Curse II: The Bite (1989)

Curse II: The Bite (1989) * 1/2 (out of 4) Clark (J. Eddie Peck) and his girlfriend Lisa (Jill Schoelen) are driving through the desert when he's bitten by what he thinks is just a normal snake. Unfortuantly for him, this was actually a radioactive snake and soon Clark's hand begins to form into a mutant snake.THE CURSE ended up being a surprise hit, or at least a decent money-maker so this sequel was produced. In reality, I'm going to guess that the original title of this was simply THE BITE but the "CURSE" part of the title was added on by producer Ovidio G. Assonitis to try and milk money off the first ones success. For the most part this is a pretty bland movie that is just way too boring to hold your attention, although there were a couple decent ideas scattered throughout.If you thought that the characters in THE CURSE were stupid then you haven't seen anything yet. The couple in this movie are beyond dumb in so many ways yet I've been told that without dumb characters you wouldn't be able to have a horror movie. It's okay when people do dumb things but these two here are something else. I mean, you're bitten by a snake and your condition continues to get worse yet you don't do anything about it? Did it ever dawn on either one to seek some additional help after the first medical treatment didn't work? Perhaps if the movie hadn't been boring me so much I wouldn't have bothered this but it came across quite annoying.The performances aren't the greatest by anyone Jamie Farr was entertaining as a sly con man who is chasing the couple around over fears that he's going to get sued. Fans of ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST will also enjoy seeing Sydney Lassick turn up in a couple scenes. The special effects show their lack of money and especially since you rarely get to see the snake forming out of the hand. There are a couple memorable death scenes but for the most part CURSE II: THE BITE is a complete misfire.

"Curse II: The Bite" is a marginally better sequel, but still suffers from some problems.**SPOILERS**Traveling to Bakersfield, California, Lisa Snipes, (Jill Schoelen) and her boyfriend Clark Newman, (J. Eddie Peck) are warned away from going there but decide on a shortcut to get there. Along the shortcut, they come across a horde of snakes in the road, and getting back to a hotel, he gets bitten. A fellow proprietor, Harry Morton, (Jaime Farr) offers an antidote and they leave, only for him to discover later on that it was a mutated snake which was responsible and races off to find them. While chasing them down, he begins to mutate into a deadly creature from his hand and refuses to have anyone do anything with it. Taking matters into his own hands, he goes on the run and tries to get away, only for the snake to return and force a final showdown.The Good News: As far as cheesy 80s creature features go, this one isn't that bad. The fact that the monster's origins, as well as the few early shots of the creature itself provide, the cheese here is really abundant and far too much for most to take. For the fans, though, the slimy prosthetics are prime enjoyment. They look like really cheesy creations and have the goods to back it up, as one look at them will undoubtedly do. This is nowhere more obvious than during the two transformation scenes, which come off as great as long as the cheese is preferred. Both are really fun scenes and really go all out in providing some great work in the film. The snake comes off really well and looks great as well, another factor in helping them get over, which is also aided by the fact that both occur during the big action scenes, the house massacre as well as the final confrontation at the end. Both feature these as the centerpiece of the scenes, and are therefore full of other facets that make them fun. The body count is also upped slightly compared to the past, and there's some good kills in here. One has their throat bitten out, another swallows the snake when it's forced down their throat, another is bitten around the mouth and neck, leaving a large wound around the area and another is choked out when a prehensile tongue shoots out and wraps around the neck, among others. The last big factor is the film's fast-paced finale, which is simply loads of fun. From the brutal massacre at the house, the chase to the car and the ensuing fight that leads into the construction zone and the final confrontation there is all meshed together into a spectacular series of events that leave a fantastic lasting impression due to them. These here are the film's good points.The Bad News: This one here isn't that bad, except for the cheese. That is a huge turnoff to some, and is perhaps the biggest flaw here. The make-up on the snake transformation is perhaps the most glaring, as there's plenty of obvious rubber parts used for the shots, especially once the transformation begins. The snake is shown rarely, and when the start of the change happens, there's a little more seen but it's still a really hard to tell what it is, since the few times it is the plasticity of the face is so obvious that there's no way around how bad it looks. The snake head coming out of the hand whipping and thrashing about makes for unbridled laughter more often than not. It's not so much the fact that what's going on looks cheesy, but also the fact that this one has a really easy time discerning the fake-ness of the creature in it's scenes that this is where the complaint comes from. It's action scenes get cheesy, but the fact that there's a lot of bad special effects goes against it as well. This can be seen in two scenes, the first attack in the gas station and the fight atop the car at the end, as both are pretty much hurt by both of these areas and really stand-out from the film. There's even a few other problematic scenes, including the one in the bathroom where he cuts his hand off in the hopes of ending the curse. That leads to a scene which looked like it was intended for suspense but only comes off as goofy. The lame insurance salesman following everything is rarely better, and the scenes here are pretty bad. As it stands, though, the cheesiness is the main thing keeping it down.The Final Verdict: With a little bit of good points and some really noticeable flaws, this one does have a slight factor against it. Fans of the first one or of pure cheese creature features will find a lot to like in this one, while those who tend to prefer more straight-forward, serious affair will find this one lacking seriously.Rated R: Violence, Graphic Language and a mild sex scene

Clark(J.Eddie Peck)turns into a snake monster after he's bitten by a mutated desert snake.He starts killing various people...Federico Prosperi's "Curse 2:The Bite" is pretty lame.The only reason to watch it are pretty good special effects by Screaming Mad George.The climatic scene where Clark pukes all different sizes and breeds of snakes is fairly gross.There is also a little bit of gore,but the atmosphere of dread and fear is completely absent.The film quickly becomes tedious and boring,so fans of Italian horror will be disappointed.The acting is so-so and the dialogue is absolutely terrible.Overall,I'd only recommend this film for fans of killer snakes movies.My rating:3 out of 10.

Slightly better then the original, but not by much. Young couple on vacation run afoul of some radioactive snakes. One of the snakes bite a guy and his girlfriend is horrified to learn that her boyfriend's arm is turning into a snake. Poorly made and pointless film features an over the top finale that is way too gross also. Rated R; Nudity, Graphic Violence, and Profanity.