Snakehead Terror (2004)

User Rating:

3.6/10   

Director:

Paul Ziller

Writer:

A.G. Lawrence (writer)

Genre:

Action | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

The fish are really biting.

Plot:

A small town, desperate to recover from hard economic times, is under threat when voracious Snakehead...

Plot Keywords:

Fish | Environmental Issues | Environmental Crime | Toxic Waste | Father Dislikes Daughter's Boyfriend

Cast

Bruce Boxleitner	...	Sheriff Patrick James
Carol Alt	...	Lori Dale
Chelan Simmons	...	Amber James
Juliana Wimbles	...	Jagger
Ryan McDonell	...	Luke
Chad Krowchuk	...	Craig (as Chad Krowchuck)
Matthew MacCaull	...	James
William B. Davis	...	Doc Jenkins
Alistair Abell	...	Sammy
Doug Abrahams	...	Deputy Clark
Brenda Campbell	...	Reporter
Gardiner Millar	...	Hunter 1
Bro Gilbert	...	Deputy Reece
P. Lynn Johnson	...	Norma
Gary Jones	...	Colin Jenkins

MPAA:

Rated R for creature violence and gore.

Country:

Canada | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

UK:15 | Finland:K-15 | Germany:16 | USA:R | Netherlands:16 | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Cultus Lake, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

Cinetel Films

Goofs:

Plot holes: How did Luke (who fell overboard) reach the island before girls who came by speed boat?

Movie Connections:

References Jaws (1975)

Well...it's ahhh...something else

I watched Snakehead Terror mostly because I'm a big fan of Bruce Boxleitner.

Wow. Does he need money this badly? The premise wasn't bad. A small town's economy is ruined by nasty snakehead fish, their lake is poisoned to kill the nasty vermin, and the town is slow to recover. The film opens with a man and his dog finding a somewhat chewed up bear on the shores of the lake, the dog running into the lake to bark at snakehead fish and the guy going into the water to save his dog. Naturally both man and dog are eaten.

If I had found the dead bear, I would have run away.

Anyway, once you actually SEE the things and notice that the fish only crawl about 0.0005 miles per hour you wonder how come no one runs away, screaming into the night or even day? I mean I can understand the fish swimming quickly in the water, but on land? I could still outrun those things even if both my legs were missing and I had only the use of my left hand.

Bruce plays the sheriff of this under-economized town and his teenaged daughter's boyfriend is killed when he is eaten by the nasty fish and Bruce wants to immediately close the lake. Of course, no one listens and the lake remains open. Then he contacts the wildlife division and they send out Carol Alt who then determines the cause of the boy's death are snakeheads. Still, no one listens. Of course, what happens next is predictable, the news leaks out, and suddenly there are bounty hunters searching for the deadly snakeheads. And of course, teenagers who never listen, go on the lake seeking revenge for the death of their friend. Like a snakehead cares.

It turns out that the town's coroner has been giving his brother large quantities of growth hormone to help encourage the growth of the lake's natural fish but unfortunately all it did was make the snakeheads grow to enormous size and they HISS, SNARL, GROWL and I swear, they bark at you too.

These things are huge with appetites to match. The CGI was not very good but the gore was incredibly....well...gory. Bits and pieces of flesh flying about, blood spurting, limbs being ripped off, it was like watching me in the kitchen vainly trying to cut up a piece of meat for dinner.

Watching this movie made me decide on a couple of things (a) not to live on a lake (b) not to have teenagers, and (c) maybe give up sushi. It's an entertaining movie, better than most I've seen on the sci fi channel and believe it or not, more than 2 people actually survive. That was a relief. In a way.