Rattled (1996)

"Rattled" is a well-intended, but painfully boring and derivative TV- drama/thriller about a stepfather trying to get along with a stubborn stepson and preparing for the arrival of another baby, whilst at the same time supervising his ambitious water reservoir construction project. Oh yeah, before I forget, there are also a couple rattle snakes that are becoming aggressive and murderous because of the constant drilling in the mountain. Insignificant and totally forgettable flick with too many soap-opera sub plots and pathetic middle-class characters drawings. I guess that's what you get in TV-horror book adaptations. Same thing went wrong with Peter Benchley's "The Beast", in fact. There are many fruitless attempts to build up suspense, while I count only one remotely worthwhile efficient sequences; namely when the cute teenage girl is home alone. Apparently, flushing the toilet isn't the most effective snake-fighting method! Furthermore there's a professor/expert who never stops giving lectures on bizarre – and often irrelevant – snake trivia facts, a worthless two minute cameo of Clint Howard (traditionally the first person to die) and a truly annoying 8-year-old who sadly survives multiple snake attacks. Throughout nearly the whole the film I kept on wondering where I knew lead actor William Katt from. I totally forgot that he was Carrie's date to the prom! That was in fact the most exciting moment in the film for me! Remember that he played in "Carrie" and "House". Avoid this wannabe tense. If you fancy horror movies with snakes, check out the sillier ones like "Venom", "Sssssss", "Rattlers" and "The Snake Woman". Heck, even the "Anaconca" flicks and "Python" are more fun.