The Killer Snakes (1974)

Pretty Good

Just perfect...

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Now this is what I like, a very very well made Shaw Brothers movie, that pulls all the stops out in this sub-genre of snake horror/thriller movies. This is by far the best deadly snake movie I have ever seen. The plot, "A young man who has been beaten, abused, humiliated and laughed at all his life finds that he has an unusual empathy with snakes. He can talk to them and they understand him, and eventually he finds that he can get them to do his bidding. He decides to use his newfound friends to take his revenge on everyone who ever did him wrong." The young man is not a hero at all, in fact, he's probably worse than the people he takes revenge on. Very well made horror movie, with some great nudity to say the least, and plenty of sex and violence. When there is no snake attacks going on, which are great, there is usually a naked girl or two, so there is no way you can go wrong with this one. Yes, this is extreme Asian cinema, and I love it. The whole movie is sleazy as hell, but done with a huge amount of quality film-making. I highly recommend this movie to fans of Asian cinema especially, and to all horror fans. It's a dandy to say the least.

I don't typically dig too much on the pre-CATIII HK horror stuff like DEVIL FETUS, SEEDING OF A GHOST, CENTIPEDE HORROR, THE DEVIL, etc...but KILLER SNAKES is from what I've seen so far, the best of a bad genre. This one is grittier, sleazier, and plays more like one of the later CATIII entries than the 80's HK "animal-horror" films, and KILLER SNAKES was made several years before either of those genres really took off. Definitely a precursor of both good and bad to come from future HK horror/sleaze productions...Zhihong is a shy, reserved, kinda slow kid who live in a hole-in-the-wall (literally) that shares a wall with a snake shop. Apparently, part of Zhi's "problems" stem from some S&M abuse that he witnessed as a child, and his love for snakes at a young age. Because of his shy and timid nature, Zhihong is constantly a mark for the bullies and robbers in his neighborhood. His only solace is the friendship that he makes with the snakes from next-door, who Zhi can apparently communicate with kinda like a HK Dr. Doolittle or Willard or some sh!t. Anyway, Zhi finally gets up the courage to ask out the one person who's nice to him - local hottie Xiujuan - and she agrees, but then stands poor Zhi up (she had a good excuse though - her dad was dyin' and she had to go and be a hooker to pay his rent...). Zhi finally snaps and calls on his no-legged buddies to seek revenge on everybody that's done him wrong recently...KILLER SNAKES is a pretty solid early entry in the HK sleaze world. Some pretty twisted stuff going' on here, including snake-rape (unfortunately it's all "implied", but I guess it's still pretty out there for '75...) some flying snake attacks, some pretty hot rope-bondage action (but again, no full-frontal nekkidness - another disappointment...), and more real snake-slaughtering than you can shake a stick at - so PETA members and those that bitch about the animal deaths in CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST need not apply to this one either - but if ya dig sleazy HK films and can handle some snake-killing - THE KILLER SNAKES may be a good bet for ya - 7.5/10

Killer Snakes is very strong and mean spirited stuff, but great film for fans of sleaze and ultra weird cinema. A young boy has suffered all his life. He had a traumatic childhood as his parents fought and had sick sex games in front of their child. After his childhood, he was nothing but a loser in some lousy job kicked in the head all the time. He was beaten, cheated, humiliated and laughed at all the time and everyday, and he definitely didn't have any friends. Friends of human beings, no, but soon he found himself different kind of friends, very slithery ones. He started to communicate with snakes, cobras mainly, which were plenty in his neighborhood and its restaurant's kitchen, in which the snakes were horribly mutilated by chef in order to remove some parts of the creature and feed them to customers. Our protagonist starts to make friends and talk with snakes, and starts to protect them. Then he starts to use them against his enemies, practically against everyone..This film is weird and very dementedly disturbing. I'm almost sure the film makers (well, the director at least) was in some kind of dope during filming since there are so outrageous visions and use of lights that create an atmosphere one would probably feel after taking hard drugs. There are many different colors and strange soundtrack, but the settings are also very dirty and off putting, and this is the first Hong Kong movie, I saw the city depicted this dirty and loathsome. There are poor people, prostitutes and pimps and all kind of scum that live in big cities. The widescreen photography is not too inventive, but since the over all tune is so unique and hallucinatory, I cannot but appreciate this sick little gem.And then the snakes, which are of course real and plenty. If you scare snakes, DO NOT even think of watching this film since you will faint if you try. There are big snakes and little snakes, fat snakes and thin snakes, slow snakes and very fast snakes, so there are all kinds of snakes in the film. I don't know how they shot some of the scenes since it seems like the actors just lay in the floor as hundreds of snakes were on and next to them, so I don't know were they tricks or were the actors so desperate they really did all these things with these creatures.There are many over-the-top scenes, most notably the most infamous in which this guy ties a girl like in some s/m session, and lets snakes free on her naked body, and some of the snakes, of course, find the most valuable and sensitive body part of the girl, and crawl there and I'm sure female viewers (if there are any) will cringe in that scene, since even I did. The cruelties committed at snakes are unsettling to watch, as real snakes are mutilated and burned alive in the film, but that was the film makers' moral that time (and in some cases, even today, unfortunately), but at least the snake abusers get something back in the movie, so maybe the film is a statement again about humans' and nature's relationship and how humans exploit everything we get our hands into.The final scene is again very memorable and makes me wonder how they attached the snakes on that standing fellow, or were they real snakes in the first place? This film has so much outrageous elements, scenes and ideas, this is a must for fans of Asian demented and twisted horror/sleaze cinema, and worth tracking down. There are many other similar films made in East, and it is just one example of what separates their cinema from Western cinema. Again this film proves how unique Eastern cinema is in many ways. 8/10

For those looking for a good example of Asian horror that isn't too over-the-top to start with, KILLER SNAKES is probably the best one to seek out. Available on video from Something Weird and letterboxed to boot, KILLER SNAKES is pretty memorable.A pathetic man who overhears his mother's sadistic affairs as a child grows up with snakes as his only friends. He is beaten up by pimps and prostitutes, has his heart broken by the girl of his dreams, and loses his job. He finally gets sick of the humiliation and torment and sets his king cobras on his enemies.KILLER SNAKES has a great plot, despite being similar to both WILLARD and STANLEY. I actually preferred this to both of those films, as it has a great Hong Kong atmosphere and better acting by the entire cast. The snakes are used to better advantage and the city of Hong Kong is a wonderfully sleazy setting for such an effective film. Sleaze fans take note of one scene in particular: the man ties up a prostitute in an S&M sling and sets snakes loose on her naked body after feeling her up. REALLY sick stuff! But amazingly effective.KILLER SNAKES is highly recommended by me, as it is highly entertaining and is a great introduction to the world of outrageous Asian horror. Next on your list should be BLACK MAGIC 1 & 2, CENTIPEDE HORROR, or SEEDING OF A GHOST.