The Bottom Line
Pros
- Nice gore
- Decent production value
Cons
- Cheesy computer graphics
- Unlikable characters
- Melodramatic
- Clichéd
Description
- Starring Tara Reid, Jonathan Scarfe, Corbin Bernsen, Jessica Steen, Don S. Davis, Aaron Pearl, Genevieve Buechner
- Directed by Bill Corcoran
- Rated R
- DVD Release Date: September 23, 2008
Guide Review - 'Vipers' DVD Review
Saturday night on the Sci Fi Channel can mean only one thing: animals running amok. One major contributor to this trend is the "Maneater" series from RHI Entertainment, a collection of TV movies featuring every conceivable mad animal on the loose -- from tigers (Maneater) to sharks (Shark Swarm) to bears (Grizzly Rage), oh my! It's surprising that it took until the tenth entry in the series to get to snakes, but now we have Vipers, a formulaic tale of man messing with Mother Nature and paying the consequences.
The story is by now old-hat: a big corporation looking to find a cure for cancer conducts research on horned vipers, altering them genetically in order to produce more of their cancer-fighting venom. Unfortunately, the genetic enhancements also make them more aggressive and insatiably hungry.
OF COURSE the snakes end up escaping the research facility and invading a small island town called Eden. They hunt in packs and can eat a human -- bones and all -- as we find out from the standard horror movie "lovers in a tent" scene. But have no fear! Ex-Marine Cal Taylor just happens to have moved to town that very day! Together with his dead friend's ex, Nicki (Awkward!), he protects the town, but thankfully not before several residents are devoured.
Vipers offers nothing new to the killer animal genre, but the snake attacks deliver the grisly goods, with vipers tearing out hunks of flesh at a time. It's all done digitally on the cheap, so it's not realistic enough to take seriously. Apart from the 10 minutes of gore, though, the movie provides little for horror fans to treasure. The rest is cliché-ridden, hammy drama with unlikable characters and mediocre acting. Granted, there's always some schadenfreudian glee to be had watching Tara Reid portray anyone who can string together a coherent sentence.
The DVD
No special features.
Movie: D+
DVD: F
