FANGS (1974)
aka Snakes, Holy Wednesday
Article 2967 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 6-22-2009
Posting Date: 9-28-2009
Directed by Art Names
Featuring Les Tremayne, Janet Wood, Bebe Kelly
Country: USA

When the local snake fanatic Snakey Bender finds his Wednesday routine messed up by a series of individuals (including a preacher, a teacher, the proprietors of a general store and a gold digger), he vows revenge, and intends to use his slithery friends for help.

So what separates this snake movie from the likes of RATTLERS and STANLEY? I’d have to say it’s its sense of humor. Not that its sense of humor is particularly sophisticated, mind you – most of the laughs come from the bizarre rustic small-town types that inhabit the movie, with Snakey himself (played with perhaps too much gusto by Les Tremayne) one of the oddest of the lot, what with his snake obsession coupled with his love of Sousa marches. I suppose the movie is quite bad, but I was laughing too consistently to make that matter much to me. My favorite scenes include the opening, where we encounter perhaps the worst marching band in history, the scene where a three-way music battle ensues between a church choir, a country music radio station and a phonograph of marching music, the scenes where Snakey disposes of the bodies of his victims, and the hilarious final scene of revenge. It gets pretty kinky at times as well; wait until you discover the nature of the schoolteacher’s real relationship with Snakey. Chalk it up as a guilty pleasure.