This Saturday night pizza and bad movie lived up to its name. I have to be honest and say that I couldn’t finish watching it. The schlock didn’t get to me—though there was plenty of that.
Plot:
The viewer first sees two men make a deal for an unseen exotic creature to be exhibited in a sideshow. While it’s loaded into the back of the carnival man’s truck, the creature makes pleading noises that sound almost human.
David Blake (Dirk Benedict) is a fair-to-partly college biology student, who gets an offer to intern with the renowned herpetologist Dr. Carl Stoner (Strother Martin). He jumps at the chance.
Dr. Stoner (the man who sold the exotic creature earlier), standing amid his glass cages of snakes, tells his daughter Kristina (Heather Menzies-Urich) to expect a new lab assistant.
“What happened to the guy who was here?” she asks.
Yeah. Wonder what happened.
Her father gives some vague answer. Oh, ya know. Plans changed.
When Dr. Stoner picks up the new assistant from the airport, he forgets to warn him about the pet snake he keeps loose in the truck. He also forgets to warn the gas station attendant. Hilarity ensues.
Back home at the lab, Dr. Stoner shows the newbie around the lab, including the king cobra. After extolling the virtues of the huge snake, he holds up a mongoose in a cage close enough that the animal hisses. Yeah, that’s class.
Dr. Stoner gives the new assistant a series of injections, claiming they will help give him resistance to snake venom. Yeah, resistance.
To raise funds, Dr. Stoner puts on shows for the public. He milks the king cobra for its venom while a crowd watches. People slip money into donation jars.
I closed my eyes during this scene, though I knew no one was hurt.
Once this scene was over, I asked the dearly beloved how invested he was in seeing the movie to the end. When he said, “Not at all,” we shut it off.
Thoughts:
It’s hard to put into words why I couldn’t keep watching. I can’t blame my cuddly feelings for snakes, which are no more substantial than the tooth fairy’s wings. Yet, I don’t see pissing off an innocent mongoose or milking a king cobra as cool things to watch.
I understand the usefulness of milking venomous snakes and respect the brave souls and agile bodies who do it. I guess I just don’t find the process entertaining. Does that make me squeamish? Yeah, maybe. And?
Or, I just didn’t see it as a good enough reason to keep critters from going about their critterly ways.
I couldn’t find this movie available for streaming. A couple trailers are available, but I frankly didn’t have the heart to post them. Just ICK.
Title: Sssssss (1973)
Directed by
Bernard L. Kowalski
Writing Credits
Hal Dresner…(screenplay)
Daniel C. Striepeke…(story) (as Dan Striepeke)
Cast (in credits order)
Strother Martin…Dr. Carl Stoner
Dirk Benedict…David Blake
Heather Menzies-Urich…Kristina Stoner (as Heather Menzies)
Richard B. Shull…Dr. Ken Daniels
Tim O’Connor…Kogen
Released: 1973
Length: 1 hour, 39 minutes
Reviews of Old and New Stories. Mostly Old 
I like horror movies but I am not into ick. Thank you for an honest and very helpful review.
thanks for your kind words. Horror movies—even bad horror movies can be fun. But ICK has a short shelf life, agreed.
Oh man you didn’t want to see Dirk turn into a giant snake-man ? For shame 🤣
That would have been okay, I think. But I didn’t want to see animals mishandled.
Right gotcha…who does ?! It’s the one thing i hate the most from the Italian horror film Cannibal Holocaust..they killed a sea turtle just for shock value as if the film wasn’t already shocking
I’ve never heard of that film. Not a high probability I’d watch it. I will avoid it like the plague now. ICK.
Yeah definitely NOT a film I reccomend. Was considered the first found footage film from 1979, director went to court to prove no one (human at least) was murdered in the making of the film.
ICK.
Even though I don’t watch these movies, I love reading your take on them!
Thanks. For the most part, I find these movies fun, but there’s always one in the bunch. It’s been years since I couldn’t finish watching one. This one broke the streak. ICK.
I saw this movie mentioned in TV Guide‘s local listings back in the day when then-indie station WCIX (Channel Six) used to air late night movies after 11 PM. Probably in the extremely late ’70s or early 1980s. It never seemed to interest me, even though its title is…unique. “Sssssss” Sounds like a deflating tire, if you ask me.
You were right in not being interested. And yeah, deflating tire. It’s been a while since I’ve been unable to finish a movie.
Since I became a huge Dirk Benedict fan in his Battlestar Galactica days, I have seen this film a few times. It is so schlocky and ridiculous. You didn’t miss much by not finishing it. I could tell you how it ends, but I don’t think you really care. The mongoose was important though.
I can live in suspense not knowing. 🙂 Poor mongoose.