Rattlesnake (2019) Movie Review
Written By: JASR
Edited By: Grave Review Staff
Film Information
Director: Zak Hilditch
Producers: Ross M. Dinerstein, Carmen Ejogo, et al.
Writer: Zak Hilditch
Date Released: October 25, 2019
Cast:
Carmen Ejogo as Katrina Ridgeway
Apollonia Pratt as Clara Ridgeway
Debrianna Mansini as Woman in Trailer
Theo Rossi as Billy
Emma Greenwell as Abbie
Rating = 1.5/5 Graves
***May contain some spoilers***
Synopsis
After Katrina’s (Carmen Ejogo) daughter, Clara (Apollonia Pratt), got bitten by a rattlesnake, Katrina asks a mysterious woman in a trailer (Debrianna Mansini) for help. Moments later, Clara becomes miraculously healed as if she was never even bitten at all. Katrina later finds out that the “payment” for Clara’s recovery must be another human being’s soul. Otherwise, Clara will go back to her bitten state.
Gore Factor
Since the plot of Rattlesnake (2019) is all about finding a person to kill, do not be surprised to see a little gore in this movie. However, it still isn’t as much as gore lovers would want. The most memorable gore would be at the end of the movie and it still isn’t as disgustingly cringe-worthy as you would think. The gore factor in this movie is tolerable since it only involves some sights of blood.
The Grave Review
The start of the movie already clearly established the relationship between Katrina and Clara as mother and daughter. This foundation was properly justified as Katrina would do anything just to save her daughter’s life. Even though hurting someone is against Katrina’s values, she would be willing to do it just so Clara wouldn’t go back to her fatal condition.
The end of the movie was quite predictable. It’s best not to get one’s hopes up because the ending was poorly done. The whole film also raises some questions such as why Katrina was never bitten by the rattlesnake considering her proximity to it. Also, who was that woman in the trailer? While she made a significant contribution to the plot, we have no idea who she is and there was really no backstory about her.
The woman wasn’t the only person who needed a backstory. As the main character, Katrina could have been given a backstory with her daughter. It wasn’t very easy to connect with her because we did not get sufficient information about her life.
The movie’s dialogue was questionable and may even be comedic for some audiences. When Clara said, “Where are we, mommy?” Katrina simply said “Somewhere, sweetie” which doesn’t seem to be a cleverly written response. More than the dialogue, the acting also needed improvement – specifically in the scenes where Katrina would hallucinate. Hallucinations in movies are fine, but the execution in this movie wasn’t done very well.
Overall, it felt that the writer of the movie was in a hurry. The movie lacked depth and explanation. Also, while the title may be “Rattlesnake,” it still seems too convenient for a rattlesnake to just be around during the ending. It felt like things were just conveniently there thus turning away from any challenge for the writer and the rest of the crew.
Because of the foregoing reasons, Grave Reviews gives Rattlesnake (2019) one and a half graves out of five graves.
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