RATTLERS (1976)
Article 2750 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 11-16-2008
Posting Date: 2-22-2009
Directed by John McCauley
Featuring Sam Chew Jr., Elisabeth Chauvet, Dan Priest
Country: USA

When a series of unusual rattlesnake attacks occur in the Mojave desert, a herpatologist begins to suspect that the cause may be something that is kept secret at a nearby military base.

Sometimes with a low-budget movie like this, you just have to appreciate what it does right. In this case, I found myself enjoying the little character touches that helped flesh out some of the secondary characters; a number of movies have tried this kind of thing and fallen flat on their faces, but this one somehow makes the characters more realistic and accessible. This helped me to enjoy the movie a bit more than I might otherwise have. The rest is pretty uneven; the acting is merely adequate, the plot is pretty standard but gets weaker as it goes along, and some parts of it are horribly cliched. The scare scenes are only so-so as well. Still, even with this, you get to like the characters enough that it helps you get through it. It does have one moment that really stretches belief, though; I find it impossible to believe that a snake would be able to stop a jeep moving at full speed by biting through the tire.