Snakes on a Train is a 2006 action horror film directed by the Mallachi Brothers, The movie stars Julia Ruiz, Giovanni Berjerano and Al Galvex.
Continuing The Asylum’s notoriety of capitalising on major films with low-budget films with similar titles and plots (hence the term “mockbuster”), many aspects of the film are inspired by the film Snakes on a Plane which was scheduled for theatrical release three days later than Train‘s DVD debut on August 18, 2006. However, this film contains slightly more violence and gore than its counterpart, some topless nudity, and also includes some supernatural elements. It is also more slowly paced than Snakes on a Plane.
Under a powerful zombie curse, a young woman is being slowly devoured from within by snakes that have hatched inside her. Her only chance of survival is a powerful Shaman who lives across the border. With only hours to live, she jumps aboard a train headed for Los Angeles. Unfortunately for the passengers aboard, they are now trapped, soon to be victims of these flesh-eating vipers…
According to co-producer David Rimawi, The Asylum initially had no intention of making the film, but they proceeded when an earlier film project fell through. While looking for international distributors at Cannes, a group of Japanese investors saw the film’s poster and asked if there really was a giant snake eating a train (which was originally not part of the film). In response, Rimawi had his crew in Los Angeles add the aforementioned scene to the film to make the Japanese audiences happy.
While the box promises “100 Trapped Passengers – 3,000 Venomous Vipers”, in reality, there are only about a dozen passengers and a small handful of snakes shown in the film. There is also a wholly unconnected subplot regarding two female passengers smuggling drugs.
Reviews:
‘It’s not good at all in the traditional sense but it’s surprisingly gory, fun, and reasonably fast-paced and on that level alone it makes for an amusing time killer. It’s also got gratuitous nudity, subplots that don’t really go anywhere, bad dialogue and Playstation era CGI effects.’ Rock! Shock! Pop!
‘It would be one thing if Snakes on a Train were at least entertaining. But from the unsubtitled Spanish opening scenes to the howlingly bad CGI conclusion, SoaT rumbles inevitably down the tracks past Mediocrity Station and straight on to Boredom City.’ Horror Talk
Cast and characters:
A.J. Castro … Brujo (as Alby Castro)
Julia Ruiz … Alma
Giovanni Bejarano … Miguel
Al Galvez … Julio
Amelia Jackson-Gray … Crystal
Shannon Gayle Hurd … Summer (as Shannon Gayle)
Stephen A.F. Day … Conductor
Isaac Wade … Martin
Carolyn Meyer … Klara
Lola Forsberg … Lani
Madeleine Falk … Nancy
Derek Osedach … Mitch
Jay Costello … Juan
Jason S. Gray … Chico
Sean Durrie … Dickie
Nick Slatkin … Raz
Cameron Bass-Jackson … Cooper
Paige Cooper … Dining Car Server
Philo Beddoe … Hoover
Reza Riazi … Barat
Jake Austin … The Coyote
Anthony Fankhauser … Engineer
Daryn Beasley … Passenger
John Bring … Passenger (as John R. Bring)
Erik Lynch … Passenger
Brandon Peña … Passenger
Sharon Zeev … Passenger
Megyn Shott … Passenger (uncredited)
Filming locations:
Lancaster, California
Sable Ranch – 25933 Sand Canyon Road, Santa Clarita, California
Technical details:
91 minutes
Aspect ratio: 1.85: 1
Audio: Dolby SR
