Anaconda

Anaconda, directed by Luis Llosa with all of the subtlety of a snake-oil salesman, is in the great tradition of cinematic cheese, as processed as Kraft Singles slices.

A silly and plodding Jaws rip-off about a 40-foot man-eating snake on the prowl in the Brazilian rain forest.

One never questions the realism of the remarkable animatronic and computer-generated effects, but it's hard to credit a snake that screams.

Anaconda is about a snake that eats everybody. That about says it all.

Anaconda is such a classic combination of feckless dramaturgy and rampant excess that giving way to giggles is the only sane response.

A trashily entertaining reptilian version of Jaws set in the steaming heart of the Amazon rain forest.

An above average specimen hungering for tasty morsels.

Just to show, early on, how much danger these folks are in, we get to see the film's titular star squeeze a black panther so tight that one of its eyeballs pops out.

In its natural habitat, Anaconda can be appreciated for its campy pleasures, not the least of which is Jon Voight in a delirious, balls-out performance as creepy Paraguayan snake poacher Paul Serone. [Blu-ray]

...never quite lives up to the promise of its admittedly irresistible set-up...

lives better in the memory

Luis Llosa's Anaconda is great "B" movie trash, complete with bad special effects and cheesy monsters.