Though Hunt for the Blood Orchid is the second of the Anaconda movies, it has nothing whatsoever to do with the first film which was a good thing as the first one did not necessarily scream for a sequel. So while this is a sequel, it is also not a sequel in the same breath, merely a film that wants to cash in on the success of its predecessor. It was a decent film, holding your attention from start to finish, but the characters were not as interesting as those in Anaconda and at times, you were actually rooting for the snakes to get them. Some people think the movie is pretty cheesy and there are times when it does exude a little bit from the seams, but overall, it was not really all that bad.

The movie finds a group of researchers headed to Borneo in search of a mysterious flower that they think will be the next big medicinal discovery. Maybe it will cure things they never thought could be cured or maybe it will let people live longer, all that they know is that they have a limited window to find said flower and thus they will let nothing stand in their way. Of course, if life were that easy, the film would be over in ten minutes and so it is that various obstacles are set in their path, the worst of which are the giant man-eating snakes who are congregating to mate.

As a whole, this film is universally panned as a very sub-par sequel and there are many reasons why from the fake accents to clichéd dialogue to the less than stellar cast and yet, how can you not love the movie for those very reasons? Nobody watches a movie called Anacondas: Hunt for the Blood Orchid to see Oscar-calibre performances or the next Criterion-worthy movie. You know exactly what you are going to get and the fact that some people express outrage or disappointment at what they ultimately get is farcical. When you watch a film called Mega Shark Versus Mecha Shark you know immediately that it is going to be bad. There are no two ways about it and while Anacondas was no masterpiece, you knew that it would not be.

The great thing about this movie is that the snakes look a lot better than they did in Anaconda. The snakes in that first film looked quite atrocious and took you out of the picture a little bit while these ones, with seven years of CG improvements were a little more seamless with the environment and looked as if they could be real, though maybe not so much close-up. The setting was murky and spooky and quite dangerous in itself and it added to the overall atmosphere and mood of the film, never knowing what could happen in the middle of the jungle, man versus nature. The best part of the film was the cinematography and the special effects which helped to mask the story and script problems that took seven people to craft.

Ultimately the film was entertaining and that is what matters most of all when watching a movie. If you can get that out of a film, no matter how good or bad, then it has done its job and Anacondas: Hunt for the Blood Orchid did just that.

3 out of 5

2015 Edition

First Entry – Trapped in the… – Valley of the Dragons (1961)
Second Entry – Can You Feel the… – Tremors (1990)
Third Entry – Beauty and Danger Collide in… – Viking Women and the Sea Serpent (1957)
Fourth Entry – Dance the Night Away in the… – Village of the Giants (1965)
Fifth Entry – It Was a Time… – When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth (1970)
Sixth Entry – Do Not Fall Into the Grasp of… – The Giant Claw (1957)
Seventh Entry – Who Knew They Could Give Birth? – Tremors 2: Aftershocks (1996)
Eighth Entry – So Many to Choose From – The Loves of Hercules (1960)
Ninth Entry – Should Have Stayed Down Below – Up From the Depths (1979)
Tenth Entry – Snakes On a Boat! – Anaconda (1997)
Eleventh Entry – Think Twice Before You Cheat – Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958)
Twelfth Entry – Back to the Trough – Tremors 3: Back to Perfection (2001)
Thirteenth Entry – Past and Present Collide in… – Mega Shark Versus Mecha Shark (2014)

Last Year’s Creatures…

Giant Monster Gamera (1965)
The Monolith Monsters (1957)
Gamera vs. Barugon (1966)
Tarantula (1955)
Gamera vs. Gyaos (1967)
Attack of the Crab Monsters (1957)
Gamera vs. Viras (1968)
The Cyclops (1957)
Gamera vs. Guiron (1969)
Monsters (2010)
Gamera vs. Jiger (1970)
The Killer Shrews (1959)
Gamera vs. Zigra (1971)
The Deadly Mantis (1957)
Space Monster Gamera (1980)
King Dinosaur (1955)
Gamera: Guardian of the Universe (1995)
The Black Scorpion (1957)
Gamera 2: Attack of Legion (1996)
Them! (1954)
Gamera 3: The Revenge of Iris (1999)
The Giant Gila Monster (1959)
Gamera the Brave (2006)
Frankenstein Conquers the World (1966)