Snake Island

2002 "Fear strikes without warning."
3.4| 1h30m| R| en| More Info
Released: 01 August 2002 Released
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Country: South Africa
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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A group of American tourists heading down an African river make a brief stop at Snake Island, an island that has been virtually abandoned for years. When they end up getting trapped on the island overnight, they find thousands of deadly snakes intent on reclaiming the tropical island for themselves.

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Director

Wayne Crawford

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Snake Island Audience Reviews

ThiefHott Too much of everything
Actuakers One of my all time favorites.
Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews
Roman Sampson One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.
Ilike Turtles Many years ago, an innocent and far younger version of myself picked this movie up as I was perusing the local video store, hoping to find something to entertain my friends and I that night. My eyes fell onto this movie, "snake island" it said, in bold writing. I thought it sounded like a decent movie, id never heard of this William Katt guy and I was willing to give an hour and forty odd minutes of my life to ride the emotional fear filled roller-coaster the blurb on the back promised."Fear strikes without warning" are the words branded on the cover, well let me warn you dear readers, fear strikes about two and a half minutes into this movie, as you consider the money you have spent on it, the long path ahead to reach the credits and the judgment you are undoubtedly getting from any friends you have unwittingly subjected to the movie. It has been a little short of ten years since I first watched this movie, but it certainly has haunted me, coming backs in flashes of agonizing memory, leaving me crippled in mind and body. I could dissect this film, scene by scene and warn you of the dangers you are going to visually and audibly absorb but instead I will simply mention what happens in some of the main scenes and the terrible themes that now, and for ever will haunt me.First and foremost is William Katt. We are supposed to believe he is some pseudo intellectual / complete man hulk, which is traveling to research a book he is apparently writing. The only really substantial background you are given of his character is between Mr. and Mrs. Cliché honeymooners that he once wrote a book about sharks, which is believed to have caused some mass culling of all sharks, around the world (I am guessing so he would not have a subject matter for a follow up novel). Now I don't know if it's the fact he is constantly looking directly into the camera, dresses like an aging member of the beach boys, is constantly quoting or making reference to literature in order to make it clear he has some great store of wisdom, or that even when your prayers are answered and he appears to die in the film, he still comes back like the zombie patron saint of terrible acting, but one thing is abundantly clear to me and its that he certainly doesn't look fit to fight off a piece of paper caught in a sudden breeze let alone a slithering tsunami of snakes. I have only had the misfortune of bearing witness to two of the films in his horror show of a career but for a man who was supposedly seriously considered for the role of Luke sky-walker, I wouldn't see fit to cast him as a nameless character who dies off screen and is never mentioned or in fact acknowledged by any other character of said film.The second thing I feel I must mention is the "party" scene, now I feel it was the directors (Wayne Crawford – a terrible director who casts himself in his own movies because he cant find enough desperate actors with aspirations of career suicide) intention to make this scene provocative and arousing, as well as scary and dangerous and I for one feel he might have actually achieved that, but in a somewhat strange manner, perhaps like sleeping with a beautiful woman whom you are 99% sure is actually your sister. For those of you yet to experience this movie, be ready for this scene because it is truly the beginning of the end of your will to survive. Ill break it down as best I can. The characters of the film are drinking down water from scotch bottles and getting inappropriately loose. Suddenly one of the characters, the black chick who's only really notable contributions to the movie besides this scene are her screaming in the opening boat scene, and later running through the jungle naked save for a clear shower curtain. Suddenly she decides that some terrible music and topless dancing is in order, much to the delight of the other patrons. Things spiral out of hand and very soon you have to witness two women begging William Katt to take off his sky blue shame in fabric form he calls a shirt. The main problem with this scene is not even having to see a topless version of William Katt, it's the fact that this is the scene where the audience is shown that the snakes in this film can in fact understand the English language, and also are not fans of anyone who happens to say something negative about them. What the f?, that's what I asked myself then, and that's what I ask myself now. What a terrible idea you might be thinking, and I wish who ever wrote the script for this movie (I am looking at you Wayne Crawford!) felt the same way, but alas their mind went with the other side of the coin, and thus the snakes end up doing things such as singing and pretending to be an erect penis…but those are traumatic experiences for later on, I am talking about the party scene now and as such let me mention the snake dancing. Oh yes the snakes, they dance in some rigid robotic fashion that has obviously not gone out of fashion on Snake Island. I feel I could and should mention so much more, but I think with those two things I shall stop, if only so that I know other people have had to consider and think about the terrible things this film has made me see, think and feel. Snake Island is much like a snake's venom, it slowly let excruciatingly painfully kills you and robs you of your resolution to be alive. A truly terrible film
Michael_Elliott Snake Island (2002) ** (out of 4)Another "nature strikes back" flick this time set on, you guessed it, Snake Island. A group of strangers get stuck on the island when they learn that it has a reputation of being infested by various deadly snakes. One by one the guests are picked off. This certainly isn't a masterpiece of the genre but if you're a fan of these nature movies then you'll probably want to check this one out. I'm personally terrified of snakes so that causes me to be creeped out by movies like this whereas others might just roll their eyes and move on. Overall this isn't the best movie out there but there are several pluses to be had here. For starters, the performances are all rather good and makes for some nice characters. Director Crawford is good as the tour guide and William Katt turns in fine work as an author. Both men are clearly the best of the cast but the supporting players aren't too bad either. Real, rubber and CGI snakes are used throughout the film with the real ones working the best. The CGI ones are incredibly fake looking but they're certainly more realistic than those seen in something like PYTHON or its sequel. The attacks are all rather tame in terms of lack of violence and gore but I didn't have a problem with this as the director at least tries to build them up around suspense instead of the red stuff. What doesn't work with the film is its 95-minute running time, which was a tad bit long as the film starts to wear off its welcome after the hour mark. Another negative is an incredibly stupid snake dance half way through the picture. The director does throw male viewers some nudity, which I'm sure plenty will enjoy. If you're not a fan of this genre then I doubt this movie will turn you into a fan.
Scarecrow-88 A wide variety of snakes stage an uprising on tourists "invading" their island due their captain's boat damage. The few remaining survivors who aren't caught vulnerable by the snakes will attempt an escape mission, their goal to flee to available boats which can get them safely off the island.Presented straight-faced with injected doses of visual humor featuring lots of snake gags, Wayne Crawford's SNAKE ISLAND features plenty of different breeds of the slithery predators, in striking position, ready to attack their prey. Star William Katt, as an author researching snakes for a forthcoming novel, has fun in his role along with writer / director / co-star Wayne Crawford(..as the tourist boat captain) as put-upon heroes who stare down a most serious crisis. Kate Connor is Crawford's attractive love interest, a lawyer on vacation. The other cast members serve as either tourists or crew, mostly fodder for the snakes. As in many other movies of this type, director Crawford features live snakes with computer generated ones, and the violence is really tame. Crawford even incorporates the point-of-view technique with the camera as the eyes of the snake as it faces the potential victim(..with the actor looking directly into the camera). Never to be taken seriously, the tongue-in-cheek approach was probably the best way to shoot SNAKE ISLAND because the premise is just too ridiculous to accept on it's own.The effects and suspense scenes rarely work because Crawford is often unable to successfully stage the sequences where humans face off with the snakes. The snake attacks themselves also never happen on screen(..one or two tops), or are so limply presented they leave little impression. That's a no-no for a genre such as this. Fans of Katt will probably want to check it out because he does provide some facial comedy that establishes the overall tone of certain scenes where he must defend himself against the snakes. The CGI scenes where we see a large number of snakes in a general area aren't very effective which remove the realism Crawford might've attempted to establish. There are plenty of better horror films featuring snakes as the aggressors than SNAKE ISLAND. Surprising moments of nudity, relegated to a scene where the tourists and crew unwind after a long day with the bubbly, not knowing what danger lie ahead.
Steve Nyland (Squonkamatic) First off, I'm not sure what the problem here most people seem to be having with this movie. I mean look, the film is called SNAKE ISLAND. It isn't called FAREWELL TO ARMS or THE GRAPES OF WRATH, it's a B grade direct to DVD/video movie about a boatload of people who get stranded on an island infested by a zillion snakes. WHAT are you people expecting?? SNAKE ISLAND was directed, written, produced, and stars my new favorite B movie icon, Wayne Crawford, a person about whom there is very little information. Mr. Crawford appears to be an opportunistic part-time genre filmmaker who surfaces every few years to helm a new little "vanity project" with himself in the starring role. He got his start in a demented little horror shocker in 1972 called AUNT MARTHA DOES DREADFUL THINGS, is perhaps best known for his work as the title character in the 80s home video detective thriller JAKE SPEED (and manages to play characters named Jake in many of his projects), though my favorite Wayne Crawford film is the 1978 JAWS ripoff and X-FILES anticipating rampaging barracuda/chemical experiment sleeper BARRACUDA (THE LUCIFER PROJECT) which SNAKE ISLAND actually reminds me a lot of.Others have done ample justice to the plot, what little there is of it: Humans trapped on an island with a zillion snakes attacking from every angle once the drunken topless lezbo techno dance party is over and everyone has gone back to their cabins to throw up. William Katt has fun as the expatriate American writer looking for something to write about, and Crawford casts himself as the somewhat grizzled tour guide who manages to find time to go skinny dipping with his female lead. Yes, making B movies can be fun, just remember to keep your day job, and Crawford is now apparently employed as a college professor, hopefully teaching film. People can learn a lot from him I am sure, as is evidenced by how much brain-dead fun there is to be had with this movie provided that one steadfastly refuses to take it seriously. ANY of it.As another reviewer pointed out, the difference between SNAKE ISLAND and the majority of the recent PG-13 oriented giant snakes on the loose movies is that this one was accomplished without relying too heavily on computer graphics effects -- they apparently actually used many actual snakes when making this movie, which makes me wonder how it slipped under PETA's usual animal watch radar. One reason might be that it's so easily dismissed as being just a load of crap, filmed in South Africa on the cheap, with no recognizable star names (William Katt??) and no real point to it's existence other than helping jaded viewers occupy 90 minutes of their lives in an entertaining manner.And it IS an entertaining little movie, especially if you can suppress both your brain and taste centers for an hour or so while the story sets itself up. One other aspect that proves useful is that the film actually has a subtle little sleaze factor going on, with some agreeable nudity, the infamous lezbo techno dance, a laugh or two about safari theme park attractions and finally the inevitable Night of the Snakes sequence, which is impressively staged. It won't make anyone forget stuff like SSSSSS or STANLEY but heck, for a few thousand dollars Mr. Crawford was able to gather an attractive cast, pick out a suitably isolated setting, and cut loose. Looks to me like the film was made in about two weeks with minimal fuss, and sent straight to the rental shops where stuff like this probably has it's most beneficial application.Genuine B movies are on the wane as of late, with the independent market being gobbled up by message movie attempts and the major distributors all looking for the next big event film package that will result in a franchise. That left people like Wayne Crawford free to fill the vacuum as far as mindless, disposable entertainment goes. Unlike JAKE SPEED or BARRACUDA I doubt that SNAKE ISLAND will gather much of a cult following and it's not the sort of film that will command repeat performances, but for a $1.50 three-day DVD rental you can do a heck of a lot worse. Which is what a good B movie should amount to.6/10; Sets it's sights low and achieves what it set out to do, and you sort of have to admire it for being true to it's nature.