User Reviews

A predictable nature-runs-amok thriller which feels like it's a television movie, which I later found it was. This is a clichéd outing in which the film-makers try hard to convince us that snakes are terrorising and endangering the inhabitants of a small mining town - the trouble is that snakes are such a cumbersome and limited threat that the characters have to do some really DUMB things in order to be properly terrorised by them. On a technical level the film is sufficiently good enough to be superficially entertaining, with a solid cast going through the paces and some good, sometimes thrilling sequences involving the snakes. The snakes themselves are mostly real creatures with a few animatronics effects thrown in by the Chiodo Brothers, who are so skilled that you won't recognise the difference anyway.

Taking the action hero lead is William Katt, a dependable stalwart who had been fighting off killer piranha in a Corman movie just the year previously. Despite never making it as a big-name actor, Katt always manages to be charismatic in his parts and avoids woodenness, so that's enough for me. Merely adequate is Shanna Reed as his screen wife; saddled with an unappealing, cutesy character, Reed is instantly dismissable in her part. The same can be said for brain-dead daughter Michelle, as played by Monica Creel, who doesn't realise that to escape from a snake in her bathroom she must RUN OUT OF THE DOOR.

However, the biggest offender is Michael Galeota as Katt's step-son, Adam. An obnoxious little swine who you sincerely hope is going to get bitten, on the jugular preferably. His snivelling cries of "Paul, Paul" at the film's finale are really nerve-grating and his is definitely one of the worst kiddie characters ever - an unwanted and clichéd sentimental aspect which the tale doesn't need. Thankfully, to counter his disgusting part, we have nice supporting roles from Ian Abercrombie as a helpful snake doctor bloke, and Clint Howard, who it is always nice to see in a mainstream movie, even if he does get killed off far too early on in the proceedings.

The main problem of this film is that it's so familiar. In many sequences - particularly when they're searching under the bed for Adam's escaped rat - I got a feeling of déjà vu. Take away the snakes and replace them with ants and you have MARABUNTA. Take away the snakes and replace them with bees and you have DEADLY INVASION: THE KILLER BEE NIGHTMARE. These titles are all pretty interchangeable and none stand out from the others to make them any different. I guess we should pin the blame on ARACHNOPHOBIA, which helped to set the template for "nature's invasion" type family-orientated horror flicks and to which all these TV-level films are naturally indebted. Only snake lovers or, in turn, snake haters need apply for this timewaster.

You could call this movie "Arachnophobia" only with, well, snakes. It has a comparable story and even some of the characters shows similarities. "Arachnophobia" is still a more entertaining movie though, while "Rattled" also isn't too bad on its own. It chooses a more serious approach but not without being entertaining.

Quite amazing that a movie with such a concept still picks a serious approach. Nevertheless it works out better than you would expect. While "Rattled" isn't exactly an exciting or scary movie to watch it's still an effective one. Maybe it would had been better still if it had picked a more B-movie, over-the-top, type of approach but this also didn't really worked out well for "Eight Legged Freaks", so well who knows, maybe this was still the best possible approach to go with in the long run.

It's of course a fairly predictable movie, that because of that, also doesn't ever become an engaging or thrilling one. The characters also aren't interesting enough for that and at times the movie even feels more like a soap-opera than a real horror flick.

Also quite disappointing that the snakes get to do so little interesting. Or at least I expected an higher body-count. Only poor Clint Howard gets killed, after he has been in the movie for about 2 minutes. The snakes do attack but they could had given the movie a bigger sense of danger and more horror like if more characters got killed off and also in some more gruesome ways.

The movie now remains fairly light and tame to watch, which is also understandable, considering that this is a made for TV movie. In that regard of being a made for TV movie, this is still a rather good one and well made one. It's definitely better than you would expect in advance for it to be and the concept works out better than it looks like on paper.

6/10

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Why did it have to be snakes? Maybe because director Tony Randel (a graduate of the Roger Corman school of budget horror film-making) already did "Ticks". Judging by the Amityville rip off poster for the Eden Valley water Project at the top of this film, he really wishes he could have done Jaws IV too. Instead he's helming the slow moving bore, "Rattled".

This snake fright film is bogged down by a LOT of family drama about Paul (William Katt) and his new wife Krista (the delightful Shanna Reed) and how Krista's kids Michelle (hotty Monica Creel) and Adam (annoying Michael Galeota) are dealing with having a new man in their family. Paul is the designer of the Eden Valley water Project where they're building a lake community by blowing up some hillside, not knowing the hills are alive with the sound of slithering.

Kids are in jeopardy, workmen are in jeopardy, more kids in jeopardy, hotties in jeopardy...who will live? Who will die? Who will care? Not me, and not you.