Sssssss

The action opens with a strange "pick up", taking place from Dr. Stoner's lab at his isolated country property late at night. It seems that one of Dr. Stoners secret experiments has failed and the "end result", of that experiment is being farmed out to the local sideshow for a place in the freak show. Only later does the sinister cause of this experiment come to light. Later at the local school Stoner approaches rival academic Dr. Daniels (Richard B. Shull) about the possibility of getting an assistant over the summer after his former assistant had to in his words "leave at very short notice due to a family illness". David Blake (Dirk Benedict), takes the position and goes to live at Dr. Stoner's while he supposedly is to assist him into snake venom research. David however is serving a far more sinister purpose than he imagined however as the Dr. Stoner is heavily influenced by biblical readings and in the belief that mankind is headed for a fiery extinction. He in his warped mind has started to work on the task of creating a super race of snakes with great intellect by attempting to transform men into Cobras. He subjects David to a series of "immunisation shots", supposedly to safe guard him from snake bites however the shots in reality are a series of procedures that will gradually transform him into a King Cobra. David starts to notice strange bodily changes as his body temperature starts to drop, and his skin begins to shed like that of a reptlie. Also his facial appearance undergoes some slight variation. He starts a relationship with Stoner's daughter Kristina (Heather Menzies) and while at the local sideshow wanders into the freak tent and sees the widely publisized "snakeman", who in actual fact is Dr. Stoner's last assistant Tim who was the victim of Stoner's first unsuccessful attempt to create a snake out of a man. Dr. Stoner's insanity deepens when in revenge for a local boy harrassing Kristina he kills him by slipping a deadly Black Mamba snake into his shower. When Dr. Daniels becomes suspicious of what Stoner is actually involving David in he traps him in a cellar where he is strangled by a Python. David now goes into the final stages of Dr. Stoner's experiements and in an horrific scene he is injected with a high dose of snake venom that sees him transform totally into a King Cobra. With his mind completely gone now however Dr. Stoner attempts to tackle his other King Cobra which kills him just as Kristina races back to the farm after learning the truth of her father's insane scheme.

"B' grade horror nonsense perhaps but "Ssssssss", has a really potent quality to it that makes it a memorable and very scary viewing experience. The truly stunning and very horrific transformation scenes where Dirk Benedict's character literally turns into a snake before the viewers eyes is a makeup wonder and was the work created by the same team responsible for the innovative ape makeup in the earlier "Planet of the Apes" in 1968. The final stage in the cobra transformation is the one that sticks in the mind and is genuinely frightening to watch even now. The scenes incorporating the use of real live snakes which actor Strother Martin in a number of scenes handles with finesse are especially well staged and many of the venom extracting scenes will have you on the edge of your seat. The original story is in some respects quite an original one and the cast of largely at the time unknown actors supporting Strother Martin do a good job within the limitations of their roles.

I'd say for people who aren't fans of snakes to be wary of watching this film alone but it contains enough of a mystery element to be enjoyable to most people with a reasonably strong stomach. The makeup employed here along with Strother Martin's chilling lead performance are what give this film its memorable quality and rightful place in SciFi/horror folklore . Enjoy the mad doctor and his insane experiments to alter evolution with a "new " race of King Cobras in Universal's "Ssssssss".