SNAKEHEAD TERROR
Besides being an awesome name for a hard riffin' southern rock band, SNAKEHEAD TERROR is a pretty fun creature feature. SciFi channel anchor Bruce Boxleitner is a sheriff at a lake resort town with a snakehead problem, a dopey teenage daughter and a mayor who doesn't want to close the lake on account of the shitty economy. A few years earlier, when we as a nation were terrified of the possibility of a real life snakehead invasion, the resort town in the movie poisoned the lake to nip the invasion in the bud. Back to the present and it appears the snakeheads are back. Well-intentioned scientist (creepy smoking X-Files guy William B. Davis), in an effort to revitalize the bait shop economy, has dumped steroids in the lake to spur fish growth. Trouble is not all the snakeheads are dead and the survivors are now immune to poison and pumped up on juice.
Supermodel Carol Alt plays girl-Hooper, I don't remember her name exactly but she knows the snakehead. There's Indianapolis moment, though. So the sheriff and the mayor butt heads and the sheriff makes "No Swimming" signs. Even after they catch one and cut it open to reveal a human hand, the mayor seem convinced that they clearly caught the offending snakehead and the problem is solved. What's nice though is that the snakeheads crawl around the woods and eat people. They even get a guy in his house. They're usually cool rubber puppets - a welcome change from cgi, although there's some of that too. Plenty of the puppets get shotgunned which is great fun. The house seige scenes reminded me of THE BOOGENS. They really are a blast. There's a great "Velma loses her glasses moment" in there for you Scooby Doo fans. Boxleitner's daughter and her friends launch an ill-fated vendetta against the snakehead after they eat her boyfriend. She really takes it personally. Boxleitner is always good in these things, like the golden days of "Bring 'Em Back Alive". Apparently he was in BABYLON V which I've never seen. I think I might've seen II or III. Anyway, there's a giant snakehead too. Boxleitner channels the late Doug McClure nicely. At no time does anyone tie a sheepshank. Bottom line: above average for a Scifi (SyFy) channel flick, up there with FRANKENFISH.
