Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid

Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Dwight H. Little
Screenplay by	John Claflin Daniel Zelman Michael Miner Edward Neumeier
Story by	Hans Bauer Jim Cash Jack Epps Jr.
Based on	Anaconda by Hans Bauer Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr.
Produced by	Verna Harrah
Starring	Johnny Messner KaDee Strickland Matthew Marsden Eugene Byrd Salli Richardson-Whitfield Nicholas Gonzalez Karl Yune Morris Chestnut
Cinematography	Stephen F. Windon
Edited by	Marcus D'Arcy Mark Warner
Music by	Nerida Tyson-Chew
Production company	Middle Fork Productions
Distributed by	Screen Gems Sony Pictures Releasing
Release date	August 27, 2004 (2004-08-27)
Running time	97 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$20–25 million[1][2]
Box office	$71 million[2]

Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid is a 2004 American adventure horror film directed by Dwight H. Little. It is a stand-alone sequel to the film Anaconda (1997) and the second installment of the Anaconda film series. The film follows a team of researchers set for an expedition into the Southeast Asian tropical island of Borneo - Indonesia, to search for a sacred flower for which they believe will bring humans to a longer and healthier life, but soon become stalked and hunted by the deadly giant anacondas inhabiting the island.

The film was theatrically released on August 27, 2004. Like its predecessor, the film received negative reviews and was a financial success. It was followed by a sequel, Anaconda 3: Offspring in 2008.

Plot[]

A team of researchers funded by a New York pharmaceutical firm Wexell-Hall, including Dr. Jack Byron, Gordon Mitchell, Sam Rogers, Gail Stern, Cole Burris, and Dr. Ben Douglas, leave for a jungle in Borneo to search for a flower called Perrinnia Immortalis, otherwise known as "the Blood Orchid", which they believe can be used as a type of fountain of youth. Though their guide Captain Bill Johnson and his partner Tran Wu have misgivings, Jack convinces them to take an unsafe path. The team goes over a waterfall and has to wade through the river. A giant anaconda emerges from the water and swallows Ben whole, but the rest of the team escape from the river. Bill assures them that it was the largest snake he has ever seen and that it should take weeks for it to grow hungry again. However, most of the team demand that the expedition be called off. They travel to Bill's friend, John Livingston, who lives on the river, to see if Bill can borrow his boat, but they find Livingston dead and his boat wrecked.

They find themselves in a small native village consisting of thatched huts and a disembowelled anaconda with a pair of human legs hanging out of the snake's abdomen. The team realizes that the snakes are unusually large in size because their lives have been extended through the orchids, which are a part of the local food chain. Jack says that since they must be close to the orchids, they should press on, though the others contend that there is no evidence that the orchids will have the same effect on humans. Wanting to leave, they start building an escape raft.

Gordon discovers Livingston's radio and gun and realizes they could have called for help long ago. Jack is unable to convince him to allow the expedition to continue, so he paralyzes Gordon using a venomous spider. As Jack joins the others at the raft, Sam discovers Gordon and the spider bite. An anaconda drops down from the rafters and swallows Gordon alive soon after she leaves the building. The others arrive just as it finishes, so Bill sets the building on fire in hopes of killing the anaconda, but notices that it already made its escape. Jack uses the commotion to steal the raft.

With no more material to make another raft, they hack through the jungle to beat Jack to the orchids and retrieve their raft. On the way they fall into a cave trying to escape from an anaconda. Cole gets lost and panics after finding a skeleton. He runs into Bill's partner, Tran, and as they return to the others, Tran gets pulled under and Cole tries to find him, But Tran is eaten. Bill tries to find Cole and Tran, but also notices Tran's lost flashlight floating with his blood surrounding it. The terrified Cole escapes from the caves behind the group, seconds ahead of the snake, which follows him through the hole and gets stuck. Sam uses a machete to behead it, but another snake captures Cole. The team follows and find him being constricted, but still alive. Bill throws his knife and impales the snake through the head, killing it and freeing Cole.

The group finds the raft just as Jack finds the blood orchids, hanging precariously above a pit in which a ball of male anacondas are mating with the queen. Jack shoots Bill in the arm and forces the party to accompany him to the orchids. He has Sam cross the pit via a thin log to fill a backpack with orchids. As she returns, the log cracks. Jack orders her to throw him the backpack, but Sam threatens to drop the flowers into the pit unless he drops the gun. The log breaks, and she falls, hanging by her leg halfway down the pit. As the others try to help her, Jack attempts to retrieve the backpack. The spider he used to paralyze Gordon escapes from its jar and bites him. Jack falls into the pit and is devoured. The vine holding Sam also gives away and she too falls into the pit, but is alive. She climbs out just in time as one of the anacondas tries to get her feet.

The female anaconda notices them, but Gail tricks it into biting their fuel container. Bill tries to shoot the snake, but the gun is empty. Cole shoots it with a flare, causing a chain reaction that sets the anaconda on fire and kills the other snakes, also destroying the blood orchids. The survivors, Bill, Sam, Cole and Gail, make it back to the raft and heading to Kota Bharu.

Cast[]

• Johnny Messner as Bill Johnson
• KaDee Strickland as Sam Rogers
• Salli Richardson-Whitfield as Gail Stern
• Matthew Marsden as Dr. Jack Byron
• Eugene Byrd as Cole Burris
• Morris Chestnut as Gordon Mitchell
• Karl Yune as Tran Wu
• Nicholas Gonzalez as Dr. Ben Douglas
• Andy Anderson as John Livingston

Soundtrack[]

The soundtrack for the film was composed by Nerida Tyson-Chew and released by Varèse Sarabande.^[3]

Track listing

1. Opening Titles / Jungle Floor (2:12)
2. Elixir Perrinia Immortalis (1:40)
3. Kong Attacks Gail (2:04)
4. Stealing the Fruit / Kong Terrified (3:06)
5. Almost a Kiss (1:20)
6. Predator in the Water (3:53)
7. Enter the Jungle (0:56)
8. Foreboding Path (2:22)
9. Crossing the Bog (3:29)
10. Spider of Anaesthesia (2:58)
11. Livingston's Death (1:05)
12. All Hope is Lost (1:58)
13. Lopaks (1:36)
14. It's Mating Season (3:15)
15. Totem (1:34)
16. Jack's Devious Deal Uncovered (1:23)
17. Betrayal of Trust (2:28)
18. The Cavern (6:31)
19. Climbing to the Light (6:02)
20. Discovering the Orchids / Face Off (11:14)

Reception[]

Box office[]

Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid debuted at second place in the box office, earned $32,238,923 in the United States and the international gross of $38,753,975, bringing a worldwide total of $70,992,898.^[2]

Critical reception[]

Rotten Tomatoes reports that the film received a 26% based on 121 reviews, with an average rating of 4.20 out of 10. The site's critics consensus reads, "A cheesy monster B-movie."^[4]

Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 40 out of 100 based on 28 reviews.^[5] Roger Ebert awarded the film two out of four stars, a rating less than that he gave the original film. Ebert, however, praised Matthew Marsden's performance as being "suitably treacherous".^[6] Keith Philipps of The A.V. Club criticized the movie for its CGI snakes, while The Oregonian's Karen Karbo said it never "takes itself too seriously".^[5] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.

The film was nominated for a Razzie Award for Worst Remake or Sequel, but lost to Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed.^[7]

See also[]

• List of killer snake films

References[]

External links[]

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid

• Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid at IMDb
• Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid at AllMovie
• Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid at Rotten Tomatoes
• Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid at Metacritic
• Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid at Box Office Mojo