First, I just want to say that this is not the best horror movie on the planet by any means. But it is much better than the garbage rating it currently has. I'll explain.
The movie starts off kinda slow. 30 minutes of jibber jabber that just pads the run time. During this time I truly felt that the movie was trash. It felt like all the convo was unscripted and that the entire cast of 10+ people were just talking off the top of their head.
But once the action rolls around I felt that one of two things was occurring.... Either the cast became AMAZING actors that were able to ping pong the dialogue off of each other perfectly, or the director fine-tuned everything with great skill and clarity. Or both I guess. At one point there are 10 people talking at the same time yet nothing sounds forced or contrived.
Then the kill scenes begin and they are exquisite! Everything is directed so well, the kills look real, the blood looks real, there isn't anything that looks cheap or tacky, the kill scenes are straight to the point like you would expect from real psychos instead of over-the-top nonsense. Even the snake looks real.
The practical effects are masterful for a first time movie. Seriously, why has Ben Wilder not blown up after this?? For a first time movie within this specific genre, he has succeeded expertly.