Ragnarok (2013) Horror Monster Myth

Ragnarok (2013)  - The solid writing in this good old fashioned monster movie makes for good introduction horror for the kids. Scary with children at risk, but never so much that there is a a thought of death. There is nothing gory or too violent in this Norwegian film. It is a tale of a man who is failing at raising his kids since his wife died of cancer 5 years prior, who is failing at his job as an archaeologist seeking the location of the viking myth Ragarök. While attempting proving that myth has a location he reconnects to his family and what is most important in life. The myth which is not really a place but the description of a series of events in the Poems of Edda is the myth used but it is a way for the family to get to the location of the monster. Once there we can see the interpersonal story withing the family play out to a satisfactory conclusion.
The father in this film is Sigard (Pal Sverre Hagen) who plays a man emotionally crippled five years after losing his wife to cancer. He is still struggling with the little things like feeding the children, daughter Ragnhild (Maria Annette Tandero Berglyd) and younger son Brage (Julian Podolski), getting them to school and showing up on time to there events. He is also in trouble in work, arriving late to an investors meeting at the museum his boss gives him the ultimatum he probably should have had years earlier. Problem with Sigard is that besides letting his grief handicap him he is obsessed with the myth of Ragnarok and as things in his personal life fall apart he discovers a cypher for some ruins he thinks will lead him to a great discovery. Packing up the family and accompanied by fellow researchers Allen (Nicolai Cleve Broch) and Elisabeth (Sofia Helin) they head off into the Finnmark along the old Soviet border in search of a myth.
  Well constructed with the building of the interpersonal relationships, the main character's flaws and the plot of the discovery, all withing the concise scenes that set the stage for the adventure. We end up with several well plotted line going at once. Ragnhild and Sigard must reconcile his ineffective parenting as she moves from her tweens to teens.get to his daughter's concert at school. Later with his inability to put her needs for a real vacation ahead of his need to search for vikings. Set up early with his inability to  Sigard must reconcile finally having not moved on from his wife by being presented a love interest. He must also balance the desire to solve the mystery of  his archaeological finds with the safety of his family.  Then also are some nicely set up secondary characters, like the shady guide who helps then find the lake of viking lore. A partner Allen also is well set up as the overly enthusiastic one, with no children of his own we can see his behavior contrasted to that of Sigard. It all comes together to tell a complete tales with multiple facets.
  If there is a criticism to be made it is that the film is so well designed that it is inevitable. I is an example of screenwriting that takes all the time needed, but the limited budget means that the excitement and effects are not included until the climax of the film. Around the twenty minute mark the film finally gets a group heading to the Finnmark, Sigard and his kids, Allen and assistant and love interest Elisabeth and guide Lief head into the wilderness across the old Soviet border to find the "Eye of Odin" which turns out to be a lake with an island in the middle of it. Everything is tied up neat and tidy with each location used later in the film being introduced earlier. Each interpersonal flaw seen earlier is either a cause of later trouble or weakness overcome later. Each set to be used later is shown but not explored. Since this is really a family monster movie we know certain things like the family will come out of it changed but alive. We know that since it is set up early that Sigard needs to move on from his wife's death we know the only other female character next to his daughter will survive as his love interest. That leaves two characters who are in jeopardy. The first being the greedy guide is set up when we meet him so his turn is expected. That leaves Allen and his betrayal or stupid move is straight out of one of the Jurassic Park movies.
  Do not allow these small criticisms to stop you from seeing this film. It is a wonderfully entertaining little family adventure. Sure you will have to read subtitles, unless there is a dubbed version out there somewhere but still it is worth it. There is a definite recommendation for this one.

Venomous (2001) Horror Snakes

Venomous (2001) -Well another snake movie this one in the guise of an epidemic film. There has been a lot of these lately and I make no apologies for that, although my views has suffered because of it. I guess snakes are not the new zombies. This one with the always interesting Treat Williams takes place in the California desert and it is a wild adventure ride. Let me not get ahead of myself though, first the setup.
  The opening scene has a scientist Dr Dutton (Marc McClure) help two people he thinks are reporters, into his secret base in the Mojave desert Dept. of Defense research facility. He brings them into a room where there are lots of rattle snakes in cages, and talks to them about how they are doing gene splicing with infective agents. He thinks he is being a whistle blower and setting them up for a great story. What he doesn't know is they are actually Iraqi terrorist here to fight for their homeland. When they see the snakes the two kill Dutton and a couple other people before dying in a shootout outside. The bomb they left behind explodes blasting the building open and releasing all the dangerous snakes.

  The film picks up ten years later in Santa Mira Springs CA. There have been quite a few small earthquakes and we see from shots of rattlers under ground that the shaking is making them active and has them leaving their lairs. Local mechanic Bob Jenkins (Lee de Broux) has to head into town so he calls his dog Gertrude in from the desert. Poor dog is bitten by a rattler on the way in, but Bob does not notice the bite while petting the dog. Sad news for old Bob because on his way into town he suddenly gets ill and collapses in his truck.
  This brings him to the hospital and Dr. David Henning (Treat Williams) and he just doesn't know what is causing the illness. When Bob quickly dies, David calls his wife in Maryland a worker for the Dept. of Defense Virology Research Center asking if she could run some more sophisticated blood test on a sample he will send. They set up that David and wife Susan (Mary Page Keller) are breaking up, hell she is already using her maiden name again. Later when she calls back it is a brand new virus, and she says she will take it to her superiors.
Another case comes in Billy (Brian Poth) who was bitten by a rattler, that fool gets the anti-venom and then heads to his job at the local diner. Cooking for a good portion of the town mean the virus is about to spread really fast. It is not long before people are pouring into the hospital sick and quickly dying. This is a full blown epidemic and so far all the pieces are not in place to be sure it is the rattlers although Henning does have the idea as a possibility. He send more samples to his wife but then a twist happens.
  Her boss Gen Arthur Manchek (Geoff Pierson) knows what this knew virus is but he is not talking. Since we had the opening scene we can put two and two together and see that he and the DoD covered up the escaped snakes ten year before. This virus we learn is similar but not an exact match so breeding in the wild has changed it a bit. So if they deal with this event and send in a cure there will be all kinds of questions that may expose him and his boss Major Gen. Sparks (Tony Denison). They can't have that so they intercept the next shipment of blood samples from Santa Mira and replace them with blood containing e coli. This of course throws the search for a cure for a loop.

  The evil of these guys is not limited to blood samples though. They take the next step which is to quarantine the town and begin lobbying the White House to firebomb the whole area. They figure if they get that option although it will kill everyone in the town it will also kill all the snakes and they will continue to cover their asses. So to help with the lie they tell the Presidents chief of staff that everyone is the town is dying of a mysterious virus and they have to act fast.
  Meanwhile Henning is coping and figuring out that the snake bites and close proximity to someone who was bitten is how the virus is spread. Susan rushes back to the town and soon is working with him to figure out an antiviral medication they can manufacture to save the town. Mixed in with this is snake collecting to milk venom, more victims, people trying and failing to get out of the quarantine, soldiers hassling citizens, and the ever recurring earthquakes, where each time the ground rumbles we get shots of underground snakes breaking out of the ground coming right at the camera fangs bared.
  So the two tracks of the movie are established, the doctors seeking a cure but being hampered by a Department of defense determined to firebomb the region, a thing they call directive 712. It all comes together as the cure is found, but at the same time the Generals lie to the White House and say everyone in town has died of an ebola type virus and the only way to be sure the virus does not spread is to go ahead with directive 712. They get the okay and have to do everything in their power to make sure the media just outside the quarantine zone don't see anyone alive. The plane is in the air when our hero doctors try to make sure Horton hears a who.
  This film overall is pretty lame, sort of a TV movie with decent acting but nothing challenging or surprising. It plays out just as expected even the relationships which were so blatantly set up turn out as expected. The effects with some live snakes but more silly looking rubber ones were disappointing. There were the requisite number of close calls and family and friends sick, to set up a race for the cure but at every step you saw it coming. So I don't think I can recommend this film although I thought it was at least a more complex script that Snake Island (2002) don't go out of your way to find it.
Rating (4.3) 5.0 and up are recommended, some more recommended than others.

Snake Island (2002) Horror Snakes

Snake Island (2002) - Wayne Crawford wrote, directed and starred in this simple horror story about a bunch of tourists and safari workers trapped on an island of deadly snakes. He may not have many credits but is noteworthy for writing the 1983 somewhat popular film Valley Girl. Unfortunately this is not a great film it is more a 'Gag me with a spoon" film. Okay that's a cheap shot sorry. Crawford and co writer Arthur Payne fail to create a story with much of a plot. It is a simple survival story with reptiles as the antagonist, then throw in every variety of snake known to man and suddenly make then more aggressive than most and you have a fight for survival.
  Like I said the story is simple of a safari tour boat is cruising around South Africa looking for animals. They have to stop off at Snake Island to drop off writer  Malcolm Page (William Katt) doing research on snakes for a book and the wildlife resort crew that has recently purchased Snake Island. Headed by Eddie Jones (Russel Savadier) a former finance guy who gave it all up to run a resort on his newly purchased Snake Island. The other safari crew is Capt Jake Malloy (Wayne Crawford) hands Lisa (Dawn Mathews), Ronnie (Nicola Hanekom) and Righteous (Japan Mthembu). They with their tour passengers, newlyweds Carrie (Milan Murray) and Lance (Jason Kennett), and Lawyer on vacation Heather Dorsey (Kate Conner) have the misfortune of having to make the stop that ends up being the end of most of them.

  While Jake is helping Eddie unload gear to the resort, a snake on the boat creates enough rustling and chaos that the gas tank is punctured and the entire group has to spend the night on the island. Through some early scenes of coworkers of Eddie, and POV of snakes stalking them we know the damn things are everywhere. Not only that but they seem to be seeking the humans out.

  There are a bunch of shots to establish characters, Jake hitting on Heather, Ronnie hitting on Malcolm, the newlyweds being, well newlyweds, Lisa getting drunk and dancing topless with Ronnie, Heather stripping down for some swimming pool sex with Jake. Eddie getting blasted and not getting any of the women. Also some nice safari pictures as they take some time to see the island. We learn the island was once a peninsular but a levy break during some flooding turned it into an island. Because of that there is not only a large population of African animals but also an really high count of snakes that had taken to the peninsular's high ground in the rain. This all before the hissing biting fun starts.
  When the group breaks up for the night there are multiple scenes of death and mayhem.Since the bungalows appear to be pretty spread out the snake deaths start but those not involved never know that people are dying. Lisa gets bitten in the show, another gratuitous nudity shot. Heather has a close call, and so it goes. Malcolm doing his research on the island teaches us that for years the snakes have been hunted on the island and so they have evolved over time to seek out and kill humans. Yes evolution makes the snakes killers. Although it is one of the weakest theories and totally not how evolution works, it is the one the writer chose to go with.

  When everyone that is left finally figures this all out, the plan is to split up and try t get to the small boats parked on either side of the island. They are not sure they are there and the snakes who now know the humans are there are on the prowl between them and the boats. I told you this was a simple survival story. This is the whole plot. Someone will make it to the boat you just have to watch to find out who. Okay since William Katt was the Greatest American Hero on TV you can be pretty sure he will be a survivor. But who else?
  In the end there is not enough good action, compelling story or cool twists to get me to recommend this film. The splashes of nudity feel like they were needed to try to sell this to the predominately male horror audience but they are only flashes to tease the teens. The acting is not bad with some very believable performances so that should not stop you from seeing this film. Be warned though if you don't heed my skip it recommendation that you will probably be a bit disappointed. So make up your own mind, hell if you are trying to see every snake movie ever made this won't be the worst you can do, it just won't be the best.
Rating (4.0) 5.0 and up are recommended, some more recommended than others.

Hisss (2010) Horror Snake Goddess

Hisss (2010) - Sometimes a good story idea can be ruined by poor execution as is the case with this dud from writer / director Jennifer Lynch. The promising story idea of the Indian Snake Goddess Nagin being lured into the world of men through the capture of her snake lover certainly could have been a winner. Unfortunately the script meanders its way towards a conclusion that could have been a full thirty minutes before. The villian George States (Jeff Doucette) is so over the top it is distracting, and the nonverbal role for the immensely beautiful Snake Woman (Mallika Sherawat) misses more than it hits. She is in some scenes that are artful and interesting but there is so much of this material you find yourself wanting to fast forward. Still Sherawat has the beauty of a goddess and is a pleasure to look at.  While the lead cop Vinkram Gupta (Irrfan Khan) and his wife Maya (Divya Dutta) also giving solid performances of a couple struggling to have a child it is not enough to save the film. Maya's mother adds some off beat humor in her slightly off her rocker way. Compounding the problem in the script are some really horrible stereotypes of Indians being money grubbers only interested in cash as well as some of the worst practical and computer generated effect I have seen outside of  the SyFy channel.
  Getting back to the story, after getting the tale of the Snake Goddess, how if you capture her male snake mate, that she will change into a human and seek her lover. The captor could then compel her to vomit up the Naagmami stone and with it have eternal life. This is the plan for George States an American who has brain cancer and is running out of time. He has heard this story and is so desperate for a way to extend his life that he is willing to try anything. A total douche bag to the point of being a distraction he shows little or no concern for those helping him. In fact he is a violent fuck who will sacrifice anything and anyone to get his way. He of course is successful in his capture and so the story starts.
  The first time we see Nagin she is transforming from a snake into a human. She is writhing on the ground in the mud turning from King Cobra to naked human. The effects are pretty poor but compared to some later effects they are real winners. Inter-cut with scenes of Indians praying I suppose the transformation was supposed to seem very respectful and artsy but the bad computer graphics make that impossible. Once fully human Nagin needs to clean up, eat and head into town to find her lover.
  Naichi India is the town, where that festival where everyone dances around throwing brightly colored dyes on each other is in full swing.  There again is an artful attempt to create something beautiful onscreen, slow motion of people dancing in the festival mixed with the Nagin swaying to the music of a snake charmer. It is a valid attempt until the film breaks for a group dance sequence like you would see in a Bollywood film. It is totally out of place here and then we get a clunky transition to get back to our story. Nagin is noticed by two drunk revelers and is lured into an apartment. They plan to rape her which I want to point out is another stereotype put forth by the film. Men in India when not talking about how they want money are looking for ways to fuck women against their will. Things don't go well for the two as the Nagin transforms quickly into a giant computer generated snake. She kills one of her attackers with bites and then swallows the other whole. The snake charmer recognizes her for who she is and later will let States know she is coming.

  This is the tie in to Vinkram that the film needed, he is called in on the case and we will see he closes in on the Nagin as the Nagin closes in on States. This is really the rest of the film as the nonverbal snake Goddess moves ever closer to the American and the cops follow her path of bodies to the same place. Mixed in with this is the personal story of the cop and his wife, who are trying to have children without success. Irrfan Khan is a fine actor who conveys sensitivity and caring well in the scenes with his wife. The humor of the wife's slightly off her rocker Mother connects the couple to the Nagin through the prayers the older woman says to her idol of said goddess. Later the addition of a new partner for the cop seems more a comment on the nepotism of the Indian bureaucracy than a needed element in the story.
  The path to the final conflict has many strange turns and twist, including:

•  The nude Nagin climbing a light pole in the night to warm her body under the light. 
• The cops figuring out the digested remains of the guy the Nagin swallowed whole, including his cell phone ringing in the glob of clothes and hair.
• States spending his time either abusing Indian workers or electrocuting the male snake to more quickly attract the Nagin.
• The Nagin killing a woman who runs a shelter for abused woman in then sells the right to rape the women in her care to the evil Indian men who would do such things.
• Finally reunited for a fleeting moments with her male who is dying there is this strange human snake dance thing that I really don't know why is there.

In the end the script by Lynch takes way to long to reach its conclusion. Mix this with the blatant anti Indian approach, where the male oriented culture is portrayed only in the negative. The portrayal of the American as the lowest of human beings, and over acted to the worst degree by Doucette. Add in the simply awful special effect and asides for artsy set pieces and you have a real turkey of a movie. So no recommendation from this blog for this film. It is a shame as Lynch got a fairly decent review of her film Surveillance (2008) here at Soresport Movies.
Rating (2.5) 5.0 and up are recommended some just more recommended than others
 

Sssssss (1973) Horror Mad Scientist

Sssssss (1973) - Boy how things have changed in the 40 years since this film was made. In a day when practical effects are fading from film and animals are more likely to be animated than live on set I look back at Sssssss which is proud of the fact that it uses real highly venomous snakes and takes the time to thank the actors for putting their lives at risk. A mad scientist, Dr Carl Stoner (Strother Martin) thinks the world is going to shit and the only way that mankind is going to survive is to be more cold blooded. Of course Stoner has a strange plan for making sure we survive. He is a snake expert and through his experiments is trying to give snakes human intelligence. We know right from the beginning that Stoner is not on the up and up. The opening scenes show him and a carnival side show manager are loading a crate interestingly human size onto  the carny's truck. The sound coming from the darkened crate are human-ish but not quite. The opening definitely pulls you right in wondering what this guy is up too.
  Stoner is a snake researcher working out of his house with his daughter Kristina (Heather Menzies-Urich) as an assistant. He also employs a local student also David Blake (Dirk Benedict) who looks to get some school credit for his work. The research is very seldom discussed in the film more Kristina is around to show how the Stoner is down and out not being able to get research grants. He is a bit of a lush as well as a disagreeable fellow when it comes to kissing establishment ass. Its sort of strange really because the actor really makes him a likable character.  Blake is the new guy to replace the last assistant Tim (Noble Craig) who mysteriously disappeared to take care of a sick family member. He is young and naive and happily takes the injections from the doctor as immunization to the many dangerous snakes in the lab. The last main character is Harry the alcoholic pet boa constrictor who plays his role with honesty totally selling it.
  So what is really happening in this film?  I am not really giving anything away by talking about the plot because the film does not try to hide anything. We as the audience completely understand what the intentions of every character from the moment they are introduced. There is no subtlety, or nuance to any of the characters. Stoner is a scientist trying to turn his male assistant into a snake with human intelligence, the only question the film leaves is will he be successful? Will Blake figure out what is happening before it is too late? Will the excessively blinded by love daughter pay attention to things enough to realize her new love interest is changing and will she confront her father or remain loyal? Seeing how these questions get answered is the reason to watch this film. You can tell early on how it is going to go but there are some fun things along the way.

• We get to see Stoner hypnotize and then milk a king cobra for its venom.
• We get to watch the development of the relationship between Kristina and Blake including the most rediculous blocking of naked bodies when they go skinny dipping by putting something in front of the lense, so obvious and silly.
• We get to see the tough guy Steve Randall (Reb Brown, who later played Captain America) throw around Dirk Benedict before the tables are turned with Blake doing his patented snake strike fighting move.
• We see the transformation of man into snake, as well as the failed attempt on poor Tim.
• We get to hear some one say the line. "Freaks, that what you are a bunch of snake freaks."
• See a man have to put his hand into a cage with a viper to get a key only to miss the large snake in the rafters.
• We also get to see Blake fight for his life against a mongoose.

  Its an interesting thing, the police get involved but more because they hear things than actually having interest about a home snake lab in the county. When things get crazy they come in at the end to clean up the pieces but really are never an antagonistic factor. Stoner is the main player and in the end he may realize his dream of a snake with human intelligence.
  Is this movie worth a view? Well that is a hard call. On one hand it is a uniquely 70s film and I do so love much of the mumbo jumbo that came out in those years. On the other hand it is a very predictable movie with every turn telegraphed. Really only the ending scenes are a mystery in this one. Some of the acting is good particularly Strother Martin, but Benedict and Menzies-Urich are not so much. Cameos by the Carny Kogen (Tim O'Conner) and Prof. Daniels (Richard Shull) are excellent while most are cartoonish and not so good. So I think although I really didn't mind watching the film that it falls into the category of "Ed liked it but you probably won't." So I am not recommending this one.
Rating (4.2) 5.0 and up are recommended , some more recommended than others.