Isle of the Snake People
Isle of the Snake People
| 01 March 1971 (USA)
Isle of the Snake People Trailers

The inhabitants of a small, remote island have been practicing voodoo rites and worshipping an evil priest named Damballah for years, but the local law officials generally turn a blind eye to this death cult's bizarre activities. Captain Labesch arrives from the mainland, determined to crack down on the island's lawlessness and clean up the ineffectual, hard-drinking police force. He appeals for assistance from wealthy plantation tycoon Carl Van Molder, who owns nearly half of the island and wields a great deal of influence over the population. Van Molder has made the study of parapsychology his life's work and believes in the secret powers of the mind. He warns Labesch not to interfere with this forgotten island's ancient ways. Also visiting is Van Molder's niece, Annabella, a temperance crusader who wants her uncle to help fund the International Anti-Saloon League. She falls in love with handsome police lieutenant Andrew Wilhelm

Reviews
BootDigest

Such a frustrating disappointment

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Beystiman

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

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Gurlyndrobb

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

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Jonah Abbott

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

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jacobjohntaylor1

This movie has great story line. It also great acting. It is better then The Exorcist. It has great special effects. It is very scary. If it does not scary you no movie will. I cant not believe that people do not like it. 3 is underrating this movie. What is your problem people. This is one of the best horror movies ever.

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soulexpress

On the Caribbean island of Korbai, the natives perform animal and human sacrifices under the mysterious voodoo priest, Damballah. When a new law-enforcement official, Captain Labesch (Rafael Bertrand), arrives, he is outraged that the police have turned a blind eye to the cult's murderous ways. Determined to bring about law and order, Labesch seeks the aid of Carl Van Molder (Boris Karloff), a wealthy and powerful landowner who advises the captain against interfering with native customs. When he ignores Van Molder's advice, policemen start turning up dead, killed by female zombies under the command of the sultry priestess Kalia (Tongolele) and a grinning, maniacal dwarf (Santonon) in sunglasses. There's also a romantic sub-plot involving Labesch's assistant, Lt. Wilhelm (Carlos East), and Van Molder's visiting niece, Annabella (Julissa), who is a proud member of the Anti-Saloon League.Karloff looks like death warmed over but is reasonably effective as the oily Van Molder. Tongolele drips with diabolical sensuality as the snake-handling voodoo priestess; the close-ups of her eyes are particularly stunning. The highly attractive Julissa is less than believable as the chaste and tee-totaling Annabella; her most effective scene is a fevered-dream sequence in which Annabella has lesbian sex with her doppelganger. Rafael Bernard chews the scenery as the self-righteous, tunnel-visioned Captain Labesch. Carlos East is barely there as the handsome, if hard-drinking, Lt. Wilhelm.The most striking performance is the dwarf Santonon's. Whether flogging an errant zombie, laughing insanely as he beheads a chicken, helping Kalia perform a ritual to manipulate Annabella's dreams, or bleeding to death after he is repeatedly slashed with a machete, Santonon fully owns each of his scenes. I can't say that his performance is good, but it damned sure stayed with me!SNAKE PEOPLE is by no means a great horror film, but I found it entertaining—even if it didn't take me long to figure out who Damballah was; even if the horrible dialogue sounds even worse when dubbed from Spanish to English; and even if the ending was too damned abrupt. The best scenes are mainly of the snake-dancers and the voodoo rituals.My favorite line of dialogue, courtesy of Annabella: "Modern science has proved that alcohol is responsible for 99.2% of all the world's sins!" (Yeah, the same way it proved that vaccines are responsible for autism.)

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Mark Honhorst

Yes, I put poople on purpose. I will admit that I was finishing an "art" project for the first fifteen minutes or so, but even then, when I wasn't really paying attention, I could tell that this was going to be a terrible movie. First off, I'd like to say that I truly feel sorry for Boris and Bela. During their later years, not only did they do awful films, they did films that are considered the worst of all time. That's okay, though. Karloff is barely even in this shipwreck. The dubbing was terrible. I don't even think that was Karloff's real voice. Most everything else was deplorable as well, including a painfully slow pace. I will say this about the film. The odd dream sequence brings the old "Making out with oneself" gag to an entirely different level. Other than that and a few exotic dance scenes,it really has nothing going for it. I haven't been through such cinematic agony since my attempt to watch an uncut version of "Manos the Hands of Fate".

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The_Void

I had a funny feeling that this film was going to be rubbish, and rather unsurprisingly; I was absolutely right. The Snake People is cheap and nasty; and not nasty in the good sense of the word, I mean nasty as in fiendishly boring and devoid of any reason for watching. The plot is highly unoriginal and focuses on something to do with voodoo and snakes. Many a good horror film has been based on a plot like this; but The Snake People makes no attempt to make the proceedings interesting, and consequently we end up with a dull, plodding film that made me wish I hadn't started watching it. Of course, the only reason this film is even remembered at all these days is down to the fact that it stars the late great Boris Karloff. Apparently, Karloff died before this was released and it's probably a good job too, as I'm sure the great horror master would not have been too fussed with how he's used here! Sometimes with crap films like this, you can expect some consolation from things like blood and nudity; but The Snake People doesn't even provide that small pittance. Overall, this is one of a (thankfully) small number of films that I really wish I hadn't bothered with - give this one a miss!

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