"Stanley" was a 1972 Crown International release that has gained quite a cult following despite its many TV prints shorn of much violence, all of which is decidedly un-PC (the 70s were a fearless decade). Director William Grefe was a Miami-based filmmaker responsible for numerous cult titles from the 60s and 70s: "Sting of Death," "Death Curse of Tartu," "The Wild Rebels," "The Hooked Generation," "Impulse," and "Mako: The Jaws of Death," who saw the box office returns of 1971's "Willard," about a young man using rats to avenge himself against his enemies, and believed that 'animal horror' was the trend to follow, dreaming the entire plot of "Stanley," using rattlesnakes instead of rodents.
This nifty retrospective documentary covers a lot of ground on the making of the low-budget early 70's killer snake horror opus "Stanley." Director William Grefe reveals that he first got the idea for the premise from reading about the box office success of "Willard" in the show business trade paper Variety and dreamed the whole story.
