Rattlers Are Not That Silent
Vic Rondelli (Harry Hamlin) has just arrived in town to take over as fire chief and his arrival coincides with a big town event where he quickly gets the low down on the locals from Vera (Patty McCormack) the pet shop owner to Max Farrington (Jack Scalia) who is behind the town's planned redevelopment. Vic also meets Mandy Stratford (Shannon Sturges), Max's assistant who quickly takes a shine to the handsome Vic. But there is a tragedy at the event as a teenager gets bit by a rattlesnake and instantly dies. It raises Vic's suspicions especially when further incidents with rattlesnakes start occurring but it also leads to conflict with Max who fears any negative press surrounding snakes will affect his development.
"Silent Predators" is a tale as old as time or at least that is who it feels when you are a movie fan who grew up on "Jaws". Here we have that classic small town under threat from a natural threat, so substitute sharks for snakes and in particular rattlesnakes. We also have the prominent business man who doesn't want any fuss as his investment in the town is under threat which of course outs him in conflict with are small town hero. I could go on because when it comes to smaller animal threats you always get the visit to the specialist in the field so are hero goes to see a snake expert.
So what is there different about "Silent Predators" well we get the set up which is these rattlesnakes are not a native variety and of course are many times more dangerous than the normal variety. We also have a touch of romance as Vic and Mandy end up becoming friendly. But truth be told I am clutching at straws as there is nothing in "Silent Predators" which is out of the norm.
What this all boils down to is that "Silent Predators" is just your standard small town under threat from a natural but deadly predator. In truth there are worse movies than this but due to its familiarity this one only ever hits average at best but mostly ends up being just below average.
