Review of Sssssss

Doc Stoner(Strother Martin, who most know as the warden in COOL HAND Luke who utters the famous line, "What we got here is a failure to communicate.")who has grown quite mad over the years, injects an innocent, kind-hearted college student, David(Dirk Benedict;Face of A-TEAM fame)with an inoculation that is slowly turning him into a King Cobra. A missing student named Tim, we later find, was a tragic victim of Stoner's experiments in "tampering" with evolution so that civilization would continue after mankind was long past(..he's paranoid with the fact that mankind, as we know it, is certainly on the verge of collapse and extinction which fuels his obsessions with his work). What Stoner doesn't expect is that his daughter/assistant Kristina(Heather Menzies of PIRANHA fame)and David fall in love. Stoner, however, has grown diabolical and will kill one male behind the death of his pet snake and another quack doctor/professor, behind the school's granting him the annual grant that keeps his career going, who understands what he's up to regarding David, becoming lunch to his pet boa.

Disturbing slow burning horror film works because we sympathize with David's eventual plight. He has no clue, at first, what the doctor is injecting him with. Also still, we witness David and Kristina's growing love for one another. But, the true terror is seeing poor David's agony and transformation as his insides and bone structure begin to shift. The make-up effects work well enough even if they are a bit hokey by today's standards. This film works more off the viewer's sympathies for the victim and what horrific lengths Stoner goes to see his work accomplished.