Post by slayrrr666 on Oct 25, 2005 18:51:14 GMT -5
One of the earlier ones I saw, and just as good as their later day output:
`The Snakehead Terror' is a new, refreshing look at the `killer-fish-attack-everything-in-a-lake' movie.
**SPOILERS**
A snakehead infestation at Cultus Lake results in the killing of the entire population. Two years later, they resurface during a teen-party, attacking and viciously killing one of them. Sheriff Patrick James (Bruce Boxleitner) warns daughter Amber (Chelan Simmons) away from the lake until further investigations are held. Not wanting to cause panic, he agrees to keep a lid on the situation. Three more people are attacked, resulting in James breaking his vow of silence and going public with the news. Biologist Lori Dale (Carol Alt) arrives, and suspects that the local terror is a snakehead and that a local chemical company run by Doc Jenkins (William B. Davis) is responsible for the reappearance of the snakeheads. By now, Amber has gotten together with a group of friends to exact revenge on the snakeheads for the killing of her boyfriend. Out on the lake, the boat is attacked by the snakeheads, killing two of the five in the group. Finding shelter on an island in the middle of the lake, they find that snakeheads can walk on land as well. Getting in touch with her father, James and Dale race to the island to eliminate the race of creatures once and for all.
The Good News: The film decides to forsake suspense for gore, and the movie provides gore aplenty. Some of it, I was surprised to see in a broadcast cable showing. Having heads and limbs being removed and their stumps spurting blood for minutes is certainly more violent than I figured would be shown. This makes the film even better, as the low budget forces the special effects to be put on full display, and they pull through on many levels. The killer instincts of the fish is brought to full bear, as they are shown to stalk their prey in groups, converging slowly and then attacking individually or swimming in packs to overwhelm prey. The fish are realistically captured when used as puppets, but the several computer-generated scenes are a little hard to swallow. Unlike counterpart Cindy Crawford, Carol Alt can act, and her scientist role gives her a chance to display an intelligent character instead of some brainless bimbo. Attacks are frequent and bloody, giving it a non-stop pace that is a welcome change over some more modern, slow-paced similar movies.
The Bad News: By forsaking suspense for gore, the film relies on having the attacks by the fish carry the film. They do, but unless the graphic attacks upset you, then the film is relatively jolt-less, leading to a dull experience after repeated viewings. The first viewing is pretty shocking, but after the third or fourth viewing, you've become accustomed to the violence and the low number of shocks reverses your earlier conclusion of it being a good film has now changed. The film turns to be simply a series of violent attacks after each other. The plotline contains several references to `Jaws' and `Jaws 2,' but those are the obvious ones: a mayor who doesn't want to spoil the fishing season's income; the police chief who knows everything and tries to stop it; the biologist who knows how to stop the threat; the creatures attacking the police chief's children in open waters; and an electrocution kills the monster. The film does seem to have that borrowed feel throughout, simply placing several great new scenes around a ton we have seen before in better movies.
The Final Verdict: The film is gory, action-packed, and a kind of throwback to the great killer fish movies. Watching it after several times will drastically change your opinion of the film, but it does look great the first few times through. Recommended for gore hounds or those who enjoy films that get worse after repeated viewings.
Rated R: Graphic Violence, Adult Language, and a mention of an animal attack.