AllMovie

Yep, "Snakes on a Submarine" indeed! This made-for-TV dramatic thriller beat Samuel L. Jackson to the punch somewhere around 22 years before his slithering in the skies opus, even if no one really remembers it. The buried flick might have a wild premise, but it's also a reminder of just how horrible most made-for-TV outings were in 1974. The pacing is slow to a crawl, as is the tension. A few extra weird optical effects highlight the beginning of the film, but it's all downhill from there. If only a more exploitive production company was behind the film, then maybe the flick might have lived up to its taut B-movie potential. Funny enough, director Russ Mayberry was also responsible for 1971's The Jesus Trip, an unsuccessful biker flick that buckled under it's director's self-imposed style -- no doubt, something that Fer-De-Lance could've used a bit of in its own right.