The Killer Snakes

This was a rip-off of the American horror movie STANLEY... which in turn was a rip-off of WILLARD! I've seen my share of twisted Hong Kong movies, though I was really surprised to see that this level of sleaze was going on before the '80s! (Guess I need to bone up on Hong Kong cinema) Bondage, bondage, and more bondage! And the movie really wallows in the scummier side of Hong Kong, refusing to show us nothing but slum districts, dirt, filth, criminals, prostitutes, and other people of a disreputable nature. I wonder if Queen Elizabeth would have still knighted Sir Run Run Shaw had she seen this movie his company produced!

Putting that question aside... While it may sound like sleazy fun, it's not. The production values aren't bad, but it's *very* slow going, and the various exploitation moments (violent or erotic) don't come across as much fun, either from dull direction or made not to be fun (like *real* snakes being chopped up right in front of our eyes.) The movie doesn't seem to be heading in any real direction, which might explain why the final 5 minutes has some unexplained (or unbelievably explained) plot turns that help to quickly wrap things up.