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Home | Film Reviews | Film Review: Anaconda: Trail of Blood (2009)

Film Review: Anaconda: Trail of Blood (2009)

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SYNOPSIS:

A vicious anaconda escapes into the remote mountains after being subjected to a new anti-cancer serum, and now Dr. Amanda Haze (Crystal Allen) and others must brave the wilderness to kill the fearsome beast. But no sooner do they cut the snake in half than it regenerates into two bloodthirsty serpents, thanks to the experimental drug. Don E. FauntLeRoy directs this creepy-crawly sequel to Anaconda 3: The Offspring. John Rhys-Davies costars.

REVIEW:

The big snakes are back..well ok, big “snake”, for another round of body chomping in our newest edition called “Anaconda: Trail of Blood”. Our evil master mind this round goes by the name of Murdoch, who has funded a very large project to find a serum to heal fatal illness. The intent though involves some very devious intentions and the use of creating very large snakes. The cure comes from a hybrid of the black orchid flower which produces regeneration and healing effects of halting decomposition. The tests used on snakes produces a species that requires constant feeding with a higher metabolic rate.

Peter our scientist in charge ends up as snake food when his precious experiment gets loose. The ever able Amanda is determined to put an end to the experiments and destroy the serum for good. So in a nutshell we have the setup for a “snake gone wild” episode.

When Murdoch doesn’t hear back from his hired help he sends out assassins to kill off all the remaining bodies and bring the serum back. His current ailment and dying body are in need of the regeneration qualities it possesses. 1 million provides payment to thugs to get the job done. Though for professionals they come off as a bunch of bumblers at times. What’s more funny is that they kind of react nonchalantly to the threat of a giant snake. Well at least at first.

Back in the jungle we have team 1 and 2 who are excavating in the area. Team1 is MIA, so team 2 goes out to investigate. Our fellow travelers include leader Jackson, Anna, heather, Roland, Scott and Patrick. All sort of expendable at least for the purpose of this movie. little do they know that most will end up down the belly of the beast. There is a little drama along the way, but not enough to really carry the story much. You get the point pretty much right away that these people will become chipdip

The premise setup is pretty standard. A giant snake gets loose, people die, sense of urgency, panic, planning, plot to destroy, and a secret to keep. Without going further there is a few things to count on. One, high body counts, 2… stupid moves and 3, fight for survival. So what is it that keeps us drawn to movies about killer snakes? My guess is the fear of snakes is a universal dread that still haunts many subconscious traits within us all. So with that we can guarantee we keep seeing films about snakes pop up here and there. The one in review abandoned the “part 4” moniker of the series, though I’m still sticking with Anaconda 4.

Where does this fall on the scale of anaconda films? As expected there is alot of stupid common sense moves that fail to make sense. A snake that can keep up with the pace of a car but is sluggish when chasing humans. Alot of forest running instead of taking cover? A mess of dead body finding but failure to recognize that it would be better not to stick around to investigate?

To summarize, there’s really not alot new going on here. The names have been changed but the play is much of the same. With a bunch of assassins confusing the the mix you really just want to get to the munching . Which you more or less assume that all bad men will get eaten. My favorite still stands with the first Anaconda movie but then again they had an all star cast also. Is it me or would just poisoning the carcasses do the trick to kill a big snake? or maybe throw a tasty meat stake attached to a grenade? Oh ya…one problem. The snake can regenerate…so it will take a bit more to kill him off so easily.

Even though you know your looking at a extra large CGI snake they are still pretty cool to watch. Most of the cast is really just numbered victims awaiting attack. The story is really only a decoy to set us up for this fact alone. Victims are mostly just consumed or get there heads bitten off and then consumed. One way or another they are going down. The thrill for me was these tasty little segments. Beyond that much of it kind of went by without much investment of interest. Hey…its a film about a big snake…what more do you want?

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