Review of Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid (2004) by Brian O — 21 Mar 2012

A scientific expedition sets out for Borneo to seek a flower called the Blood.

Orchid, which could grant longer life. Meanwhile, they run afoul of snakes and.

Each other.

I quite enjoyed the original JLO starring Anaconda, but this sequel is on an entirely different level of entertainment. As i've said before, I enjoy a good creature feature, and Anacondas is the perfect example of one. A killer animal, horror, tension, comic relief and some awesome death scenes. This also has some great scenery too, and managed to mix some comic relief in aswell which fitted perfectly. Unlike Anaconda, this sequel used entirely CGI snakes, which was slightly dissapointing at first, but it makes the movie alot more enjoyable as there are many more snakes than the first. The ending was a good nail-biting climax too (for the snakes and audience).

The film is set in the same jungle as the originals, and I love that several times characters in this film reference the original in a urban legend fashion, it gave me quite the giggle. What I found to be a plus with this film is that each character was set-up just as much as the next one, so there is no real predictability on who would die and who would survive, although you do figure two certain people would. The character set-ups also let the audience decide whether they liked them or not, which was just the more satisfying IF they met their demise. Also with this film, the unanswered question of "how the hell did the snake get so big" is ultimately answered, and the films plot is a key connection to this.

The acting was great. KaDee Strickland has the most irritating voice in several scenes, but after the original shock of hearing it, you get used to it. The highlight of the film was Eugene Byrd and Salli Richardson-Whitfield, who's antics really gave the film a sense of realisticness with there comical and terrified antics.

Overall Anacondas: The Hunt For The Blood Orchid is the perfect example of a creature feature with great acting, character development and the perfect balance of comedy with the horror. My rating is 4/5.