Oh man, this one is a blast! Haven’t watched this one in probably 15 years. Total b-movie, when animals attack style, but they play it like a full-on drama with no cheese to be found, even though the plot is nothing but cheese. And again I ask, what the hell is Oliver Reed doing in a garbage-y movie like this? It’s like Anthony Hopkins or Patrick Stewart doing some Tyler Perry Madea flick. And with Klaus Kinski in one of the main roles, with Sarah Miles and Susan George.
Set-up is this- Oliver and Klaus are thieves, gangsters. Susan is their accomplice. Their target is a bank with a massive payday if they can pull off the heist, and major jail time, the rest of their lives most likely, if they’re caught. Susan is the maid / housekeeper / au pair for a family whose home will serve as their headquarters. Their timing has to be perfect, and they can’t run in to any complications.
Of course, they run into complications.
The people who live in the house have a son, about 10 years old, who is very interested in animals. He has his own zoo in his bedroom, with aquariums and terrariums and small cages all over the place. He goes to the local pet store to pick up a harmless pet snake that he’s ordered. But, it turns out that they give him the wrong package, and he brings home with him a black mamba, the most venomous snake species in the world, which is also very aggressive and very fast. Anything bitten by a black mamba has only minutes to live.
Then, with Oliver and Klaus and Susan and the kid and the kid’s grandfather in the house, the snake gets loose and is on the prowl.
The movie gets moving quickly, and it gets nicely complicated quickly, with complications with the police and a hostage situation and severed fingers and dead people.
Pacing is a little slow through the middle part, but it’s not a big deal. Excellent tension throughout. Excellent snake-cam. Very nice climax. I don’t like Klaus in all of his movies, but he’s pretty great in this. Great stuff. Big budget orchestral soundtrack. Very small part for Michael Gough.
B-movie Roundup 