The Snake King (2005) (TV)

User Rating:

3.0/10   

Director:

Allan A. Goldstein

Writers:

Declan O'Brien (writer) and
Kenneth M. Badish (story)

Release Date:

9 April 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Pure Venom.

Plot:

An object is found that points to the secret of eternal youth so a research team is sent to find the fountain only to find it is protected by a giant snake

Plot Keywords:

Snake | Giant Snake | Longevity | Amazon | Amazon Tribe

Cast

Stephen Baldwin	...	Matt Ford
Jayne Heitmeyer	...	Dr. Susan Elters
Larry Day	...	Dr. Rick Gordon
Gary Hudson	...	Dr. John Simon
Ross McCall	...	Timothy
Phil Miler	...	Dr. Richman (as Marcelo Gomes de Oliveira)
Gideon Rosa	...	Dahar
Caco Monteiro	...	Will Bahia (as Caludio de Carvalho Monteiro)
Shelly Varod	...	Sid
Mike Zafra	...	Rush Fernandez
Narcival Rubens	...	Tika
Lucas Wilber Silva Laborda	...	Bada
Charles Paraventi	...	Ronald
Michael P. Flannigan	...	Jim (as Michael Flannigan)
Sandro Lyrio	...	Edwardo

Also Known As:

Snakeman (UK) (USA) (video title)

MPAA:

Rated R for some violence.

Runtime:

96 min (DVD) | USA:120 min (including commercials)

Country:

Canada | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:MA | Singapore:M18 | New Zealand:R16 | Netherlands:16 | France:-12 (TV rating) | UK:15 (TV rating) | USA:R | Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Brazil

Company:

Nu Image Films

An entertaining story crippled by awful, cheesy SFX.

Lurking in the exotic rain forests of Brazil is a deadly, multi-headed serpent that rips limbs off, squeezes victims to a bloody pulp and swallows others whole. A group of scientists working for a leading pharmaceutical company called Gen-Tec are down that way researching a new drug and end up stranded in monster territory when their helicopter crashes. Along for the ride is a local guide (Stephen Baldwin) who is the son of anthropologists and speaks the obscure native language, a corrupt, bossy jerk who keeps waving his gun at everyone and the token attractive blonde lady doctor (Jayne Heitmeyer) who emerges as the film's strongest character. Gary Hudson spends most of his time on the phone or sitting behind a desk as an exec from the company who actually has the team down for other reasons (and shows up with a machine gun toting commando squad at the very end). There's another mean jungle tribe in the forest (with an English-speaking leader!) that use blowguns, spears, tree limbs, booby traps and arrows against victims, kidnap the leading lady and worship the great Snake God "Naga."

Also here is a trek through a crocodile-filled swamp, attacks from tarantulas and smaller serpents, overkill green-tinted snake POV camera-work and a partially insane, blood-painted American from a previous expedition. And it all ends on a weird metaphysical note with the discovery of the fountain of youth and a message about modern day greed and disregard for the sanctity of ancient cultures! The computer special effects on the deadly serpent are pretty lame (especially during the day scenes), but this is still a pretty entertaining fusing of Lost World, adventure and monster movie genres.