Basilisk: The Serpent King

When I stumbled upon this 2006 TV movie in 2021, I must admit that I wasn't really harboring much of any great expectations as the movie had that particular SyFy or The Asylum aura to it. But still, I hadn't already seen the movie, and the basilisk is an interesting mythological creature, so of course I sat down to watch it.

Writers Will McCarthy and Chase Parker actually managed to churn out a storyline and script that was actually wholesome enough and provided me with sufficient entertainment. Sure, this wasn't a great nor top of the line creature feature, but it proved to be enjoyable and entertaining enough for what it was.

Visually then "Basilisk: The Serpent King" was adequate. The CGI used to bring the basilisk alive was okay for the most of the movie, which definitely helped to make the movie watchable. However, you should not be expecting to be in for a grand spectacle of impressive CGI effects here.

The movie does have an okay enough cast ensemble. I think Jeremy London is actually a fair actor and he does carry "Basilisk: The Serpent King" quite well with his performance. And he was joined by the likes of Griff Furst and Yancy Butler.

"Basilisk: The Serpent King" provides sufficient entertainment for a single viewing. However, this is hardly a movie that you will be watching more than just once.

My rating of the 2006 TV movie "Basilisk: The Serpent King" lands on a five out of ten stars.

Highly debatable quality, a low budget production worthy of a trash, the effects are watchable, but it would fit well in the B movie which attracted me deeply... Adorable...

BASILISK is your standard giant unkillable snake movie with one difference: two recognizable actors keep things moving along when the focus is not on the so-so CGI snake. Stealing its basic plot from KING KONG, the movie has some adventurers bringing back from ancient lands an artifact, which comes to life in front of a very large audience, and proceeds to kills a ton of people. The Army cannot seem to stop it. Jeremy London and Yancy Butler costar, and the lovely Ms. Butler gets to play a comic villain for a change. London is always easy to take, and handles the dumb dialogue with just the right amount of tongue in cheek fervor. He is given lines like "Come back here with that scepter!" Both get a fair share of screen time, which helps keep the focus away from the monster, which is absolutely dumb-looking. It's a snake with a dragon's head, if you care to know. Mildly entertaining. Shot in -- where else? -- eastern Europe. You will know immediately;y it ain't New York, L.A., Toronto or Vancouver. It's just too strange-looking to be on U.S. soil. Have a beer or three and enjoy. Especialyl enjoy Ms. Butler, who runs around in a tight little red dress and looks terrific.

This morning I chose to kick back and watch a couple of movies on the Sci fi channel. I watched Snakehead Terror first this morning and it was OK but I nodded off twice and I did not feel I missed enough to run the TVO back, however next up was the Serpent King and I am going to have to say this movie is pretty good for a B horror movie. The plot is pretty good and moves right along, the cgi is pretty good, the actors look like they are having a good time and there is a little bit of humor thrown in just for fun. What more could you ask for in a low budget film? I think they produced a pretty good film. I have seen big budget horror films with the best producers, directors and actors thrown at the mix and end up with no redeeming qualities at all. If you consider there seems to be hundreds of big bad killer snaky movies that all seem somewhat the same, this one stands out. So far it's been a nice lazy morning with no one complaining but the cats. Oh what the heck, I am going to complain about something. I wonder if the target audience for the Sci Fi planning group has changed to 20 years old and younger and who actually watches the ghost shows but kids? I have not found one person who admits that they watch the things. It is obvious to me they are targeted at children. The only thing I can figure is the cost of producing shows like the Stargate series. Shows like Stargate and Battlestar per episode cost a million dollars and the ghost shows cost ten thousand dollars, however if they don't do something about their Friday night lineup people will go back to going out and doing something as a family.

As a veteran aficionado of the SciFi originals, I had my usual expectations going into "Basilisk". Laughable special effects, transparent characters and formulaic situations clumsily stumbled into by unwitting victims of the CGI beast-du-jour; all comprising a solidly entertaining and heartily enjoyable experience. While "Basilisk" dutifully fulfilled many of my preconceptions, I have to say that it was a cut well above the standard Saturday night fare.

This creature flick can rightfully take its place among such greats as "Hammerhead: Shark Frenzy" (Jeffery Combs can't make a bad movie), "Frankenfish" and many of the other SciFi offerings but I have to put "Basilisk" into its own category all together. The effects are of the same caliber as its worthy cousins, but I think that what lifts this one for me is the script. It is witty without being contrived and never leaves a slow moment or the feeling of awkwardness that comes with so many screenplays that try too hard to be hip (see: Lucky Number Slevin. Actually, don't see it, it's terrible). Cleavant Derricks does an outstanding job as the weekend warrior Colonel and his bantering exchanges with Jeremy London are the stuff of high theatrical art.

So all in all, this one is not to be missed. Next time SciFi decides to air it, set the TiVo and prepare to be entertained. You will not be sorry.