Mega Snake

Mega Snake (2007)

** (out of 4)

Fun, if extremely silly, "Creature Feature" about a couple of brothers who go down different paths when their father is killed by a snake. One grows to love snakes while the other, Les (Michael Shanks), grows to hate them. After a magical Indian snake escapes it quickly starts to grow in size and that also means his appetite is growing. Before long the snake is eighty-feet and it's up to Les and his cop girlfriend (Siri Baruc) to try and kill it. Every once in a great while a movie like CITIZEN KANE comes along that changes the rules of cinema and makes one so impressed because they feel as if they're watching something that is going to be copied, worshiped and admired for decades to come. MEGA SNAKE isn't that type of film. If you expect something magical then you're going to be left disappointed but if you go into this low-budget "B" movie expecting low-budget "B" movie stuff they you should find yourself entertained. There are dozens of killer snake movies to pick from but this one here manages to be quite fun since it doesn't take itself too serious. We're also greeted with a pretty good snake. Yes, it's CGI and yes it's obviously fake but that really doesn't take away from anything as it at least looks better than dozens of other snake movies. The monster certainly isn't going to scare you but it at least isn't going to make you laugh either. Another good thing are the actual attacks as some of them are pretty graphic when it comes to the blood. There are several scenes of the snake swallowing people whole and we also get countless bites and people missing parts. The filmmakers at least threw horror fans some real blood effects so it's not all CGI. The film takes place in Tennessee so you can expect countless bad Southern accents but for the most part I enjoyed the characters and the actors. I thought Shanks and Baruc made for a good team and you could easily believe them as a couple. Todd Jensen is fun of the girl's current boyfriend and John T. Woods is pretty funny as the snake-loving brother. Once again, if you're wanting some big-budget, realistic drama then you're not going to find it here. This is a cheaply made thriller that will please those wanting cheap fun and nothing more.

In my mind the Sci-Fi Channel makes made for TV movies that rank right up there at the bottom. Mostly. But this one was better than most of what they serve up. Most of the players? Don't look for Oscar alerts. But ... Michael Shanks is a fine actor and played his part well. Ben Cardinal was also a bright spot, he came off VERY well given the character he played. And, dare I say it? There was one portion of the flick that contained, well, very positive Feedback. That part was just fun. One thing that stood out, as with any Sci-Fi Channel movie, for its poor quality was the computer generated special effects. All their snakes look alike and this one looked like some sort of picture laid on top of another picture. But the plot and characters were kinda cool, so, over all ... Thumbs up for a change. Shocking feedback, huh?

In 1986, in Tennessee, the father of the boys Lester and Duff Daniels is murdered by a snake in a weird ceremony. Twenty years later, Duff (John T. Woods) collects snakes while Les (Michael Shanks) fears them.

One day, Duff visits the Kitawa Indian Screaming Hawk (Ben Cardinal) to buy snakes and sees a small snake in a jar. He decides to buy the snake, but Screaming Hawk tells that the species is not for sale. He explains that it is the dangerous Unteka that has three rules to raise it: (1) never let the snake out of the jar; (2) never let it eat living animals; and (3) never fear the heart of the snake. Duff steals the Unteka and brings the snake home. However, he accidentally drops the jar and the snake eats his cat. The snake gets bigger and bigger eating animals and the locals. Now Les, his former girlfriend Erin (Siri Baruc) and Screaming Hawk have to stop the Unteka to save the local population.

"Mega Snake" is a funny and entertaining Sy Fy production absolutely underrated in IMDb. The story uses elements of "Gremlins", "Anaconda" and "Jaws" and the director Tibor Takács makes a good B-movie with his limited budget combined with humor and funny characters. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Megasnake"

Its not like were watching a huge budget production here, but they did well with what they had. Granted, the Sheriff with a Phd was a little too convenient, a hobby in snakes would have been better. BUt this is a classic monster flick like 8 Legged Freaks or Lake Placid. It doesn't need to have an Oscar quality script, its meant to be fun. I was glad to see Michael Shanks in it though, I had missed him after Stargate was over. The acting in the movie was varied. Several of the performances were WAY over the top. I did originally watch this hoping for a superhero flick starring feedback, and was disappointed that he was just a cameo. I enjoyed the movie as a whole, found it pleasantly hokey and entertaining.

Dismal script with even worse direction that bounces between being random and clichéd. Improbable characters (the police deputy that JUST HAPPENS to "have a PhD in zoology") plus completely stereotypical plot devices (the Indian with a secret passed down from "his people", and the clichéd County Fair that no one can close because it's too important even though The Evil Monster is rampaging in the countryside) with some of the worst acting and casting seen on American Basic Cable (accents for residents of this Tenn. community are all over the place) and a good measure of sub-par special effects and poor dubbing equals this complete waste of time. And "Feedback's" appearance is barely more than a disjointed and forced cameo in the last half hour... if you're watching for that, save your time. If you are watching for some other reason, what's wrong with you? OK, there are a few so-bad it's funny moments (especially the reaction of the mother of the family at the beach as soon as she sees the, erm, "Mega Snake"... we rewound and watched that scene half a dozen times...) but still...