Silent Predators | |
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Directed by | Noel Nosseck |
Written by |
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Story by |
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Produced by | Richard D. Arredondo Randy Sutter |
Starring | |
Cinematography | John Stokes |
Edited by | Tod Feuerman |
Music by | Michael Tavera |
Distributed by | TBS Superstation |
Release date |
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Running time | 91 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Silent Predators is a 1999 American horror television film directed by Noel Nosseck and starring Harry Hamlin and Shannon Sturges.
After a truck carrying a rare species of tropical rattlesnake crashes, the snakes escape into the wild. Twenty years later the snakes have bred with native rattlesnakes to create a highly aggressive and lethal new species that begin to slowly overrun the southern California town of San Vicente. After the deaths of several residents of a housing development, local fire chief Vic Rondelli tries to convince the city government that the snakes are a serious threat despite opposition from Max Farrington, a land developer more interested in finishing his work than the people's safety.
Silent Predators was based on a script John Carpenter wrote in the 1970s.[ citation needed ] The movie was mostly filmed on Queensland, Australia, and Los Angeles, California.[ citation needed ]
Silent Predators received generally unfavorable reviews from critics, who criticized almost every aspect of the movie. Michael Speier of Variety called the film "absurdly unrealistic and dramatically inept", stating: "'Predators' is visually unspectacular, and the scare tactics are buried beneath Michael Tavera's heavy-handed score and some poorly realized jump-cut editing from Tod Feuerman". [1]
Harold Clayton Lloyd Sr. was an American actor, comedian, and stunt performer who appeared in many silent comedy films.
The California kingsnake is a nonvenomous colubrid snake endemic to the western United States and northern Mexico, and is found in a variety of habitats. Due to ease of care and a wide range of color variations, the California kingsnake is one of the most popular snakes in captivity.
The Lepidosauria is a subclass or superorder of reptiles, containing the orders Squamata and Rhynchocephalia. Squamata includes lizards and snakes. Squamata contains over 9,000 species, making it by far the most species-rich and diverse order of non-avian reptiles in the present day. Rhynchocephalia was a formerly widespread and diverse group of reptiles in the Mesozoic Era. However, it is represented by only one living species: the tuatara, a superficially lizard-like reptile native to New Zealand.
The California ground squirrel, also known as the Beechey ground squirrel, is a common and easily observed ground squirrel of the western United States and the Baja California Peninsula; it is common in Oregon and California and its range has relatively recently extended into Washington and northwestern Nevada. Formerly placed in Spermophilus, as Spermophilus beecheyi, it was reclassified in Otospermophilus in 2009, as it became clear that Spermophilus as previously defined was not a natural (monophyletic) group. A full species account was published for this species in 2016.
Rattlesnakes are venomous snakes that form the genera Crotalus and Sistrurus of the subfamily Crotalinae. All rattlesnakes are vipers. Rattlesnakes are predators that live in a wide array of habitats, hunting small animals such as birds and rodents.
The Crotalinae, commonly known as pit vipers, or pit adders, are a subfamily of vipers found in Asia and the Americas. Like all other vipers, they are venomous. They are distinguished by the presence of a heat-sensing pit organ located between the eye and the nostril on both sides of the head. Currently, 23 genera and 155 species are recognized: These are also the only viperids found in the Americas. The groups of snakes represented here include rattlesnakes, lanceheads, and Asian pit vipers. The type genus for this subfamily is Crotalus, of which the type species is the timber rattlesnake, C. horridus.
Harry Robinson Hamlin is an American actor, author, and entrepreneur. He is best known for his roles as Perseus in the 1981 fantasy film Clash of the Titans, a role he reprised in 2007's Santa Monica Studio video game God of War II, and as Michael Kuzak in the legal drama series L.A. Law, for which he received three Golden Globe nominations. For his recurring role as Jim Cutler on the AMC drama series Mad Men, Hamlin received a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series.
David Wheeler, better known as David Thewlis, is an English actor and filmmaker. He is known as a character actor and has appeared in a wide variety of genres in both film and television. He has received the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor and nominations for two BAFTA Awards, a Golden Globe Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
Pituophis catenifer is a species of nonvenomous colubrid snake endemic to North America. Nine subspecies are currently recognized, including the nominotypical subspecies, Pituophis catenifer catenifer, described here. This snake is often mistaken for the prairie rattlesnake, but can be easily distinguished from a rattlesnake by the lack of black and white banding on its tail and by the shape of its head, which is narrower than a rattlesnake's.
The timber rattlesnake, canebrake rattlesnake, or banded rattlesnake is a species of pit viper endemic to eastern North America. Like all other pit vipers, it is venomous, with a very toxic bite. C. horridus is the only rattlesnake species in most of the populous Northeastern United States and is second only to its relatives to the west, the prairie rattlesnake, as the most northerly distributed venomous snake in North America. No subspecies are currently recognized.
The eastern diamondback rattlesnake is a species of pit viper in the family Viperidae. The species is endemic to the Southeastern United States. It is one of the heaviest venomous snakes in the Americas and the largest rattlesnake. No subspecies are recognized.
Crotalus helleri or Crotalus oreganus helleri, also known commonly as the Southern Pacific rattlesnake, the black diamond rattlesnake, and by several other common names, is a pit viper species or subspecies found in southwestern California and south into Baja California, Mexico, that is known for its regional variety of dangerous venom types. It is sometimes considered a subspecies of Crotalus oreganus.
The western diamondback rattlesnake or Texas diamond-back is a rattlesnake species and member of the viper family, found in the southwestern United States and Mexico. Like all other rattlesnakes and all other vipers, it is venomous. It is likely responsible for the majority of snakebite fatalities in northern Mexico and the greatest number of snakebites in the U.S. No subspecies are currently recognized.
The Santa Catalina rattlesnake is a species of pit viper endemic to Isla Santa Catalina in the Gulf of California just off the east coast of the state of Baja California Sur, Mexico. Like all other pit vipers, it is venomous. No subspecies are currently recognized. A relatively small and slender species, its most distinctive characteristic is that it lacks a rattle. They are also a generally nocturnal species. Though the species is classified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, there are few efforts for the snake's conservation.
Shannon Sturges is an American actress and acting coach, best known for her role as Reese Burton in The WB primetime soap opera Savannah.
The tiger rattlesnake is a highly venomous pit viper species found in the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. No subspecies are currently recognized. The specific name tigris,, refers to the many narrow dorsal crossbands, which create a pattern of vertical stripes when viewed from the side.
The Perils of Pauline is a 1947 American Technicolor musical comedy film directed by George Marshall and starring Betty Hutton, John Lund and William Demarest. It was produced and released by Paramount Pictures. The film is a fictionalized Hollywood account of silent film star Pearl White's rise to fame, starring Hutton as White.
Slapstick Festival is an annual comedy film festival in Bristol, United Kingdom. The festival, which was created in 2005 by Bristol Silents, screens silent, classic, and visual comedy films. The mission of the festival is to introduce these films to modern audiences and bring them to life for a new generation of viewers. Silent comedies are presented with musicians performing a score live, introductions by special guests, and various special events take place throughout the festival.
The bullsnake is a large, nonvenomous, colubrid snake. It is a subspecies of the gopher snake. The bullsnake is one of the largest/longest snakes of North America and the United States, reaching lengths up to 8 ft.
Tail vibration is a common behavior in some snakes where the tail is vibrated rapidly as a defensive response to a potential predator. Tail vibration is distinct from caudal luring, where the tail is twitched in order to attract prey. While rattlesnakes are perhaps the most famous group of snakes to exhibit tail vibration behavior, many other snake groups—particularly those in the Colubridae and Viperidae families—are known to vibrate their tails.