he grows scales, his skin starts to shed, and he loses the use of his arms and legs.  What will happen when this man becomes the snake monster this mad scientist has created????

The scariest scene of the film takes place at a carnival.  Inside the freak show, there is a "snake man" on exhibition.  The snake man is in fact a previous assistant the scientist had.  The scientist tried to turn him into a snake, but the process did not work.  The man was stuck in a half man/half snake state.  So the scientist sold him to the carnival.  He looked incredibly realistic and freaky.

The makeup in the film is especially good.  The half man/half snake makeup is so convincing and scary.  It looks like something you would really see in a freak show.  

The film does have a problem of being a bit slow.  It takes a long time before any of the effects start to occur on the assistant turning into a snake.  The other problem is the ending.  When the assistant's transformation finally occurs, you expect him to be this giant snake monster, but no.  He is just a regular King Cobra snake!  It is a let down.  I wanted to see a neat monster!

Even though this is not a great film, it is still fun to watch.  People should see it just for the freakiness factor.  However, if you have a fear of snakes, do not watch this movie.  You will have nightmares for a long time...

C  I recommend it.

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