Hitting on the fact that most people are generally terrified of snakes, the authors zeroed in on exploiting Ophidiophobia in a big way. These two industry hopefuls decided to collaborate on a similar novel to capitalize on the success of Benchley's book (they had the same agent, in fact) in the hopes of snagging a movie deal of their own. Michael Maryk (left) and Brent Monahan (right) photo Milwaukee Sentinel Nov. Enter two stage actors/writers, Michael Maryk (13th CHILD ) and Brent Monahan (AN AMERICAN HAUNTING ). Seemingly every writer from one end of the block to the next began churning out all sorts of lurid stories of creatures great and small wreaking all manner of havoc on civilization.

The film version of Peter Benchley's 'Jaws' was a major turning point in the film industry, opening up new avenues for enterprising producers and writers hoping to hit the big time with a simple premise. Seemingly dropping off the face of the Earth after production wrapped, SPASMS benefited from two great (if problematic) lead actors a famous FX artist and some of the most impressive snake special effects work before CGI came along and ruined everything.

This entry of Celluloid Trails takes a look at this ambitious, if seriously flawed movie from Canada's Tax Shelter movie days, and the novel that inspired it. In hindsight, William Fruet's SPASMS (1983) is one of the best, if wholly obscure graduates of Snake Horror U. However, the potential for venom-dripping serpentry on the big screen was high at the dawn of the 80s but turned out to be a fundamentally short-lived trend just the same. It was a one hit wonder, though, as a Gorgon's head full o' snakes were let loose on the video market (as well as weekly television premieres on cable), injecting a lethal dose of venom to their theatrical life. Killer snake movies had been few and far between prior to 1980, and were all but non-existent till the late 1990s when the unexpected box office success of ANACONDA ushered in an avalanche of cinematic serpents. People really don't want to sit through a whole picture about a snake.' - Director, William Fruet, Cinefantastique. 'I don't think that many snake stories have been successful.

John godey the snake