Needing to help his ill daughter, a disgraced scientist joins a research team looking into the purported properties that a mystical flower located on a strange island possesses, but when they arrive find the area crawling with man-eating creatures and a monstrous snake that thwarts their plans.
Overall, this was a fairly fun cheesy snake movie. One of the better features here is the engaging setup that provides a wholly thrilling setup that allows for the various setpieces to come together nicely. The main setup of the island's presence was discovered back during WWII where the true nature of it's healing flora were first discovered by the presence of the snake there keeping others from getting there which provides the reasoning for the team to get there trying to recover it. Knowing that the disgraced scientist has to go along on the trip to save his daughter which makes the trip feel far more worthwhile to study the fabled species that grows there, it manages to tie together the required elements quite well with a simplistic, straightforward series of ideas to create a fantastic, full-throttle tempo. A fine result of that setup is the series of strong, enjoyable creature action throughout here. Starting off with the attack on the troops during the period-set flashback, the idea of the snake's presence and power gets established early on which helps the film quite well. The present-day sequences, from the group getting ambushed by the killer fish while traveling through the waterway onto the island or the more-traditional jungle-island pratfalls of the depleted group attempting to get their bearings or travel through the unknown dangers of the island all create such a wild and unpredictable atmosphere there's a lot to like before the snake fully appears. Whether taking the ambush approach slithering out of nowhere to tackle and swallow a victim or going for the off-screen approach to keep itself hidden. The second half here of the group wandering through the deadly jungle and trying to make their way to safety at the expense of the vicious creatures present. Content to not just include more scenes of the snake appearing swallowing victims out of nowhere or launching surprise attacks with it being impervious to their firepower, there's also enjoyable scenes with the vicious man-eating plants on the island. This is a fun sequence offering the chance to see the creatures appearing out of the jungle to trap and ensnare victims which is great fun. The cheesiness of the creature attacks once it gets to the snake being featured again gives this one so much fun with it swarming through the jungle after them leading to a creative and fiery finale that all gives this one plenty of positives. There are some slight issues here that bring this one down. The main drawback to the film is more prominent use of jungle-adventure aesthetics than creature feature horror in the first half which might not be all that enjoyable for some. After starting off strong with the initial attack on the soldiers and then meeting the team to get to the island, the slew of confrontations here with the killer fish, the different natural traps left on the island, or the other living creatures there mean that the snake is less of a focus in this part of the film. Regardless of how much this part of the film is, the difference of using this to keep the main creature off-screen might be somewhat disconcerting to see play out. The cheesiness of this one might also be too much to take for some out there, which all hold this one down.
Rated Unrated/R: Violence and Language.
