I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

The ultimate in cheesy monster movies, this low-budget oddity is blessed with a better-than-average cast for the genre, but otherwise it falls mostly sub-par. It's a slow-moving and often boring mess, with long passes of dialogue about nothing in particular, an unintelligent script which often repeats the same words and passes, and direction which shows absolutely no flair for visual art. Its also one of those movies which ran out of money during production, meaning that at the end we get lots of padded footage from earlier in the movie which doesn't make much sense being inserted where it is. The simple storyline involves a giant snake being transported to America where it escapes (of course – the film wouldn't exist if it didn't) and wreaks havoc on a university campus.The best and most hilarious part of the movie sees the snake invade a sorority house, where it stalks the screaming naked girls like an ultra-cheesy Michael Myers impersonation. Here's a film which utilises a dated 'snake cam' (often used since in monster movies and such), where we see the bloody deaths through the snake's tinted blue vision. The sappy Tangerine Dream theme song only adds to the weirdness of the proceedings. For the blood and guts fan, the film reaches about an average level of grue, with some bloody snake bites and attacks and at least one bit of fun, rubbery special effects which shows a victim swelling and disintegrating as a result of a snake bite! The snake itself is a cheesy, papier-mâché type model, but it serves its purpose well and at least looks fairly imaginative.Heading the cast is Peter Fonda delivering a typically bland, laid back turn as an investigating doctor. However, his character hangs around in the sidelines and doesn't actually achieve much as a hero. The heroine is also extremely bland, so its left to our favourite ham Oliver Reed to deliver the performance goods. From trancing out in a static box to slashing at the venomous serpent with a knife come the abrupt (but powerhouse) climax, he's in control and he makes the movie. The only other cast member of note is Al Waxman, typecast as a slimy villain, who hams with gusto. Aside from a few fun performances, a handful of decent action bits, and some slimy special effects, however, SPASMS is an unusually bland movie and for the most part a disappointment.

SPASMS tops my list for the best killer snake movie out there. Jason Kincaid (Oliver Reed) has this massive serpent captured and brought to the US because it killed his brother and he now shares some kind of psychic link with it (!). He enlists the help of psychologist Tom Brazilian (Peter Fonda) to study the animal and the mental connection, but they don't count on a group of snake worshiping Satanists (!!!) to complicate matters by accidentally setting the beast free. Amazingly, director William Fruet (FUNERAL HOME) gets the cast to play this entirely straight with Reed - who shot the snake themed VIPER (1981) the same year - really throwing himself into his crazy part (even if he seems to be whispering every line). The attack scenes are really well staged (a sorority house siege being the highlight) and DP Mark Irwin makes the movie look way better than it should. Dick Smith handled the gooey special effects; the bursting bodies are great 80s bladder effects but the snake is kept offscreen for the most part. Tangerine Dream supplied the "Serpent's Theme" for the soundtrack.

The story in a nut-shell. Oliver Reed has a psychic link to a satanic super snake which emerges from hell every seven years and kills people on a tropical island. He can see through the snakes eyes when it kills! Obviously the best thing to do in a situation like this is to bring the snake to the US (Actually Canada filling in for California) Naturally the snake gets loose and continues doing what giant venomous satanic super snakes do best. BITING PEOPLE!!! Good stuff.The FX are done on the cheap. Lots O POV shots, inter-cut with VERY quick shots of a GIANT balloon-y snake head on a too thin looking body, inter-cut with screaming bloody people tossed around. The whole thing was done on the cheap for the most part. There is one well done super venomous bite that makes a guy break out a little. They probably spent half the budget on that one shot. You'll know the scene when you see it. If you like bad horror flicks from the 80's. You'll probably dig this movie. If the snake doesn't scare you, Oliver Reeds mustache will.

Wanted to drop a quick note here in defense of Brent Monahan, a high school buddy and friend of my husband's. Brent has stated that the movie's script was altered at least 75% from the original story that he had penned--a common practice in Film Land. Even "An American Haunting" suffered a deviation of 30% from his original story. He will be having a new film produced from one of his works, but only on the stipulation that his own script is used. So lets hope that we will finally get the chance to see his entire novel as it was written.In my experience, unless the original author gets to write the script, stories are often massacred beyond recognition.