Stanley

source: Stanley

Nah, in all seriousness this movie is exactly like "Willard" with the substitution of snakes for rats. Neither movie is what you would call realistic, however, I have to say trained rats are a bit more believable than trained poisonous snakes. This movie features a guy who is supposedly a Seminole Indian, though it took someone else saying this in the movie before I knew this fact as the guy looks nothing like an Indian, nor does he act much like one. He also does not act much like a former soldier, but he apparently was serving in Vietnam only a few months earlier. Well he is the type of guy now who likes to capture snakes and make them his friends, cause he can not stand man anymore. Well I can sympathize with his not caring for being around people much as I do not care for being around people much either, but to make friends with snakes? No thanks, not only snakes though, but rather venomous ones. Gee Tim (the main character), why not have a few komodo dragons a wolverine or two? Why stick with just one type of animal that just is not a good pet? Me, I would rather have a dog or something, but hey Tim is a man of nature and there is nothing that they can not do. So he has his favorite snake, Stanley of the title and he has his main squeeze who had a name, but I can not remember it at the moment! Crap, now Stanley will come for me! Well things are starting to come apart for Tim as this dude who is somehow responsible for his father's death is offering him a job tracking snakes to make belts, there is a new act in town as a former friend of the family is using Stanley's snakes in very yucky ways, and Tim needs woman. Well that last part seems to come out of left field at the end of the film and makes little sense other than to extend the already to long run time of the film and give our 'hero' a nice fiery send off. Nope, sorry, did not think this was a good horror movie at all and what is most perplexing is that it was in a DVD collection I got called Gorehouse Greats, I think they meant for this one to be in BoreHouse Yawns. I only give it a two because unlike a lot of other cheap horror flicks of the 70's this one actually has a good look to it and has some nice shots. I would give it a three, but no film that features that song sung as Tim is taking the daughter through the swamp anything higher! My ears are still bleeding after that one, I mean I did not care for that song during the opening credits, but it was not as bad after hearing this one. So what do you get in this one other than lots of snakes? Well a stupid quicksand scene as Hollywood thinks quicksand sucks you down into the pits of hell when in actuality you would simply be stuck bobbing in it from the chest up. You see the worst strip show ever as the gals at the club featured here seem to forget to remove their clothes (but that may be a good thing seeing as who was dancing). You see a guy strung out on cocaine and you also have what had to be a misplaced sequence in the film. Tim sends Stanley in to kill two guys stuck in quicksand. The next thing you see is him having a dinner with Stanley and his gal. The next the strung out dude starts walking around where he finds Tim's house and proceeds to kill Stanley's babe and his kids. What happened here? Did that strung out dude sleep for like ever so that Tim could have dinner with his snakes and then apparently leave out far enough to not hear the gunshot the idiot fired when he first entered the house? This film is a mess and not worth watching and is not gruesome. For snake lovers only, all three of em.

1971's "Stanley" is one of director Wiiliam Grefe's better known titles, others include "Sting of Death" in 1965, "Death Curse of Tartu" in 1966, "Impulse" in 1973 (a rare starring role for William Shatner), and "Mako: The Jaws of Death" in 1975, all of which were shot on location in Florida. I found myself captivated by the two pop songs on the soundtrack, both written and performed by Jack Vino, and produced by Steve Alaimo, who appears on screen as the villainous henchman Crail (former singer and host of WHERE THE ACTION IS). The opening credits are accompanied by the beautiful "Sparrow," which is briefly reprised during the end credits, while the other tune, "Start a New World," features late in the film, as Tim drives Susie in a boat to his swamp hideaway. Lyrically, both tracks are odes to the environment and they lend a kind of stature to a film populated with unsympathetic characters and a clichéd storyline in which Tim Ochopee (Chris Robinson), a half-breed Vietnam veteran, turns his back on his tribe and the rest of society to live in isolation with a family of rattlesnakes in the Everglades. Shortly after completing "The Godfather," Alex Rocco returns to his exploitation roots ("Blood Mania") by playing the lead villain, making belts out of reptile skins, and is also responsible for the shooting death of Tim's father. He also shows an unfatherly and creepy incestuous desire for his gorgeous blonde daughter Susie, played in her one and only film by Susan Carroll (even the distracted director calls attention to her bikini clad assets by focusing on her perfect ass from her opening scene). Television veteran Chris Robinson made his movie debut in the title role of Roger Corman's 1959 "Beast from Haunted Cave," creating the beast himself. A native of West Palm Beach, now residing in Miami, Robinson proved easily available for this rare leading role, working very well with his dangerous co-stars. The recent DVD release makes up for the numerous truncated VHS issues, none of which were intact at a full 106 minutes. "Stanley" made four appearances on Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater, on Nov 6 1976 (followed by Lugosi's original 1931 "Dracula"), and three more solo: Apr 28 1979, Dec 13 1980, and Jan 16 1982. As a footnote, I also have great fondness for another Chiller Theater classic with a terrific theme song, 1973's Texas-filmed "Horror High" aka "Twisted Brain," its song titled "Vernon's Theme," performed by Jerry Coward.

Tim (Robinson), a returned service man clearly affected by his experiences in the Vietnam war elects to separate from his American Indian tribe and reside in a remote part of the Florida Everglades along with his slithering companions, Stanley (the snake) and Stanley's partner. Former TV actor Robinson and tough guy Rocco are perhaps the only recognizable faces in this cheap schlock horror, but while the supporting cast might be amateurish, they're committed performances. Avery is fantastically whacky as a pill-popping psychedelic poacher who goes crazy in Robinson's cabin, while buxom blonde Carroll offers mild excitement as Rocco's recalcitrant daughter and part-time rebellious tramp. Director Grefe remade "Stanley" just four years later as "The Jaws of Death" with Richard Jaeckel in the Chris Robinson role, to cash-in on the success of "Jaws" at the time. Much of the cast and crew from this movie was transported into the remake. But where Jaeckel's character in the subsequent rendition imbued a sense of sympathy from the audience, Robinson's occasionally manic veteran is less likable. When he abducts Rocco's daughter (Carroll) she exposes his exploitative relationship and shambolic conservationist pretense as nothing more than a quirky condition of his mental instability. Sets and location work is fitting, and there's plenty of eye catching scenery and quirky time pieces of the era that will emote a reminiscent gesture or two. Marcie Knight's washed-out exotic dance routine is a prominent plot diversion depicting the lurid struggles of the exotic cabaret business. Tim lends her snakes to use in her routines (she was a friend of his late father), but the friendship turns sour after he discovers her new "act". The "act" is quite shocking and unexpected and sure to become the immortal moment of this film. Despite some rather heavy handed moments, there is the occasional joke; the scene in which Tim describes the death of Stanley's 'partner' and the 'babies' to a shocked stage manager who thinks he's talking about people, is classic dry humour. It's patently obvious that several creatures were harmed in the making of this picture, so it might offend.

"People are both fascinated and repulsed by snakes", a character in "Stanley" says. And with this movie, it's all about the "money shots" - the snake shots. Everything else has been built around them, and everything else is secondary. Some of those money shots are indeed memorable, like the quicksand pit scene, or the inspired freeze-frame of Alex Rocco's face as he realizes, mid-dive, that he's about to land in a snake-infested pool! Too bad the rest of the movie is so inert - not to mention overlong. And the acting of some supporting characters is amateurish. But the use of real snakes in most scenes does give it a certain authenticity that would be missing from a modern CGI-ed remake. ** out of 4.

Tim likes snakes… He lives all alone in the Everglades like a hermit and looks after a few dozen snakes that he keeps around the house. Stanley is the name of his favorite rattle snake that he takes into town. Timmy does all this in honor of his father, an animal-loving Indian who got killed by poachers. A big textile giant wants to hire Tim for his knowledge of the animals' brooding places in the Everglades, but naturally this strokes with his believes. This film is commonly known as "Willard" with snakes instead of rats, which is 100% true, but that doesn't mean it isn't a worthwhile film for fans of 70's animal horror. The Everglades setting is phenomenal and I particularly loved the atmospheric opening sequences with footage of the swamps guided by a typically 70's song. Particularly the first half hour is tense and sinister, but then the film becomes exaggeratedly slow-paced, overlong and ridiculous. There's an extended sequence where Tim sets the table for himself and his two favorite snakes, Stanley and his spouse Hazel. The snakes' plates contain a mouse trapped underneath a drinking glass that gets removed after saying prayers. It's a pretty bonkers sight to behold. Snake-boy goes completely berserk when a psychopathic poacher, sent by the belt-maker, kills Hazel and her offspring. There's also a bizarre and redundant sub plot about Tim delivering snakes to an exotic dancer for her act, but when her pimp forces her to bite off the snake's head on stage, she suddenly becomes an enemy as well. Albeit imaginative, this sub plot could easily have been cut. "Stanley" was directed by the outcast horror director William Grefe, whom I strangely admirer. He made quite a number of oddball horror flicks in the sixties and seventies, including the hilariously inept jellyfish monster mash "Sting of Death" and the experimental shark adventure "Mako: Jaws of Death". "Stanley" is arguably Grefe's best accomplishment, but still just a mediocre and overall tedious exploitation film.

When broadcast TV stations actually showed movies other than re-runs, infomercials and syndicated TV shows this film always seemed to in on every couple of weeks. the plot has an ex-vet named Tim living out in the Everglades because society doesn't take kindly to his being an Indian. Keeping pretty much to himself he makes fiends with the wildlife, particularly the rattle snakes including one he names Stanley. When he feels pressured he uses his snakes to get revenge on the people he feels have wronged him. Good thriller isn't really scary. To be certain your feelings toward snakes will determine the amount of squirming you'll do since this film is full of snakes from start to finish. Well acted the film has a nice feeling of believability to it even as it hits all of the right exploitation high notes. Watching the film again for the first time in at least a decade I was shocked at how well the film has stood up. While no classic it does what it does nicely and then gets off the screen. Definitely recommended. I'm rating it 6 out of 10 because I'm not sure what a fair rating is. My feelings toward the film are higher than that, but I'm not sure its not purely surprise that the film holds up as well as it does.

Not all the snakes they used in the movie were poisonous.There were Rat snakes, Black Pilot Snakes and Pythons. But the sound effects editor threw in rattling sounds while showing the non-poisonous snakes. How cheesy is that! Those same kind of snakes were referred to as "Water Mocassins" when Tim threw them into Thompkin's swimming pool. What really amazes me is that "Stanley" actually had a trainer! How do you tame or train a rattlesnake? As corny as this movie was, it is still a bit entertaining! Especially the way Alex Rocco's face and posture is frozen before he dives into his pool filled with "Water Moccasins"!That was hilarious!

William Grefe had a knack for turning out low budget yet effective films in the 60s and 70s. STANLEY is one of his more popular releases. The film is very dated (mainly from the guys' clothing), but worth a look. The film is at it's most creepy with scenes of real snakes crawling all over the home of the snake-man. You can imagine what it must have been like to be on the set - Grefe was probably the lone crew man. The film's weakness is in it's running time - more than an hour and forty-five minutes is much too long for this kind of drive-in/exploitation fare. The film would have been more effective if trimmed down to a 90 minute or so running time. Like one character who got bit on the ass, it hurt to sit down that long!

If your looking to be scared, or seriously enjoy a movie, don't watch this. But... if you want to bust a gut laughing, I highly suggest "Stanley". Full of cheesy movie effects, hilarious dialog, and obvious plot holes, it will crack you up! At least, it did me. The acting is bearable and at least it tries to convey a good message, so thats the only reason I gave it 1 star. Though the beginning is actually o.k., boring, but o.k., eventually the cheesiness mounts to be ridiculous, and it is impossible to resist laughing. I have watched this 20 times at least, and we crack up more and more every time! So gather up some friends, get some popcorn, and get ready to laugh your butt off!