After his brother brings home an incredibly poisonous snake, a small-town paramedic finds the series of disappearances around town is the work of a giant, supernatural snake with ties to local Indian folklore and brings the remaining townspeople together to fight off the snake before it kills the entire town.
This one here wasn't all that terrible. One of the better aspects of this one is its titular snake itself that is a pretty original snake conception and puts the creativity of the film nicely into question. That also accounts for the rarity of the snake itself, as it's mentioned that it's not a normal species and the actions prove it. Doubling in size, toying with prey, and using various methods to kill are just perfect examples as this one builds up to the giant monster by going after smaller prey before going after humans. That also gives it some more fuel to keep going as the mystery throughout of what's killing the animals and the occasional human disappearance is a little mysterious and gives it a little suspense. The background in Indian mythology and lore regarding how it grows in size and stays undetected in the community offers up a rather fun storyline here as well as the impressive work done for its design. The blood-stained head, horns atop the nose, and gigantic size also help give it a better impression alongside the traditional method of the lower jaw expanding here looks twice as impressive here as the jaws unhinge to a huge level at times. There's also the fun to be had here with the various confrontations which are pretty good and are actually staged attacks rather than just appearing out of nowhere and taking a bite out of someone unsuspecting it. The family attack on the lake is one shining example of this, and the forest chase is really great for this kind of film. The film's at its best, though, with its utterly spectacular assault on the carnival at the end. This is pure action-packed mayhem, as the snake carves out a path of destruction that is just fun to watch and manages to take out a larger number than expected for this type of scene. From the jaw-dropping attack on the Tilt-a-Whirl, which by itself is the creepiest one in the film, to the chilling encounter in the haunted house and the general mayhem caused by the bumper cars and Ferris Wheel attacks, this one is simply non-stop and contains the best scenes in the film. That also puts out a large number of deaths as well, which is nothing too major but is satisfying in this area, and that's what matters. Overall, this was a really pleasant surprise. This one here really only has minor flaws. The never-ending concept of using horrendous CGI for the snake is still a weakness, as here it doesn't mesh at all with the surroundings. Several times it's apparent that the creature isn't even touching the surface its actions indicate it's doing, and the effect is cheesy. This is at the worst during its big carnival assault, as the snake is on-screen for several seconds before anyone reacts, yet the thing's in plain view of everyone. Little touches like that still pop up and ruin the effectiveness of the creature. The trotting out of several timeless clichés, namely the canceling of the big town event, the disinterested official, and the unbelieving co-workers here just come off simply as clichés and nothing more, even if mildly connected to the events at hand. The last problem is the fact that there's way too much family drama going on at the beginning of the film with the struggling relationship that gets resolved in a clumsy manner and a useless brotherly squabble that isn't too original. It takes up way too much time and is then promptly dropped after the snake attacks. These flaws notwithstanding, this is a really nice creature feature.
Rated R: Graphic Violence, Language, and violence-against-animals.
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