La muerte viviente (1971)

User Rating:

2.5/10   

Directors:

Juan Ibáñez
Jack Hill

Writers:

Jack Hill (screenplay)
Juan Ibáñez (writer)

Release Date:

March 1971 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery

Plot:

Evil scientist runs a veritable army of LSD crazed zombies.

Plot Keywords:

Island | Cult | LSD | Lieutenant | Captain

Cast

Boris Karloff	...	Carl van Molder / Damballah
Julissa	...	Anabella Vandenberg
Carlos East	...	Lt. Andrew Wilhelm (as Charles East)
Rafael Bertrand	...	Capt. Pierre Labesch (as Ralph Bertrand)
Yolanda Montes	...	Kalea (as Tongolele)
Quintín Bulnes	...	Klinsor (as Quintin Bulnes)
Santanón	...	Dwarf (as Santanon)
Martinique
Julia Marichal	...	Mary Ann Vandenberg (as July Marichael)
Yol Duhalt

Also Known As:

Isle of the Living Dead
Isle of the Snake People (USA)
Snake People

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

Mexico | USA

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Unrated | West Germany:18

Filming Locations:

Santa Monica, California, USA

Company:

Azteca Films

Trivia:

This film was shown in the USA in Spanish language theaters before being dubbed in English and sold to television.

Quotes:

Anabella Vandenberg: Modern science has shown that alcohol is responsible for ninety-nine point two percent of all the world's sins.

Crappy, But Hilarious Trash-Horror With The Great Boris Karloff

"La Muerte Viviente" aka. "Isle Of The Living Dead" aka. "Snake People" of 1971, is an extremely trashy and unintentionally hilarious movie, and one of the last movies of the great horror icon Boris Karloff. I have utmost respect for director Jack Hill for movies like his great blaxploitation classic "Coffy" starring Pam Grier. "Snake People", directed by Hill and Juan Ibanez, however, is one of these movies that are so bad they're actually pretty good. I'm a big fan of trashy B-horror flicks, but the only two reasons why I enjoyed "Snake People" were Boris Karloff, who plays a rather small role in this, and the movie's unintentional fun value.

The tropical island "Korbai" is reigned by a bizarre voodoo cult. The cult's unholy priests, amongst them a creepy midget and a scary snake dancer, sacrifice beautiful local girls to their occult deity "Damballah". The girls, who volunteer as sacrifices in order to achieve eternal life, are then resurrected from the dead as mindless zombies. Determined to put an end, to these rituals, that are ignored by the local police, Captain Pierre Labesch comes to the island. He asks the islands richest landowner, Carl Van Molder (Boris Karloff) for help. In the meanwhile, Van Molder's niece, who came to the island to fight alcoholism, befriends a local police lieutenant.

As a horror movie, "Snake People " fails entirely. As an unintentional comedy, however, it is hilarious. The dialogue is extremely poor (and therefore extremely hilarious) and apart from Karloff, the acting is really bad too. The locations are amateurish, the plot has huge holes and many logical errors. While Captain Labesch, for example, is obviously French, and came to the island sent by 'the government', other law enforcement officers of this government have English names. I laughed a lot when I saw this movie the first time, and I will definitely watch it again. Don't expect any suspense, but watch this as the unintentional comedy it is and entertainment will be guaranteed. 3/10