La muerte viviente

In 1968 horror legend Boris Karloff was filmed and the footage was incorporated into four Mexican horror movies released in the early 1970s after his death. Now these movies are regarded by most horror buffs as being absolute turkeys, but if 'Snake People' (the only one of the four I've seen to date) is anything to go by I must disagree. Karloff looks old and ill but his handful of scenes are still worth a look. The rest of the movie is a bit illogical, but unlike the naysayers I didn't find it to be boring. Voodoo snake cults, come on, how is that boring? The most interesting thing about 'Snake People' is that it was partly directed by cult film legend Jack Hill ('Spider Baby', 'The Big Doll House', 'Coffy', 'Switchblade Sisters'). Quentin Tarantino is a massive Hill fan and calls him "the Howard Hawks of exploitation". I believe Hill shot all the Karloff scenes in California and this was mixed with Mexican footage directed by Juan Ibanez, but apart from that I have no idea whether the movies were already scripted before filming, or improvised later Roger Corman style. Anyway, the story concerns a young woman (Julissa) who visits her aged Uncle (Karloff) on a small Caribbean island. Unbeknown to her it is the home of a voodoo cult which eventually kidnaps her. But hey, the plot doesn't really matter, there are lots of zombies and snakes and a creepy dwarf in a top hat and Boris freakin' Karloff dude! To be completely honest 'Snake People' wouldn't even crack a place in my horror top 100, but you know what? I enjoyed it. Enough to watch it twice. And if I was faced with the choice of watching it a third time or sitting through the likes of 'Cabin Fever' or 'House Of 1000 Corpses' again then it's me and Boris and the snake worshippers baby!

I Bought this film on DVD a couple of days ago not expecting much, and my intuitions were correct. Very slow with dialog that goes all over the place. We never get a grasp of where the film is taking place, who are these people and why anyone is doing what they do. Master horror icon Boris Karloff is basically exploited for name recognition (something that would happen quite frequently in the later stages of his career)and has little if anything to do. His relationship to the cult and how it evolves is never explained. The only reason I finished this sleep enhancer is the sexy dancing of Mexican actress (and exotic dancer) Yolanda Montes billed here as Tongolele. Nearly forty years old at the time it was made, Tongolele still possessed a knockout figure and sexy aura. Her two dance sequences are the only thing that will keep you awake while trying to finish off this turkey.

Echoing narration informs us about the "diabolical" new threat of voodoo on the island of "Korbai" near Haiti and a laughing, sneering midget in sunglasses cuts the head off a (real) chicken. Then Anabella (played by Julissa), a member of the International Anti-Saloon League informs some soldiers that, "Modern science has proved that alcohol is responsible for 99.2% of all the worlds sins!" She arrives on the island with others to visit her uncle Carl von Molder (Boris Karloff or his masked double).

Meanwhile, blue-faced zombies are overrunning the island. Voodoo cultists kill soldiers with a blowgun, strangulation and machete and regularly resurrect the dead with the help of the dwarf (who whips them). Rabid zombie women eat a man and one soldier adopts one as his girlfriend to scratch his back and fan him. ("Imagine a beautiful woman that can't talk. Every man's dream!") The niece has an extremely bizarre dream of her evil double suggestively sucking on a (real, live) snake before kissing her (?)

Little of this movie makes sense and the ending stinks, but it has some weird, senseless stuff to recommend. It's one of four much-hated movies Karloff did in 1968 before his death, constituting his final film work.

In ISLE OF THE SNAKE PEOPLE, Boris Karloff plays mysterious plantation owner, Carl Van Molder, who just might be hiding a secret identity. Voodoo cultists cause much mischief, gaining the attention of the new police chief, who vows to pull the plug on their antics once and for all. They don't take kindly to this idea, and terror unfolds.

Considering that Karloff was 80 years old and in ill health during this, he does an admirable job. The movie itself is a ridiculous shambles, but has a certain weird charm.

We're treated to a hoodoo hoedown, zombies, cannibal women feasting upon unwary cops, and the beautiful Tongolele (aka: Yolanda Montes) performing her snake dance. My goodness! Her undulations are enough to convert anyone to the voodoo arts! An exotic dancer in her heyday, and regardless of her age in this film, she casts a powerful spell!

Ahem, so, prepare for some schlock-tastic fun...

One of the four films that Boris Karloff made at the end of his life. He made four low-budget films for a company that produced the films in Mexico, although Karloff's scenes were shot in California by director Jack Hill. Karloff is visibly old and haggard, and frequently sits through most of his dialogue. I'm afraid that his presence cannot save this film from being utterly tedious and ludicrous. Karloff plays a French plantation owner seemingly connected with some snake cult, voodoo worship, and a lot of weird characters. There is a dwarf that wears crazy glasses and is slain for some inexplicable reason. There is also a woman that stares at people while she dances around with a snake. She has a wild white streak in her hair. The island has a new police chief that acts with all the conviction of a puppet. The actors are all Mexican (except for Karloff and one other actor). The blending of the footage shot in Mexico and that shot in Hollywood is done adequately, however, the film makes little sense. Script and editing are poorly conceived and poorly executed. Poor Boris! At least it is nice to see him again.