Spasms (1984)

Spasms stars Oliver Reed as Jason Kincaid, a wealthy big game hunter who, while hunting in the jungle of a remote island, becomes cursed by a demonic serpent. Since the encounter, the hunter is telepathically linked to each attack done by the snake by way of an all-blue color perspective. The serpent is eventually captured after a vicious rampage against the island's native inhabitants and smuggled to North America for research when it escapes it's handlers. From there all hell breaks loose setting up a final, fateful confrontation with Reed's character. Spasms is a fairly decent suspense movie that will keep you riveted as you follow the snake's indiscriminate path toward each doomed victim it encounters. Special effects are generally good for it's time, showing some of the damage impact of the serpent's poison on it's victims but shots of the rarely shown snake itself does reveal some limitations due to lack of budget...this movie would be a good candidate for a CGI enhanced remake with increased budget to tie up the original's loose ends; mainly the believability of the snake itself. The movie is loosely adapted from the novel "Death Bite". Spasms is an increasingly hard to find title which so far is only available in it's out-of-print VHS format.

Conjured up by a tribe of primitives, a giant snake returns to kill anyone in it's path. Big game hunter Jason Kincaid(Oliver Reed) is plagued by "viral telepathy"(he was bitten by the snake, whose potent venom he was immune, his brother wasn't so lucky)and seeks the help of a psychiatrist, Dr. Tom Brazilian(Peter Fonda) experimenting with extra sensory perception, hoping for an antidote to cure his "link" to the snake. Kincaid can see through the snake's eyes and even feels the pain of it's victims. Kincaid's niece, Suzanne Cavadon(Kerrie Keane), attempts, futilely, to keep the snake from entering Stateside, and her efforts to kill it fails(..she turns up the temperature of the box containing it) but a former CIA agent, Warren Crowley(Al Waxman, in all his sweaty, lecherous glory) who is paid by a Snake cult leader to kidnap it(..a member of the cult frees it while attempting to tame it), fails at the job, barely escaping with his life while the fiend is set loose on civilization. Anyway, the snake is loose on the streets as the police comb the area looking for it while Tom hopes to find it through Kincaid, by using whatever device or tool he might have at his disposal in finding it's whereabouts before more and more innocents are stalked and destroyed. Kincaid decides he must end it's reign of terror once and for all, even if it means his life. Crowley, himself, must also find it or suffer the wrath of the scorned cult leader who demands for the snake to be in his possession or else.While the attacks are ferocious, the snake is mostly shot off-screen, with director William Fruet opting to show the bodies of victims hurled around like a battered toy in the hands of a child. A lot of the film is shot in point-of-view, the screen tinted blue as we see through it's eyes as it pursues potential victims. The plot will inevitably be viewed as rather nonsensical, and rightfully so, the whole idea of a man being telepathically linked to a devil snake. The creature itself looks like a rubber snake, so perhaps it was best not to show him too much. Fonda looks and acts very disinterested; I imagine he has disowned this movie, and perhaps Oliver Reed had as well. Probably the most memorable suspense sequence occurs as Fonda and Keane search for the snake in a university greenhouse. Also, perhaps memorable is a scene involving a pretty naked girl showering as her friend is being torn to pieces by a snake in the room next to the bathroom, before it bursts through the glass door to get her. Pretty embarrassing movie for Fonda and Reed known for much better than this, a low point for two really impressive careers.

I think I liked this a whole lot more than most as it is indeed riddled with the most obvious flaws - all of which somehow come back to a script that doesn't work completely nor is allowed to due to budgetary problems. Oliver Reed plays a wealthy businessman who had gone on a hunting trip with his brother seven years ago. While there he was bitten by this supernatural snake whose venom mysteriously didn't kill Reed(though did his brother) but rather made a psychic connection with him instead. ? Anyhow, the film opens with Reed having some hunters capture the beast in Micronesia and bring it to him in San Diego. Reed enlists the help of Peter Fonda as a psychic specialist giving him a full laboratory and underwriting for research. While this is going on a snake cult leader wants to abduct this snake(how they initially knew about it is even a greater mystery)and they have hired Warren Crowley(Al Waxman) as the sleazy man who will get them the snake for their cult - not to be worshiped but because the snake is the great Satan or some crap like that. The story quickly erodes however into the snake being unleashed in San Diego and going on a killing spree. What exactly do we see? It surely isn't the snake. We get some angles of his head but never a body shot. We do get these color muted scenes that are suppose to be things from the snake's POV as well as Reed's once the psychic hot-line is stronger. Believe it or not, this POV stuff works and is not really that bad. But the rest of the film cannot carry these small moments terribly far nor a plot that just wasn't finished. We never get any closure with the snake cult - it just disappears at some point in the film. Peter Fonda is barely in the film despite a prominent role. Oliver Reed, looking like he could use a trip or two to the gym, walks(with a cane) through his role with unrealistic calmness at some points and unbelievable hysteria at others until the end comes and it is the low point of the film in every definition of that word. Despite all those things, I kind of liked Spasms. Director William Fruet has obvious skills though he doesn't always share them with us. Reed and Fonda are indeed bad but in an enjoyable manner. Al Waxman is a hoot. There are some weird, inexplicable plot threads beyond explanation - what about Reed's relationship with his niece? Were they going for some incest thing or something else? We never do find out though the foundation had been laid much earlier. The biggest problem with the film is not the acting, the direction, or the ridiculous story but the misnamed title. This film should never have been called Spasms. Yes, we some faces bloated and popping all over when bitten by this snake. The effects are intriguing to say the least. The film would have been better served if called something that was more closely related to what the film was about. How about The Seven Year Snake Meets the Seven Year Itch. Snake Eyes. Snake in my Head. Okay, a more serious attempt might be Venom or something simple. Again, I concur this is a very bad film but one that I liked for being somewhat fun. There are a couple scenes which stand out: the darkened opening scene where you see(barely due to the poor lighting) the men Reed has hired to catch the serpent looking on when the serpent opens assault on the natives. How about the greenhouse at the university where Fonda and niece run from the snake. The three girls being snaked to death in their home(catch the pretty blonde in the shower sans clothing) Or my favorite scene is the girl in the bikini catching a ball in a park. Man was that a snug fit...uh hummm...Spasms is a fun trashy film to some degree...take it from me.

The story in a nut-shell. Oliver Reed has a psychic link to a satanic super snake which emerges from hell every seven years and kills people on a tropical island. He can see through the snakes eyes when it kills! Obviously the best thing to do in a situation like this is to bring the snake to the US (Actually Canada filling in for California) Naturally the snake gets loose and continues doing what giant venomous satanic super snakes do best. BITING PEOPLE!!! Good stuff.The FX are done on the cheap. Lots O POV shots, inter-cut with VERY quick shots of a GIANT balloon-y snake head on a too thin looking body, inter-cut with screaming bloody people tossed around. The whole thing was done on the cheap for the most part. There is one well done super venomous bite that makes a guy break out a little. They probably spent half the budget on that one shot. You'll know the scene when you see it. If you like bad horror flicks from the 80's. You'll probably dig this movie. If the snake doesn't scare you, Oliver Reeds mustache will.