Shakma (1990) review

SHAKMA 1990

Christopher Atkins (Sam), Amanda Wyss (Tracy), Ari Meyers (Kim), Roddy McDowall (Sorenson), Robb Morris (Gary), Tre Laughlin (Bradley), Greg Flowers (Richard), Ann Kymberlie (Laura)

Directed by Hugh Parks and Tom Logan

The Short Version: SHAKMA, the best of the 'Irate Primate' movies of the late 80s and early 90s, is basically a slasher movie; but instead of a masked killer, it's a batshit baboon putting his stinking paws on a group of med students trapped inside a college after hours. Containing some of the most aggressive animal attack sequences ever captured on camera, the tight editing seamlessly blends the live-action baboon with practical animal effects. Likewise, the acting is surprisingly good even if the human cast gets upstaged by Typhoon the crazed Cercopithecoid. A sorely underrated, effective horror thriller, SHAKMA is some serious monkey business.

Dr. Sorenson and a group of med students operate on a baboon test subject named Shakma using an experimental drug to inhibit the animal's aggressive nature. It has the opposite effect and, after the beast wakes up and goes berserk, Dr. Sorenson decides it's best to put him to sleep... permanently. Sam, the young doctor who was training Shakma, mistakenly injects him with a stimulant. Later that night after the college is closed, Sorenson and six of his students shut off all the lights and lock the doors to enjoy a fantasy role-playing game. Unknown to them, Shakma revives and savagely kills anyone and anything he comes across. As their numbers dwindle, the remaining doctors-in-training must play an all-too real game of survival to escape the building and the bloodthirsty baboon stalking them.

Seeing something like 1990s SHAKMA is a refreshing departure in the age of CGI where, if done today, the use of an animal antagonist would be brought to life entirely in a computer. Working on a 20 day schedule with a real, unpredictable, and very aggressive baboon, co-directors Hugh Parks and Tom Logan get some incredible footage with meager resources. Among the 'Animals Attack' ilk, there haven't been a lot of killer monkey movies, but in the late 80s, several of them assaulted theaters in varying capacity--these being the Kenya-set horror picture, IN THE SHADOW OF KILIMANJARO (1986); Richard Franklin's LINK (1986); and George Romero's MONKEY SHINES (1988). Moreover, an Italian production shot in Miami had an experimental baboon as the catalyst for a zombie "rage" contagion in the utterly insane Umberto Lenzi scripted PRIMAL RAGE (1988).

SHAKMA (1990) is the best of these for a variety of reasons; its success as a horror feature is due in large part to Typhoon, the lovably temperamental animal actor trained by Gerry Therrien (along with his assistant trainer, Steve Martin). Typhoon is just that, a hairy hurricane of fang-toothed fury. The acting by the human cast is much better than this sort of picture normally delivers; and Typhoon overshadows them all. Reportedly, the cast and crew were terrified of him; it's easy to see why once you see him action. His onscreen ferocity likely aided the cast in evoking genuine terror--particularly in Amanda Wyss's performance.

According to co-director Logan, when Typhoon began destroying the set after about eight hours, it was a wrap for the day. Complicating things further, there were only two sets that were redressed over and over again to give the illusion you were inside the medical facility where the film takes place. Naturally, the demolition of sets by the easily agitated star of the film were captured on-camera for use in the movie.

Elsewhere on the commentary track, Director Logan explains that he and some of the crew were hidden behind a protective board during filming. In some shots where Typhoon runs at the camera he was genuinely intending to sink his teeth into whoever was behind it. Animal trainer Gerry Therrien had amazing control over Typhoon with just his words; but to get him agitated (the flickering of his eyebrows means he's about to go into attack mode!), Therrien's assistant was required. Watching Typhoon voraciously assail his human victims it's remarkable what the filmmakers were able to accomplish in the time allotted them.

It's in these attack scenes that SHAKMA earns its keep as a horror picture. Aside from a few jump scares, the film's intensity lies in watching the baboon run around the sets, hurling himself at the doors, furiously bashing his head against them to get at the human on the other side; it has an unsettling effect. Typhoon goes from calm to displaying extreme anger management issues within the span of a few seconds.

Further, it's a testament to the skill of the filmmakers that they were able to capture such potent scenes of horror on such a short shooting schedule with a movie built around the use of a live, very hostile animal. Mike Palma's editing is crucial to the film's high level of suspense. The cuts between the real baboon, a puppet, and an animatronic one keeps your imagination guessing to discern the difference.

The gore is limited, but convincing in certain instances. There's a few messy appliances and some others look like they've simply poured blood on the actor. These desultory shots lessens the power of the violence--considering Shakma is seen ripping and tearing at his victims like cheese shredded in a grater. On a few occasions, the filmmakers may have better served their movie by not showing anything more than a bloody arm or leg and let the viewers imagination create the rest.

All the cast are fantastic, especially Christopher Atkins; both he and NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREETs Amanda Wyss have genuine onscreen chemistry together. This helps ratchet up the tension in the scenes where Shakma chases them from one room to the next as they try to find a way to exit the building. Atkins started out in big Hollywood pictures like his debut in THE BLUE LAGOON (1980) co-starring with Brooke Shields; and in THE PIRATE MOVIE (1982), a musical where he co-starred with Kristy McNichol; and would later delve into cult film fare including BEAKS: THE MOVIE (1987), DRACULA RISING (1993) and PROJECT SHADOWCHASER III (1995).

The adorable Ari Meyers is likely best remembered for the 80s comedy show KATE & ALLIE (1984-1988). She was 21 when she made SHAKMA, playing a character younger than her actual age. As Kim, a young lady that beams an innocent, virginal quality, she's infatuated with Atkins's character and primed for peril at some point during the running time. Dressed as the princess in need of rescue as per the Nemesis role-playing game, Meyers ironically spends a large portion of the film far away from the danger the rest of the cast finds themselves in.

Still, there are a few surprises viewers may not see coming. The characters--particularly the ones we get to spend the most time with--are all likable to a degree; they're not the stock characters of all your finer slasher pictures.

Seeing the former Cornelius from the original PLANET OF THE APES (briefly) come face to fang with Shakma could be viewed as an in-joke of sorts; and somewhat surreal when put into context of the actor's place in the classic Science Fiction series. McDowall was the defining character of those iconic films and its single-season television program. Even when playing Caesar in the last two films of the original APES series; and Galen in the TV show, it always felt like he was playing Cornelius at different stages of his life. He's not in the movie for very long, but Roddy McDowall's presence brings a lot of prestige to Parks's and Logan's picture.

It might be a low budget movie that was given little fanfare upon its release, but SHAKMA is an underrated, firecracker of a horror picture. Good performances, some solid suspense, tight editing, and a jolting music score by David C. Williams, SHAKMA is shockingly good.

You can purchase this bluray HERE and HERE.

This review is representative of the limited 3,000 pieces Code Red Bluray. Specs and Extras: 1.78:1 16x9 HD Master; Interview with Tom Logan; audio commentary with Tom Logan moderated by David DeCoteau; Katarina Bucketlist Mode; running time: 01:41:09

Reel Bad Cinema: Night of the Lepus (1972) review

NIGHT OF THE LEPUS 1972

Stuart Whitman (Roy Bennett), Janet Leigh (Gerry Bennett), Rory Calhoun (Cole Hillman), DeForest Kelley (Elgin Clark), Paul Fix (Sheriff Cody), Melanie Fullerton (Amanda Bennett)

Directed by William F. Claxton

"Jud... calm down... the rabbit's gone."

The Short Version: Leapin' Lepus's! A movie about giant flesh-eating rabbits devouring the human population in a small Arizona town fails not only as a serious slice of environmental SciFi, but also as an unintentional comedy. It would take Monty Python to make rabbits legitimately hilarious a few years later. Shot like a western (Claxton directed lots of them), it plays like one more than it does a horror picture. Instead, it's just a horrible picture. Had they replaced the ridiculous rabbits with wild, rampaging buffalo, the film wouldn't work as western horror, either. Bert I. Gordon could've done more with this silly premise and made a genuine knee-slapper out of it. If you have THE GIANT CLAW (1957) handy, make it a double Terrible On the Rocks.

Two scientists, a local doctor and a rancher (sounds like the start of a joke... well, it is!) attempt to halt the rapid multiplyin' of rabbits on a Southwestern range land by injecting a few dozen problem hare's with a hormone. Instead of solving the problem, it magnifies it... literally. It isn't long before giant rabbits--having sworn off carrots--decide to take a bite out of man instead.

Despite the laughably vague trailer as to the nature of the "mutants" and "devil creatures", NIGHT OF THE LEPUS gives its killer kritters away during the first two minutes; prompting the audience to quickly decide whether they wish to stick it out or make for the exit and hope they'll get their money back. Based on the book, 'The Year of the Angry Rabbit' by Russell Braddon, the movie version deviates from the complexities of the source to settle for the usual killer animal style of 70s eco-horror. And therein lies LEPUS's biggest problem--there's nothing remotely scary about it... unless you put it in the context of just who in the hell thought this was a good idea.

If ever there was one movie I'd be most intrigued to learn every aspect of its making--from pitching the idea to the actual filming--it's NIGHT OF THE LEPUS (1972). How in the world this got the greenlight is a question that desperately needs answering; as well as knowing if the cast were in such dire straits to sign on to this pile of regurgitated kibble. Normally, when big name actor appear in foreign films that amass critical derision the excuse is always they wanted to take vacation there; that excuse cannot apply in the case of LEPUS since it was filmed at Old Tuscon Studios in Arizona.

How do you approach somebody like wild west star Rory Calhoun--who was appearing in his first genre picture--and say, "Look, Roy... we want you to do this movie.... it's about rampaging, killer rabbits." It's worth mentioning that it was just eight years later that Roy donned a severed pig's head and swung a mean chainsaw as rural cannibal cultivator Farmer Vincent in MOTEL HELL (1980). 

Back to the bunnies, the big pitch for LEPUS may have went something like this...

Producer: Okay, whaddaya got for me?

Pitchman: (slight pause) Giant.... flesh-eating rabbits... (clenches eyes tight as if in ecstasy) IT'LL BE GREAT!

Producer: (long pause) Have you been drinking?!

Pitchman: No, no, no, no... we make the rabbits BIG, see? Like those 50s movies with the giant bugs only we're gonna use bunnies! We make'em BIG and make'em mutants... at least we tell people they're mutants in the trailer; (with a look of optimism) unless... you guys wanna pony up extra money for makeup FX to make the rabbits scary lookin'.

Producer: (long pause) Are you sure you haven't been drinking? If there's problems at home....

Pitchman: Trust me! And we'll get some big names to do it!

Producer: (long pause) Why rabbits? I mean, all I can imagine is a pissed off Bugs Bunny. Bugs Bunny was even funnier when he was pissed off. Remember 'Rebel Rabbit'? Christ, that was hilarious. Nothing at all scary about that; nor do the words 'bunny' or 'rabbit' sound the least bit dangerous. Why not something more practical... like a big mutant bear?

Pitchman: (laughs) We won't sell'em as rabbits in the title, see... we'll use the Latin terminology of Lepus. We'll call it... (in a scary voice) 'Night... of the Lepus'...! (smiling while overcome with confidence) Yeah, that's it! (pause) A giant mutant bear? Naaah, that would never sell.

If only someone had been mindful of the shock and awe-ful of THE GIANT CLAW (1957) with its cracked-out turkey monster from outer space. That film was taken totally seriously by the actors as well; the difference being Jeff Morrow and Mara Corday didn't know what the monster looked like till the film wrapped. In LEPUS, everybody already knew it was an army of killer Easter Bunnies. Apparently the writing on the wall wasn't legible enough.

The same would apply to certain aspects of the script. Such as a peculiar sequence where Calhoun and Whitman attempt to bury the big bunnies in a mine shaft. It seemingly never dawns of them that rabbits do in fact dig burrows in the ground--so it isn't problematic for them to dig a hole out of it. Elsewhere, rifles seem to bring instant death to the hungry hare's yet when the military comes in and brings out the heavy artillery, machine gun fire doesn't slow them down at all. 

Some of the dialog in this hare-raisingly horror-ible movie makes you wonder if actors were given sedatives to maintain their composure when given lines like, "Attention! Attention! Ladies and gentlemen, attention! There's a herd of killer rabbits headed this way....!"

The special effects are a step up from any of your finer Bert I. Gordon macro-enlarged monster flicks. Actually, Gordon would've been able to instill a lot of charm had he been assigned to the project; his own style of then outdated special effects techniques would be recycled a few years later in FOOD OF THE GODS (1976) and EMPIRE OF THE ANTS (1977). Saying "plague of rabbits" just doesn't have the same ring as "plague of locusts".

The model work in LEPUS distinguishes itself nicely from the carnivorous bunnies that hop along through the toy sets. Unfortunately, as good as the miniature farms and town are, the rabbits refuse to strike fear in the audience; the growling sounds given them do not help. Even with their movements slowed down there's still no sense of gigantism. The close-ups of stuntmen in obvious rabbit suits viciously nibbling away at the cast derive more menace mainly because the editing is pulled off to efficiency.

Aside from the good acting and serious tone afforded a movie that didn't deserve it, the picture has a few shocking instances of gory violence toggling between real-life footage of farmers shooting dozens of rabbits; and fake violence of humans torn limb from limb by the least fearsome creatures imaginable. 

As for the actors, Stuart Whitman does come off the best as the lead Tough Guy, his shirt with the top couple buttons laid bare allowing his hairy chest to get its own closeup. Rory Calhoun does just fine, although he looks like he took a break from a western and on his way back, wandered onto the wrong set and just ran with it. Janet Leigh probably wishes she'd of died in a shower again; and DeForest Kelly was likely longing for the sick bay on STAR TREK.

A misfire on virtually every level, LEPUS goes limp almost immediately. A chore to get through, it warrants at least one viewing just so you can say you actually watched a movie about giant bunnies that eat people. If you can't get enough of flesh-ripping rabbits, see MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL (1975)--it's intentionally funny. Even so, it is said that anything is possible... anything that is, except making rabbits scary in this movie.

This review is representative of the Warner Brothers DVD. Specs and extras: 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen; original theatrical trailer; running time: 01:28:19

Spasms (1983) review

SPASMS 1983

Peter Fonda (Dr. Thomas Brasilian), Oliver Reed (Jason Kincaid), Kerrie Keane (Suzanne Kincaid), Al Waxman (Crowley), Miguel Fernandes (Mendez), George Bloomfield (Reverend Thanner)

Directed by William Fruet

"It comes from an island in Micronesia called Niraka Pintu. In the native tongue it means... Gates of Hell.... The natives believe that the island is full of the dead... of lost souls on their way to Hell. You see, it's a kind of purgatory. They say that every seven years the island is visited by a great serpent... a serpent that rises from Hell... to claim the souls and take them back".

The Short Version: It's Oliver Reed vs. a telepathic, Satanic serpent in William Fruet's oft-maligned tale of quasi-supernatural Ophidian terror. Peter Fonda is basically playing himself and Kerrie Keane just stares wide-eyed throughout. The real star is Ray Mendez's mechanical snake and the few memorable sequences we get to see of its venom-dripping fangs sinking into unlucky humans. Dick Smith delivers a nasty highlight of bodily destruction in Al Waxman's literal flesh-shredding meltdown. Much better than its reputation suggests, although the picture on the whole is gimp-legged like Reed's character from numerous production problems. It could of used some more SPASMS, but as is, this minor footnote in rampagin' reptile cinema sheds its skin over the course of 95 minutes, coming out with more things to recommend than to condemn.

Doctor Brasilian, a psychiatrist doing studies in ESP, is summoned by wealthy hunter Jason Kincaid to help him both import and study a deadly, enormous snake captured on a Pacific Island. His brother killed by the giant snake on a previous expedition, Kincaid was bitten but did not die, retaining a telepathic connection with the demonic viper. He sees what the snake sees. When it kills, he sees it kill. Bringing the reptile from Micronesia to Canada, Kincaid hopes to learn the nature of his hellish link with the beast; although he isn't alone in his obsession with the creature--a Satanic church hires a seedy man to steal the serpent, but it escapes and kills several people before it comes face to fang with Kincaid.

 
The giant killer snake sub-genre is thick with entries but thin on memorable ones. SPASMS, for all its faults, is quite good; especially when the snake is onscreen. The filmmakers manage to scrounge some nifty jump scares out of their premise, but by the end, you're left wishing there had been more to it. Most of William Fruet's movies, as entertaining as they are, always seem to be missing something--and there are a few places where things are lacking in his giant snake flick.

Movies with serpentine antagonists didn't find much of an audience till 1996s ANACONDA. Its popularity ensured more Ophidian terror would slither its way across movie screens, only those screens were predominantly of the kind residing in virtually every home in America. Prior to that, there were a great many movies featuring snakes of all shapes and sizes yet none of them left a mark like WILLARD (1971) or even Spielberg's 1975 monster blockbuster did.

 
Compared with other killer snake movies of the time period, SPASMS had the benefit of some talented people working on it both in front of and behind the camera. You had Peter Fonda and Oliver Reed; and Oscar winning makeup FX king Dick Smith to name three. Based on a fast-paced novel by two ambitious writers inspired by the success of JAWS (1975), and armed with a fairly healthy budget of approximately 3 million dollars, the cards were in favor of this horror movie being a success. Unfortunately, that was not the case.

 
The sort of production problems suffered on this Canadian financed horror movie weren't unlike those encumbering other motion pictures; just that a lot of the obstacles could have been avoided altogether. Unruly film stars and ill-advised producers don't always defy the odds, equating to a successful end-product. For starters, not long after filming began, one of the production company's, Filmpro Limited, went out of business leaving banking firm, Cinequity, to go it alone. Apparently feeling lucky, the company spent 5 million on SPASMS and two other failed projects--one of which was a film version of David Hemmings' Magic Show that never got off the ground. The 3 million spent on SPASMS ended up being wasted in other ways. Random people hired off the street turned out to be drug dealers and other unsavory types. When William Fruet was brought on to replace a previous director, he had difficulties keeping Oliver Reed in check. The combative actor was apparently fond of farting incessantly on set.

Further calamity came off the set when both Reed and Fonda would hit the bars. Anyone familiar with Oliver Reed knows that he and alcohol are as dangerous a combination as gas to a flame. Reed had reportedly brought along a British bodyguard with him, nicknamed 'The Major'. After several drinks and picking a fight, if Reed was getting trounced 'The Major' would step in and finish the scuffle. Not to be showed up, Peter Fonda, on another occasion, got drunk and threatened a patron with a broken Bourbon glass; only to slip and fall onto the glass shards cutting his forehead so severely he required plastic surgery and a flesh-colored band-aid to finish the movie.

The slithery villain had its own share of problems behind the scenes. Going from live snakes, to hand puppets, then finally, mechanical ones, the hydraulically controlled critter devised by Ray Mendez and his crew wasn't ready for its closeup till the final week of shooting.

For a more expansive article on the making of the movie with behind the scenes pics read the Celluloid Trails article HERE.

The script from Don Enright and William Fruet is somewhat faithful to the novel in places, but deviates greatly in others. Instead of a straightforward killer animal movie, they inserted a supernatural angle, emphasizing a demonic attribute to the monster that's only used as native superstition in the book. One of these script revisions is an area that seriously hurts the picture. Involving a satanic cult whose head reverend desires the devilish serpent, the opportunity to have the snake (N'Gana Simbu in the book) instill a bit of divine intervention at the church never happens. The snake worshipers are abandoned immediately after the creature escapes during a bungled (and blood spattered) attempt to steal it. Not only is an integral plot point left to die, but a fantastic opportunity for an attack sequence is wasted.

The snake attacks themselves are very well done and exceptionally edited. The snake sound effects and the music (by Tangerine Dream) make these sequences even more intense. The highlight of the movie is an attack on a house full of female roommates. The giant scaly monster enters the home and chases two of the women around while a third is upstairs in a shower. One woman runs up the steps as the monster pursues her from the POV of the camera. Ferociously biting her over and over, slinging her from one side of the hallway to the other, she is then violently thrown through the air with such force, she crashes through the bathroom door; followed by the angry Ophidian who, like a fanged-toothed Norman Bates, breaks through the shower stall to get at the naked flesh inside.

This attack sequence had a bit of subtext added to it as well. If you pay close attention, you'll notice a poster of the original THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (1974) adorning the wall in the hallway as the snake viciously bites a victim. A portion of the tagline is in view, "Who will survive and what will be left of them?"; and what an apt description of this tensely memorable moment in the picture.

 
If you're wondering where the title originates, it's to do with the effects of the snake's venom. When it bites you, wherever that might be, those areas begin swelling--followed by bubbling; the skin opens up, leaving a nasty wound with the flesh literally falling off the body. There are a couple scenes where we see this happen--the first being aboard a ship near the beginning. The major set piece is the scene near the end when Al Waxman is repeatedly bitten after the massive snake comes through the back of his van. Courtesy of Dick Smith, we see Waxman (his head, anyways) reduced to an unidentifiable, pulpy mass of flesh and eyeballs. Even though Smith wasn't satisfied with the effect due to lack of time, it looks great to this reviewers eyes.

If there had been more scenes like this, SPASMS could have been a minor classic.

Elsewhere the film has some additional moments of crudity. One victim, a groundskeeper, is bitten but never suffers the same bodily destruction of the snake's other casualties; instead he looks like a slasher victim with little more than a big gash on his head. During this same sequence, Reed--who has a telepathic link to the Satanic snake--takes forever walking through his darkened house while the snake taunts him with images of his past victims. This "stalking" scene goes on way too long; and the man-vs-snake battle that follows it is good, but has been cut down from what was originally shot, leaving a somewhat abrupt finish.

Some might say Oliver Reed is overacting, but he plays the tortured hunter very well. Adding the limp to his character, you get a sense of both torment and obsession from his performance. He has a few outbursts but they're warranted under the circumstances. 

He fares much better than Peter Fonda who is basically playing himself. He doesn't do much except utter the required hero dialog these roles demand; and what he's given to say isn't all that good, anyways.

Kerrie Keane (of 1982s INCUBUS) is pretty to look at, but she, too, doesn't do much except going so overboard with the wide-eyed staring, you feel like her eyeballs will fall out of her head at any moment.

Published in 1979, the 'Death Bite' novel (the title was christened by co-author Maryk's eight year old child), like many book-to-film adaptations, was radically altered for its celluloid interpretation. The authors were so disenchanted with the numerous revisions, they tried to have their names removed but were unsuccessful. Below are a handful of the differences. 

1. The film's narrative follows the book rather faithfully at the beginning, but swaps out Kenji Tasaki, the Japanese snake wrangler, for a South American hunter named Mendez.

2. The settings are different: the main action takes place in Southern California in the book while Fruet's film takes place in and around a Canadian university. 

3. The name of the island the creature is captured on, Niraka Pintu, remains the same in both vesions. The English translation of Niraka Pintu as 'Gate of Hell' is mentioned in both book and movie; only the supernatural connotations are exceedingly more profound in the film version. A taipan in the book, Oliver Reed's Kincaid refers to it as a type of taipan, but wants to study it to be sure. 

4. The major characters have some slight resemblance to their written-word counterparts but, in most cases, have different names. Two characters from the novel that survive with their names intact are Crowley (named Warren Crowley in the book) and Reverend Thanner (named Fritz Thanner in the novel). In the book, Thanner is a gangster who wants the snake's powerful venom for assassinations. In the film, Thanner is the head of a Satanic cult that wants the snake because he believes it's the embodiment of the Devil. Crowley is essentially the same foul-mouthed character in both works, but his comeuppance is different.

5. The snake attack on the three women in the house plays out differently in the book as opposed to the movie. Differences in the book is the inclusion of a cat, and not all the women die. The bit with the girl in the shower is included in Fruet's film but is executed differently as well.

6. The finale of Maryk and Monahan's novel is one of the more drastic deviations in the movie version. Kerrie Keane's character stays out of the action while her counterpart in the book, Ioka, a Eurasian, features prominently. The Crowley character has a much larger role in the book and, unlike the film, figures into the book's climax.  

Amazingly enough, the authors of 'Death Bite' got more publicity than the movie did. Publishers Andrews and McMeel sent both Maryk and Monahan on a two week jaunt across the country to promote their novel. At the time, being bitten by a snake was #3 on a list of public fears (coming in behind arachnophobia and talking in public). One such stop was on a Baltimore television morning show. The resulting on-air snake snafu sounds like something out of a comedy. Deciding to bring a real Indian Rock Python on the set with them (along with the reptile's owner), co-author Michael Maryk was handling the snake. In an attempt to straighten him out, Maryk lost his grip and the huge snake whacked him in the face with its head. He dropped it and that was the cue for the audience to run screaming out of the studio while the blind co-host was losing it yelling, "Where is it?! Where is it?!".

In the end, the authors made a lot of money off the book and its film licensing, but it didn't translate into an even more prosperous career. SPASMS ended up surviving a lethal dose of failed theatrical venom with a revived interest on video and cable, retaining its own tiny circle of fans in the process. 

 
Sadly, the film still has yet to receive a quality home video release. The Code Red DVD is from a tape source that has several defects throughout (see four of them above). There are approximately a dozen of them that occur at different points throughout the film. The worst of which takes place at 0:38:14 (see bottom left image at top). This may or may not be an issue for potential buyers, but for those expecting a film source they will want to know what they're getting beforehand. Since the film was announced as far back as 2009, sources have cited an available film print that was missing a reel. Still, even with the glitches, this is the best SPASMS has looked on the home video format for the time being.

Heavily flawed, but far from an awful movie, SPASMS will be essential viewing for fans of the 'Nature Gone Awry' sub-genre. It delivers what it's selling, only you might feel a bit short-changed at the end. Even so, William Fruet's critically slighted snake horror drips with just enough venomous entertainment value to keep you mildly enthralled for 95 spasmic minutes.

This review is representative of the Code Red DVD. Specs and Extras: anamorphic widescreen 1.85:1. There are no extras nor menus. The disc begins and when it ends it starts over again. Running Time: 1:35:21.