The Killer Snakes (1974)

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

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.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

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

"The Killer Snakes" is surely one of my guilty pleasures.This incredibly sordid horror film mixes gore,perverse sex,torture and animal cruelty.Chen Zhihong lives a miserable existence in a rundown hovel next to a snake emporium(where the owner removes and sells the live animals' gall bladders as an aphrodisiac).His only friend is Xiujuan,a pretty and sympathetic girl who sells toys in the local outdoor market.One evening Zhihong receives a most unusual visitor who becomes his closest confidant.A mutilated reptile from the neighboring shop slithers in and allows the youth to nurse it back to health.Naming the snake Xiaobiao,Zhihong soon finds that he has gained the trust of several other reptiles as well.However,his troubles with humans continue unabated,as he is beaten,robbed and humiliated by a prostitute and her cohorts.Even his faith in Xiujuan is shattered when she stands him up one evening for a date(though,unbeknownst to Zhihong,it is for a legitimate reason).With the help of his snakes he decides to take a gruesome revenge on everybody,who humiliated him."The Killer Snakes" is an ugly little film with several unpleasant characters.The atmosphere is incredibly sleazy and there is plenty of nudity,bondage and perverse sex to keep fans of exploitation happy.9 out of 10.

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.