User reviews

"La Muerte Viviente" aka. "Isle Of The Living Dead" aka. "Snake People" of 1971, is an extremely trashy and unintentionally hilarious movie, and one of the last movies of the great horror icon Boris Karloff. I have utmost respect for director Jack Hill for movies like his great blaxploitation classic "Coffy" starring Pam Grier. "Snake People", directed by Hill and Juan Ibanez, however, is one of these movies that are so bad they're actually pretty good. I'm a big fan of trashy B-horror flicks, but the only two reasons why I enjoyed "Snake People" were Boris Karloff, who plays a rather small role in this, and the movie's unintentional fun value.

The tropical island "Korbai" is reigned by a bizarre voodoo cult. The cult's unholy priests, amongst them a creepy midget and a scary snake dancer, sacrifice beautiful local girls to their occult deity "Damballah". The girls, who volunteer as sacrifices in order to achieve eternal life, are then resurrected from the dead as mindless zombies. Determined to put an end, to these rituals, that are ignored by the local police, Captain Pierre Labesch comes to the island. He asks the islands richest landowner, Carl Van Molder (Boris Karloff) for help. In the meanwhile, Van Molder's niece, who came to the island to fight alcoholism, befriends a local police lieutenant.

As a horror movie, "Snake People " fails entirely. As an unintentional comedy, however, it is hilarious. The dialogue is extremely poor (and therefore extremely hilarious) and apart from Karloff, the acting is really bad too. The locations are amateurish, the plot has huge holes and many logical errors. While Captain Labesch, for example, is obviously French, and came to the island sent by 'the government', other law enforcement officers of this government have English names. I laughed a lot when I saw this movie the first time, and I will definitely watch it again. Don't expect any suspense, but watch this as the unintentional comedy it is and entertainment will be guaranteed. 3/10

Echoing narration informs us about the "diabolical" new threat of voodoo on the island of "Korbai" near Haiti and a laughing, sneering midget in sunglasses cuts the head off a (real) chicken. Then Anabella (played by Julissa), a member of the International Anti-Saloon League informs some soldiers that, "Modern science has proved that alcohol is responsible for 99.2% of all the worlds sins!" She arrives on the island with others to visit her uncle Carl von Molder (Boris Karloff or his masked double).

Meanwhile, blue-faced zombies are overrunning the island. Voodoo cultists kill soldiers with a blowgun, strangulation and machete and regularly resurrect the dead with the help of the dwarf (who whips them). Rabid zombie women eat a man and one soldier adopts one as his girlfriend to scratch his back and fan him. ("Imagine a beautiful woman that can't talk. Every man's dream!") The niece has an extremely bizarre dream of her evil double suggestively sucking on a (real, live) snake before kissing her (?)

Little of this movie makes sense and the ending stinks, but it has some weird, senseless stuff to recommend. It's one of four much-hated movies Karloff did in 1968 before his death, constituting his final film work.

This film is also known by it's shorter name "Snake People". This is not what you would call a good film... but it's not completely horrible - it's so-so.

We have Boris Karloff as Carl van Molder / Damballah a man that owns over half of the island and studies parapsychology. He is a firm believer in leaving the island natives to their ways - but there is a deeper reason for this.

We have voodoo cultist killing people, a beautiful voodoo priestess and zombies. If this sounds appealing to you and you like older low-budget horror movies then you might like this film. This is not one of those "must see for horror fans" films but rather for those that like some of the older trash horror films.

This is a good film to have for Boris Karloff fans - it's one of his last films.

4/10

In 1968 horror legend Boris Karloff was filmed and the footage was incorporated into four Mexican horror movies released in the early 1970s after his death. Now these movies are regarded by most horror buffs as being absolute turkeys, but if 'Snake People' (the only one of the four I've seen to date) is anything to go by I must disagree. Karloff looks old and ill but his handful of scenes are still worth a look. The rest of the movie is a bit illogical, but unlike the naysayers I didn't find it to be boring. Voodoo snake cults, come on, how is that boring? The most interesting thing about 'Snake People' is that it was partly directed by cult film legend Jack Hill ('Spider Baby', 'The Big Doll House', 'Coffy', 'Switchblade Sisters'). Quentin Tarantino is a massive Hill fan and calls him "the Howard Hawks of exploitation". I believe Hill shot all the Karloff scenes in California and this was mixed with Mexican footage directed by Juan Ibanez, but apart from that I have no idea whether the movies were already scripted before filming, or improvised later Roger Corman style. Anyway, the story concerns a young woman (Julissa) who visits her aged Uncle (Karloff) on a small Caribbean island. Unbeknown to her it is the home of a voodoo cult which eventually kidnaps her. But hey, the plot doesn't really matter, there are lots of zombies and snakes and a creepy dwarf in a top hat and Boris freakin' Karloff dude! To be completely honest 'Snake People' wouldn't even crack a place in my horror top 100, but you know what? I enjoyed it. Enough to watch it twice. And if I was faced with the choice of watching it a third time or sitting through the likes of 'Cabin Fever' or 'House Of 1000 Corpses' again then it's me and Boris and the snake worshippers baby!

In one of the four Mexican-American horror films he made before his death, Boris Karloff remains typically fun to watch. He plays Carl van Molder, an evil plantation owner out to create an army of zombies. Opposing him is righteous police captain Pierre Labesch (Rafael Bertrand), who arrives from the mainland to deal with the lawlessness on van Molders' island. Also newly arrived is van Molders' niece Anabella Vandenberg (the lovely Julissa), who preaches temperance. Van Molder appeals to alcoholic Lieutenant Wilhelm (Carlos East) for help with his problem.

Admittedly, the low, low budget "Snake People", a.k.a. "Island of the Snake People", a.k.a. "Cult of the Dead", is not exactly high art, or great cinema. But there's a place in the world for schlock like this, too. Juan Ibanez is the credited director, with cult icon Jack Hill handling the Hollywood-lensed scenes, and they strive hard for weirdness and atmosphere. The script is full of mumbo jumbo involving the living dead, voodoo legends, and LSD, but it's certainly amusing. And there's enough reptile action for the film to earn the use of the word "snake" in two of its titles, not to mention some effective sensuality and erotic dances.

The film goes as far as it can on the strength of the always compelling Karloff, supporting actor Quintin Bulnes (as the shady Klinsor), who has a great character face, the enticing Tongolele as the striking villainess Kalea, and another fine character player, Santanon, as the demonic dwarf. Bertrand is fine as the protagonist of the piece, receiving decent support from East.

There's enough bare skin and moody ambiance here to make this reasonably entertaining, especially on the level of a classic "late show" type of movie. Don't go into it expecting a lot of sense and logic, but one *can* expect a moderate level of fun if they're into this sort of thing.

Five out of 10.

I Bought this film on DVD a couple of days ago not expecting much, and my intuitions were correct. Very slow with dialog that goes all over the place. We never get a grasp of where the film is taking place, who are these people and why anyone is doing what they do. Master horror icon Boris Karloff is basically exploited for name recognition (something that would happen quite frequently in the later stages of his career)and has little if anything to do. His relationship to the cult and how it evolves is never explained. The only reason I finished this sleep enhancer is the sexy dancing of Mexican actress (and exotic dancer) Yolanda Montes billed here as Tongolele. Nearly forty years old at the time it was made, Tongolele still possessed a knockout figure and sexy aura. Her two dance sequences are the only thing that will keep you awake while trying to finish off this turkey.

Just before he died Boris Karloff shot back to back footage for four poverty row horror flicks. Additional scenes were later shot in Mexico - with mostly different actors! - to bring each of them up to feature length.

This is the first and most coherent of this unfortunate quartet of pictures. It's also the dullest. Boris is a plantation owner on an island threatened by a curious voodoo cult that throws in cannibalism and snake worship with the usual business plan of raising of the dead to work in the fields.

The story is bereft of any new ideas and the phallic imagery is rather puerile. Still, we do get some lively snake dancing and the matching of the two sets of footage is not that bad, although Karloff's foreman appears in one scene with a beard and the next scene without!

If only the great man had stopped here!

When "Captain Labesch" (Rafael Bertrand) arrives on a remote island under French colonial rule he is determined to put an end to the barbaric practices involved in voodoo rituals. With him is a naive young woman named "Anabella Vandenberg" (Julissa) who wants to rid the world of alcohol. To aid her in this mission she has come to the island to enlist the help of her rich uncle "Carl van Molder" (Boris Karloff) who owns a large plantation further inland. But what neither Captain Labesch nor Anabella realize is just how powerful the people who practice voodoo really are and that they are quite willing to use whatever means are at their disposal to continue their blood-thirsty rites. Anyway, rather than detailing the entire story and possibly spoiling the movie for those who haven't seen it I will just say that this turned out to be a bit better than I expected. Admittedly, the action was a bit bland but the overall story was decent enough and the dancing of Yolanda Montes (as the voodoo priestess "Kalea") certainly didn't hurt the film in any way. Now, that is not to say that this movie is great by any means. But I didn't think it was that bad either. That said, I give it an average rating.

This is one of Boris Karloff's last films. It's a confusing train wreck featuring Karloff as Damballah / Carl van Molder, a sexy-as-hell snake dancer named Tongalele, a maniacal grinning dwarf, zombies, and lots of big snakes of course. The basic premise of the movie is that the island has been taken over by zombies and followers of a voodoo cult who worship their leader, Damballah. The local police force are more interested in finding the bottom end of a rum bottle than they are in stopping the activities of the voodoo cult. A superior officer of the police arrives on the island to clean things up, and he tries to enlist the help of a large plantation owner, Carl van Molder. Van Molder is uninterested in helping the police, telling them to leave things as they are, that they don't know what they're messing with.

It's campy but fun, I've seen a lot worse that's for sure.

I liked Boris Karloff in the Mummy, and Frankenstien, but like all actors reaching their peak they decide to take whatever they can give them... and this was one in which Boris took. Whether it was for money, boredom, you be the judge, but he did the movie and now I will probably be the judge of how it looks.

Visual and colorful, that's about all I liked. And the nice dancing.

But the acting is as poor as any B-movie fan or non-fan can pretty much see. Stale, plain, and unintentionally funny comedy arises from a movie that would have been better off shelved forever. There are moments that are pretty gruesome, but the midget... yes, him, is actually cute as he outshines Boris more than ever. I remembered him over Boris Karloff, and wondered why he doesn't appears for more than a few scenes. Why doesn't he? Oh well.

Yeah, SNAKE PEOPLE sucks, but there is something odd about this film. It's difficult to enjoy and hard to recommend -- even Boris Karloff's near death scenes of catatonia are hard to enjoy, knowing how sick he was and probably out of his mind on various drugs. He plays a zoologist living in Guyana or someplace like that, and has stumbled upon some secret voodoo sect that practices snake worship and human sacrifice. There is a weird midget who does nasty things to chickens, a local pervert who wants a pretty native girl zombie for some live-in necrophiliac housekeeping help, a pretty grand daughter who has some downright Freudian nightmares, a local snake priestess who dances with two or three of the things dangling over her body to frenetic bongo drums, and other elements that defy verbal description.

What always gets to me, though, is the aura of claustrophobia and decay that the movie exudes. It's a wretched film to be sure, but there are certain images such as the tiny cages encasing over-sized anaconda snakes in a teeny laboratory that sort of stick with you. Nothing about the film is particularly scary, but watching it does evoke a feeling of unease that's hard to deny. If just making audiences feel uncomfortable is an achievement than this movie actually does succeed on some level, though it plays out more like a random nightmare. The story isn't memorable as much as certain images -- the snake dancing, the bizarre dream sequences, the Baron Samedi figure presiding over the voodoo ceremonies -- resonate on a basic level.

About Boris Karloff, there's probably some truth to saying that his presence in the film is exploitational, especially when considering that it was only released after he had actually died. Nonetheless it does look as though he is actually enjoying himself, since he was first and foremost an actor who lived to make motion pictures. They prop him up in his wheelchair (probably with an oxygen tank close at hand) and most of his lines seem to be delivered in a sort of delirium; he doesn't seem to be interacting with anyone, just doing his part when he had enough strength, and there is a certain sadness knowing that this kind of work is what his greatness had been reduced to.

But at the same time he MADE the film, probably because he had to keep working just to stay alive. Completists of his films should probably find a copy, and it's relatively easy to find in a somewhat truncated form on various public domain DVD releases that should cost only a few dollars. I doubt the film will ever receive any kind of restoration job, it's certainly not any kind of artistic triumph and certainly isn't regarded with much reverence, but it is interesting and will perhaps one day be regarded as a triumph of cinema's ability to create a feeling of ill ease.

4/10

THE SNAKE PEOPLE or Isle of the Snake People was one of four films Karloff signed to make for Producer Luis Vergara. The Mexican filmmaker had obtained financing from Columbia Pictures to film them in Mexico. But due to the actor's emphysema and arthritis problems with his legs in a brace problems in high altitudes, the Mexican actors and crew came to Hollywood and shot the four films back-to-back in the Hollywood Stage Studios in Los Angeles instead. There, all of Karloff's scenes were filmed in five weeks during the Spring of 1968. During the filming, Karloff was physically incapacitated by lung trouble, which necessitated an oxygen mask from time to time. After Karloff's scenes were completed, the crew returned to Mexico and shot the remaining scenes there.

This thing deserves a better reputation. True, it has its down side. The photographic technique isn't the best. Quickly panning in and out, jerking the camera around, these are things I think directors do when they don't know what else to do. Lack of imagination excused by low budget. Aside from that it has lots of pluses. Karloff is good, as always. The rest of the cast play their parts very well. Two in particular come across perfectly and so help make this a good flick. Carlos (Charles) East does well as Wilhem, making the character very natural and hence believable. But, my opinion, the best player of them all? Yolanda Montes, billed as Tongolele, as Kalea. With her sex appeal and that budding "Bride of Frankenstien" hairdo shes dead on as the Voodoo priestess. And with sex appeal in mind, I noticed a pronounced current of underlying sexuality that flows nowhere. But things like that help pull 'em in when you show the promos. This isn't a bad movie. For a B flick its OK.

It is very difficult to determine for many which is the best of the late-career-Karloff Mexican films, because they all share the same problems with one another and come this close to having no redeeming qualities. Fear Chamber was the worst, though The Incredible Invasion is one of the absolute worst final films of any actor. Personally, the best is this, Isle of the Snake People because it also has Yolanda Montes' entrancingly sexy dancing as well as Boris Karloff's dignified(though he is also criminally underused) performance, the rest only had Karloff going for them. Saying that is saying little because it is still terrible. The rest of the acting is atrocious, even the dwarf who is more camp than menacing, there is an uneasy mix of those who have no signs of acting talents and those who have no idea how to play their roles. Visually, Isle of the Snake People is the most colourful of the lot but still shows no signs of style, genuine love or finesse, it always looks like it was done on minimal budget and in tight time constraints. The music is overly-strident, the dialogue is horrendously stilted and you never care for the characters. The story is the worst thing about Isle of the Snake People, it is more uncomfortably weird than atmospheric, is very randomly structured and incorporates many things that add nothing and are left unexplained. The abrupt ending and flat direction put the final nail in the coffin. In conclusion, probably the best of the late-career Karloff Mexican films but only has Montes and Karloff who are anywhere close to good. 2/10 Bethany Cox

In ISLE OF THE SNAKE PEOPLE, Boris Karloff plays mysterious plantation owner, Carl Van Molder, who just might be hiding a secret identity. Voodoo cultists cause much mischief, gaining the attention of the new police chief, who vows to pull the plug on their antics once and for all. They don't take kindly to this idea, and terror unfolds.

Considering that Karloff was 80 years old and in ill health during this, he does an admirable job. The movie itself is a ridiculous shambles, but has a certain weird charm.

We're treated to a hoodoo hoedown, zombies, cannibal women feasting upon unwary cops, and the beautiful Tongolele (aka: Yolanda Montes) performing her snake dance. My goodness! Her undulations are enough to convert anyone to the voodoo arts! An exotic dancer in her heyday, and regardless of her age in this film, she casts a powerful spell!

Ahem, so, prepare for some schlock-tastic fun...

Ever since I was a kid, Boris Karloff has personified horror for me.

That's why I spend time on line looking for his films to watch.

I stumbled on this one tonight and decided to give it 30 minutes.

That's about how long it takes to decide if any movie is worth watching, I think.

Turns out it was one of his last films, when he was quite ill.

It's cheesy to the point of having a strong aroma.

It's not so much horrible (scary) as it is a visual combination of semi-shocking images, for example, a midget cutting the head off a chicken.

It's certainly not for everyone, but you know who you are.

A voice-over attempts to explain the religion of voodoo to the uninitiated, after which we witness a ritual presided over by a leering midget in sunglasses and a top-hat who sacrifices a real chicken (lopping off the poor bird's head with a machete) in order to raise a woman from the dead.

Cue groovy titles.

Written and co-directed by Jack Hill, the man behind several hugely entertaining exploitation classics from the '60s and '70s, Snake People certainly has the right ingredients to be a whole lot of schlocky fun: graveyard ceremonies (complete with plastic skeletons), a sexy priestess who gyrates with a snake, zombies, cannibal women, Boris Karloff, a bull-headed French cop who riles the locals, and a beautiful young woman destined to be sacrificed.

Unfortunately, Hill only handled Karloff's scenes in L.A., leaving the majority of the film to be directed in Mexico by Juan Ibáñez, who displays little of Hill's movie-making moxie. Ibáñez's direction is lethargic, turning potential exploitation gold into dull, repetitive and occasionally incomprehensible nonsense.

Poor old Karloff starred in four of these low budget Mexican/US co-productions during the twilight of his career, but was spared the pain of seeing the end results by popping his clogs before their release.

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!

Another of the dreadful Mexican cheapies Boris Karloff made at the end of his career. All were filmed in 1968 and released later. It's pretty sad that this is one of Karloff's final roles. The plot involves voodoo, as a number of these dreary ugly horror movies made during this period do. I guess the voodoo fad was late making its way to Mexico. There's not a single positive thing I can say about this wretched unwatchable excuse for a film. Even the ailing Karloff, who filmed his scenes in a studio stateside and had to rest in a wheelchair between takes, can do nothing to help this. It actually makes me sad to see him like this. Anyway, Karloff buffs may want to check this film off their list. I see no other reason anyone else should subject themselves to this.

It almost looks like Boris Karloff eventually became the embodiment of the horrific monsters he played for a period of approximately 50 years. Why? Because even for several years after his death, he kept on appearing in tiny horror productions like as if he was still amongst the living. In reality, however, these movies were completed since years already but they never got released immediately for whatever reason. In fact, Boris himself never got the see the four last films on his own repertoire ("Island of the Snake People", "Cauldron of Blood", "The Fear Chamber" and "The Incredible Invasion") and that's probably a GOOD thing, considering the quality of these films. They're all uninspired and dull films, cheaply produced with foreign money and directed without the slightest sense of professionalism. Jack Hill, creator such cool movies like "Spider Baby" and blaxploitation-classic "Foxy Brown", is credited as co-director but his influence is barely noticeable, to say the least. This movie features an incredibly overlong opening scene in which a freaky midget resurrects a dead girl from her coffin. The sacrifice of one single chicken and a crazy voodoo-dance apparently suffice for that. The only point of this intro is to make clear that the events take place on an island where the natives still practice the voodoo religion and that they're capable to do supernatural things. Boris Karloff's character is somewhat the patriarch of this island, and he certainly doesn't like it when an ambitious police lieutenant arrives to clean up the place. "Island of the Snake People" is a very slow and tame movie, despite the premise of resurrected corpses and ancient voodoo rituals. The zombies look deader than when they actually dead, so certainly don't expect any brain-devouring monsters that hunt down everything that moves. The concept is actually similar to such films as Jacques Tourneur's "I walked with a Zombie" or "White Zombie", since the living dead serve as slaves to work in the fields. Naturally this movie lacks the style and frightening atmosphere of the aforementioned titles and even the make-up effects are poorer, despite being made over 30 years later. Boris Karloff is great as always, but he can't carry the whole movie by himself. Instead of letting him run crazy snake cults, they should have allowed him to enjoy a quiet and peaceful last couple of years. Poor Boris. If it's any consolation, you'll be remembered for earlier films a lot more.

The film is almost worth it for one scene: A dead woman is to be made a zombie; the ritual goes like this: a dwarf in sunglasses and love-beads, top-hat and tux (over a tie-dye tee-shirt) whips the back of a native girl kneeling before him. She gets sexually excited (although fully dressed) and has orgasm. Then a goat is brought in. The dwarf licks the whip he has been using to beat the girl, and then he takes a tuft of goat hair and licks that. A white guy kisses the dead woman, who comes to "life". Later we find that the girl who has been whipped to death has died as a human sacrifice, although it's not clear how, since the blood on her dead face has nothing to do with the whipping. Maybe it was just the ecstasy, it was too much for her.

Oh, Boris Karloff is said to star in this film I think he's on about five minutes of film here, but I may be overestimating; there's also a Karloff stand-in who's too tall, too thin, and otherwise doesn't look anything like him.

The rest of the film just sucks.

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.