Jason Kincaid (Oliver Reed) is a multi-millionaire philanthropist. Jason lost his brother during a trip to the jungles of Micronesia from being attacked by a taipan snake. Jason himself was also bitten but survived. The attack somehow created a telepathic link between Jason and the snake. Years later Jason is still traumatized by the event and believes that he needs to find the snake and study it to find out why they have this connection. To that end he hires a man named Mendez (Miguel Fernandes) to capture the serpent and ship it to the United States. Jason’s niece Suzanne (Kerrie Keane), having already lost her father, is upset that her uncle is bringing the snake to the U.S.
Dr. Thomas Brasilian (Peter Fonda) is a college professor of psychiatry and is working on research into ESP. Jason wants to hire Tom to explore the connection that he has with the snake. Tom has been having trouble getting funding for his research projects. To secure additional funding for his own research, Tom agrees to Jason’s terms. When the snake arrives in San Diego it is placed in the research lab at the college.
In the meantime, a snake worshiping cult led by Reverend Thanner (George Bloomfield) and his assistant, Deacon Tyrone (Angus Macinnes), find out about the serpent and know that it is a one-of-a-kind creature. The cult believes that the snake is a satanic demon and they want to worship it. They hire a slimy middleman, Warren Crowley (Al Waxman) to monitor the situation and steal the snake. When Crowley breaks into the lab he inadvertently lets the snake escape.
As the snake runs rampant throughout the countryside people are being bitten and die horrible deaths. Jason and Tom attempt to find the snake but Jason’s mental connection to the creature puts him and everyone else in serious danger.
“Spasms” was released in 1983 and was directed by William Fruet. It is a Canadian horror film. The movie was loosely based on the 1979 novel “Death Bite” by Michael Maryk and Brent Monahan.
Most of the snake action is POV. The few times you get to see it, it’s somewhat decent but still not overly impressive. The most impressive special effects are the air-bladder effects used to represent the extreme swelling of victims after they have been bitten. Despite the underperformance of the snake, the acting was, for the most part, good, especially Reed’s tortured soul.
It ended up being a cool 80’s style snake movie despite the fact that the snake is mostly absent. It may not a big thrill for today’s standards, but for 1983 it was impressive enough, and for the most part, I enjoyed it for what it was.
The snake is supposed to be a taipan snake. Taipans are a large and fast moving. They are also extremely venomous.