After a series of fatal rattlesnake attacks, sexist reptile expert Tom Parkinson (Sam Chew) and feminist photographer Ann Bradley (Elisabeth Chauvet) are hired by the local sheriff to investigate, the pair eventually discovering that the snakes have been accidentally exposed to a top-secret biological weapon that has increased their aggression.This one kicks off with two young boys being bitten to death by numerous rattlers, followed soon after by a dog meeting the same fate; with children and cute pets biting the big one, Rattlers looks set to be a whole load of mean-spirited 'animals attack' fun. However, barring one memorable scene featuring snakes in a bath-tub, the rest of the film doesn't fulfill its potential.Too much of the running time is dedicated to the dull investigative work carried out by Tom and Ann, as well as their blossoming romance, when what viewers of this kind of trash really want to see are lots of terrifying reptile attacks, AND the grisly aftermath: the reality is little interaction between human and reptile, and absolutely no sign of the hideously swollen victims covered in puncture wounds.

Rattlers is an suspenseless creature feature that goes on for too long, even though it only lasts 82 minutes. Long story made short, something in the desert is turning rattlesnakes into killing machines. A male female research team is called in to find out what.Although the beginning of the film has a rapid series of snake attacks, midway through it gets bogged down in conspiracy subplots and a budding romance between the two leads. When people watch a movie called "Rattlers" they want to see snake bites, not gumshoeing.To make matters worse, the characters talk about how gruesome the victims' bodies are, but the corpses are never shown. The film might be rated PG, but keep in mind this is a 70s PG, which could be stretched for a lot of gore (e.g. Jaws). Also, there is no real final confrontation with the snakes, which is a prerequisite for this kind of film.

Now, we know who put those snakes on the plane.Two kids are killed after falling into a den of rattlers, and the sheriff immediately calls in a snake expert (Sam Chew Jr.). They fell in a rattler den, for goodness sakes! Some good snake scenes, sch as the rattler crawling up the plumber's (Tip McClure) pants, and some ridiculous ones, like the mom (Jo Jordan) in the bathtub getting attacked and not standing up so we could see her.As you would expect the dialog was terrible, and some scenes ridiculous, like the mine shaft explosions. Someone called it the "Plan Nine From Outer Space" of snake movies. I could not say it better.

Killer rattlesnakes of the American Southwest gather up in large numbers and start unprovoked attacks on people, and it's up to a male expert on reptiles and a female photographer to find out why and stop them. "Rattlers" has a thin, one-note script that can barely sustain even the 79 minutes of its running time, and the snake-attack scenes aren't anything to write home about either, though at least the snakes are real which is instantly preferable to the obvious CGI we would probably get in a similar film today. The print I saw was in pretty poor shape, and made a constant crackling sound, as if someone was burning it up; the movie is not offensively bad (apart maybe from the scene near the end where the two heroes are enjoying a carefree romance in Vegas without having done anything to stop the snakes first!), but it is so unremarkable that if someone DID burn the master print up few people would probably notice. On a side note, the female lead is absolutely gorgeous. I was somewhat surprised to find out that she never made another film. (**)