A corrupt Chinese businessman is building a luxurious seventeen-story condominium complex, cutting corners to save money wherever possible. The construction workers uncover a large pit of snakes and the boss orders them destroyed. A few months later, as the building nears completion, all of the units are claimed during pre-sales. The developer throws a large party for the grand opening, inviting the architect and all of the tenants. Things are going wonderfully until…an army of pissed-off snakes infiltrates the building to avenge their slain brethren!

Calamity of Snakes is a notorious movie from Taiwan featuring the age-old conflict of man vs. snake. To be fair, these snakes are not discriminating when it comes to human targets. They do not single out the construction workers or the architect or even the owner and his lackeys. Instead, in order to be considered a savory snack, people simply have to show up at the accursed site and dare to call the place home. Loving couples, hard-working employees and wholesome families innocently seek a nice place to live and work – and their investment qualifies them for certain death by serpent!

Never willing to go quietly, the humans fight back against their attackers; punching, stabbing, chopping, poisoning and burning them in order to escape with their lives. It’s not easy training thousands of live snakes to perform on cue, so the occasional oversized rubber snake is employed with hilarious results. Another humorous touch comes when the snakes fly or jump in attack and you can easily envision assorted crew members standing just off camera tossing live snakes into the frame. People hold the snakes against their faces and fling themselves about in an attempt to “escape” their tormentors.

Here's the catch, it turns out the easiest way to slaughter a bunch of fiendish serpents in a movie is to, well, slaughter them for real. No members of the Humane Society were anywhere near this production and as a result, thousands of innocent snakes were brutally murdered for your viewing pleasure. This is a snake snuff film that treads alongside movies like Cannibal Holocaust featuring acts of animal cruelty. Simply nauseating are the butchering sequences in both the opening construction site massacre and later as the merchants slice and milk the animals for a tasty beverage of snake blood to eager crowds in the streets. A scene featuring the dark side of nature pits snakes against two aggressive mongooses who do what they do best.

Calamity of Snakes is far from being considered a good movie but somehow remains hypnotically engaging. There is a cruelty-free version of the film included on this disc, but honestly, there is something about watching the bottom level of exploitation playing out that, much like passing a car wreck, you cannot look away at times. I hate how they did it, but there are some shocking and surprising moments in this picture capable of challenging some jaded viewers’ entertainment levels. Others may want to retire to the humorous snake bashing of The Simpsons episode “Whacking Day”.