Des serpents à bord

This movie was sooooooo crappy. The only thing that was interesting in it was that they combined a "submarine war movie (there aren't that many of those) with a "creature feature movie" ..... but it was hardly a successful endeavour.

Yes it's true, the CGI rendering of the giant snakes was a total joke! Oh and I must comment on Krista Allen (the only woman in the film): Her acting is TERRIBLE! Seriously, its as if she was on Botox the whole movie because the expression on her face hardly changed and therefore she seemed like she had no reaction to the current situation! Don't get me wrong, she is gorgeous, but she would be much better suited to be a model or a porn actress where she won't need any acting skills.

Bottom line, go watch one of the "Anaconda" movies if you want a creature feature with big bad CGI snakes ........ they are a lot more entertaining than this piece of bunk.

"Snakes on a Sub" (or "Recoil" or "Silent Venom") was on my list of films to see, simply because I had to know why some (once mighty) actors would want to appear in a Fred Olen Ray (or whatever name he's going by this week) movie... The answer is (obviously) money.

The film wastes no time in letting the audience in on what to expect. Really (and I mean really, painfully) bad CGI snakes, that the average 12 year old kid could do a better job with on his home PC. It makes you wonder if they even tried? Yes, they look like cartoons of the worse kind. That being said, the story is not all that bad... Once the premise switches over to the what (and why) a submarine is involved, it actually pulls you in, and you begin to forget about the stupid snake storyline. There is an underlying war-themed adventure about an out of commission sub (and crew) that accidentally wanders into enemy waters. Very well acted by both Berenger and Perry, this part of the film really worked for me, and I became engrossed in the story. The dialog appears to follow proper Navel protocol, and you begin to feel for the characters. Unfortunately, we are soon reminded that this is "Snakes on a Sub" and the B-Movie resurfaces. I think it could have made a decent war drama on it's own, however not many people would likely rent (buy) it for that.

"Horror Sells!!!"

Thus, we are left with good acting and really, painfully, horribly, cheesy FX and an hour and a half of our lives gone forever...

Enter at own risk.

As someone said previously, Krista Allen could be the only justified reason that you'll find after watching this film. I understand the idea behind the script, but the delivered scenario was a complete failure, starting from the attitude and the actions of Krista Allen's assistant and carry on with the imminent danger and attack of a foreign enemy. ... Of course, despite having all the modern technologies on their side, it was not possible for the Asian enemy to stop a museum submarine, but hell, you need more than this and some snakes against a schoolboys crew. Acting? Non-existent. Special effects are laughable, if the case, the highlight being the big snakes rolling down submarine's corridors. Krista Allen wasn't convincing as a scientist and neither her qualities haven't been well reflected by a too static role.

*************** Warning may contain spoilers *******

What is not to like about this film? Cheesy effects, rather wooden acting, a silly plot line, and SNAKES! On a SUB! Why they couldn't get Luke Perry to echo Samuel L Jackson's famous line about snakes on a plane, I'll never know. I guess it just would not fit the military image - even though Perry was playing a Navy Captain! A mildly entertaining fun romp with nary a pit viper to be seen (but plenty of albino boas, corn snakes, rat snakes, and some fake overgrown diamondbacks), some very hokey special effects of Big Momma and the usual stupid plot holes.

My wife and I enjoyed it, as we are fans of this sort of ridiculous trash. It was better than some we have seen, worse than others. If you have some time to kill, it might be worth your time. At least it had sub titles, and the submarine action was pretty good.

Two scientists are working on an island with poisonous snakes, testing various types of venom. When a submarine picks them up to take them home, they are taking the most deadly species with them. As you would expect in a thriller, the snakes get out of their boxes and start to kill the submarine crew. To make the situation worse, the submarine is chased by the Chinese navy, since their mission took them into Chinese waters.

For a very low budget movie, 'Silent Venom' is fast paced entertainment, naturally with cheap effects, but never boring. Luke Perry (as Commander O'Neill) plays the captain of the boat, Krista Allen is the scientist Dr. Swanson, and Louis Mandylor whom I remember from 'Relic Hunter' plays her shady assistant Goldin whose greed causes most of the trouble.