Plot: What’s it about?
Korbai is a small, isolated island that remains unknown to most of the world, but a dark evil has come to the island. The kind of evil that is so intense, it could consume the entire island and after that, perhaps starts to spread throughout the world. A sinister form of voodoo has been practiced on Korbai for some time, but now it has caused some serious problems. A woman named Anabella (Julissa) arrives on Korbai to visit her uncle, a plantation owner named Carl von Moder (Boris Karloff). She and the others have no idea what awaits them, as Korbai has become overrun with voodoo enhanced zombies. The living dead have been re-animated thanks to the evil voodoo and now, these undead walk among the living once more. The locals are quite displeased however, as the zombies have taken to feasting on whomever crosses their path. A military base is also on the island and the soldiers do try to keep the peace, which in this case, means putting down the dead once again. But the voodoo cultists have taken offense to that practice, so they murder the soldiers whenever possible. The cultists don’t have guns or other high powered weapons, but blowdarts and such work well enough. At the same time, Anabella begins to have strange dreams about an evil double of herself, who performs erotic acts with a snake. Is it just a dream, or does Korbai have some sort of spell on her? Who is behind this assault of evil that plagues Korbai, and can anyone discover the truth in time to prevent more deaths?
This is one of horror icon Boris Karloff’s final films, but sadly, it is also one of his worst movies, without question. Karloff (Frankenstein, Targets) is always fun to watch, but Snake People is such a dull and slow production, his presence is wasted. The pace is so drawn out and slow, it takes forever for something to happen and when it does, the filmmakers are unable to make it hold our attention. I don’t mind spending some time on the plot before the madness, but Snake People plods along at such a slow pace, half the audience is asleep by the time the “good stuff” rolls around. A movie that has witch doctors, zombies, voodoo cults, erotic snake dances, and the presence of Karloff should be good, since those elements could add up to a fun, outrageous little motion picture. I don’t even expect that much from films like Snake People, not much beyond unintentional humor and some decent blood & skin, but I was still let down. I love movies that are so bad, they wind up being wildly entertaining, but Snake People is just plain bad. There is a lot of potential in the premise, one could that have yielded a wild sleaze laden voodoo epic, but this turns out to be a tame and dull production. A horror movie can be bad, but it can never be boring and Snake People makes that one fatal mistake. This disc from Eclectic DVD is no masterpiece either, though the visual presentation is better than most I’ve seen. Even so, its hard to recommend Snake People, unless you’re a diehard fan of bad cinema.
Video: How does it look?
Snake People is presented in full frame. I have no idea what the intended aspect ratio on this film is, but the framing on this edition seems reasonable. In other words, no visible pan & scan is evident, but I suppose it could be an open matte presentation. The material is in rough shape, but then again, the production was a low rent one that took place in the 60s. And in truth, the print used here is better than the other versions out there, though it still leaves a lot to be desired. No serious print defects emerge however, such as the lines and tears evident in the other editions out on DVD. So its good to see some of the larger problems removed, as ensures we’re not distracted by source element flaws. There are still some nicks and grain present, but for what it is, the print looks more than acceptable here. The colors have a washed out texture, so vivid hues aren’t found here, while contrast is all over the map. So while the print looks like an improvement over other versions, the rest of the transfer remains as weak as in other treatments.
Audio: How does it sound?
A decent, not too damaged audio track is what I wanted here and in the end, that’s what this disc provides. As I figured, the track offers little in terms of dynamics or depth, but that’s fine and this movie doesn’t need those elements. The music has some spots where it sounds a tad distorted, but nothing serious, so no worries there. As is the case with the sound effects, which are decent in scope, but due to the age & nature of the material, never get to shine. The dialogue is easy to understand and never harsh, so I am giving this one a passing grade on all counts, though I have tilted the scales to reflect the film’s nature & age, of course.
Supplements: What are the extras?
No bonus materials have been included.
