Lockjaw: Rise of the Kulev Serpent (2008 Video) User Reviews

A really messed up snake movie

[Newsense · 1/10 · 21 August 2008]

I don't know why I do it to myself with these crummy low budget horror flicks. I could say that this is the worst low budget horror movie in 2008 but the year is not over yet.

Spoiler: Here is the whole movie in a nutshell: Paul Cade as a child steals a voodoo pen from a voodoo priest and drew a picture of a snake eating his father and the magical pen brings the snake to life and it does what it was drawn to do. Years later Paul grows up and is married and his wife is killed by hit and run accident caused by brainless suburbanites that make those horny teens in all those Friday The 13th flicks look like geniuses. Paul draws the snake again and it comes to life trying to kill all those kids and everybody in their path. Paul calls on the help of Nick(played by rapper DMX), the son of the voodoo priest whose pen Paul stole. to stop what he started.

Opinion: This movie is such a wannabe of Anaconda its pathetic. Think about it. Anaconda is about a killer snake, this "movie" is about a killer snake and they both star rappers in them. The only difference is that Anaconda had some form of suspense and Jon Voight to steal the show. The acting here is atrocious. Everybody is so wooden that you want to slice them open and count the rings. Even DMX gives a wooden performance here and I didn't even think that that was possible! I cant blame him though. The script must have been written by overzealous tween-agers because it sure sounds like it and the special effects are terrible as well. The CGI snake looks like dog droppings molded and shaped to look like a snake. every aspect of this movie fails. If you like watching bad movies try something else. This is not even so bad its good camp. Its so bad its shameful camp and is bad enough to make you question your own existence. Don't waste 76 minutes of your life like I did. Learn from my mistake and try something else!

Pumpkinhead Stuffed with Anaconda and Alligator

[claudio_carvalho · 3/10 · 9 November 2009]

In the countryside, the boy Alan and his friend Becky steal a creepy wooden box with a powerful voodoo stick inside from his voodooistic neighbor. When the boy draws with the stick, his drunken father is attacked by a snake and vanishes. Years later, Alan (Louis Herthum) and Becky (Lisa Arnold) are married to each other; while planting some flowers to celebrate the death of Alan's mother, Becky finds the box buried in the garden and she keeps the stick in her pocket. Meanwhile, five shithead friends are traveling in the monster truck drinking beer. The driver accidentally runs over Becky, but believes he had hit an animal. When Alan witnesses the hit-and-run and sees his wife dead, he uses the stick seeking revenge against the youngsters. Later Alan regrets the use of the Kulev stick to bring Lockjaw to seek revenge and decides to help the teenagers to kill the serpent.

The lame "Lockjaw: Rise of the Kulev Serpent" is a terrible movie, with a story that is a rip-off of the storyline of "Pumpkinhead" (a redneck that seeks revenge after the death of his wife (instead of son) by reckless teenagers from the big city) with a snake that recalls "Anaconda" with "Aligator" head. Most of the lines are laughable and near ridiculous and the CGI effects are very poor. My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): "Magia Negra" ("Black Magic")

Lousy movie about a snake with an alligators head being used for voodoo vengeance

[dbborroughs · 3/10 · 17 May 2009]

(aka DMX Carnivorous. That is actual title on version I saw) Kid steals a voodoo pen that will cause what ever is drawn with it to be destroyed by a giant alligator like serpent. years later the pen is used by a man to get revenge on the kids who ran over his wife. Only DMX as the son of the man who had the pen before it was stolen can save the kids. Very silly horror movie that is yet another CGI snake killing people film. Its also a poor rip off of Pumpkinhead and any number of other films you've seen. What can I say this isn't a good movie. the actors try but the monster stuff and the convulsions of the plot work against it. My reaction while watching this was why am I watching this? I didn't know. you know you're in trouble when an 80 minute film seems to be heavily padded. I'd take a pass and avoid this film.

comatose morons barely brighter than the CGI-crap thing

[demolitionmachine · 1/10 · 19 November 2009]

What a god awful waste of time and television broadcasting bandwidth. This movie is an IQ test . . . if you watch, you fail. I thought nothing could be worse than Bone Eater... I was wrong. Nothing could possibly be worse than Mutants... I stand corrected. There were so many things wrong with this movie, not the least of which was the acting, there's just everywhere to start, and nowhere to finish. I've seen more realistic responses from a corpse than those generated by the rejects performing in this piece of trash. Why would anyone in the movie-making business let their name be associated with this thing? Anyway, do yourself a favor, sidle up to a piece of metal and watch rust develop... you'll be far happier.

PumpkinSnake/alligator??

[movieman_kev · 1/10 · 7 July 2009]

A group of bratty, narcissistic kids venture into the deep swamps of West Bumblef&%k to go camping. These morons wind up running over the wife of a guy (whom we saw in the prologue mess around with a voodoo stick and unleashes a demon snake with an alligator head that killed his father) So after the jerks do their little hit and run, the guy,in a fit of rage, draws the snake/alligator thing eating the SUV they're in. So naturally the demonic thing attempts to kill them one by one. Thus making the film longer then it needs to be. Oh yeah and DMX is in it very sporadically. Despite top-billings it's merely slightly more then a glorified cameo.

Part killer snake flick, part "Pukinhead", ALL bad. I haven't been this bored or this mad at a so-called 'movie' in quite some time. This one has absolutely no redeeming values, bad wooden acting, atrocious special effect, the lamest dialog you're liable to hear in quite some time and an incredibly anti-climatic ending. It left a really horrid taste in my mouth. I've seen so many killer animal films and can safely say this was one of the worst.

My Grade: F

DVD Extras: A meager stills gallery (almost half of it devoted to DMX and his bazooka); trailer for this film; and trailers for Dark Reel, Baseline Killer, & Ghost Month

A very lackluster creature feature clunker

[Woodyanders · 2/10 · 24 June 2009]

Alan Cade (decently played by Louis Herthum) conjures up a giant lethal snake to bump off the five teenagers who accidentally killed his wife Becky (a regrettably brief turn by the appealing Lisa Arnold) with their jeep. It's up to special ops vet Nick Kirabo (an extremely flat and wooden performance by rap singer DMX) to stop the gigantic reptilian beast before it's too late. Poorly directed by Amir Valinia, with slack pacing, highly variable acting, tin-eared dialogue (sample line: "You guys are total porklines"), laughably lousy CGI effects (the snake resembles a huge brown lump of excrement), a grindingly predictable plot (it's very easy to figure out who's going to live or die), and a limp and unexciting climax, this sour lemon of a dud crucially lacks the necessary trashy vigor to rate as a fun bad movie. Worse yet, the majority of the teens are grossly intolerable and obnoxious tools: Caleb Michaelson as the jerky Kurt, David Pullman as the equally repellent Clayton, Victoria Vodar as slutty blonde bimbo Ashley, and Derrick Denicola as annoying skateboarder Winston are all so utterly hateful that you just don't care what happens to them, thus negating any suspense this picture might have had. Since most of said characters drink booze and make out, they're obviously dead meat from the get go. Only Wes Brown as nice guy nerd Kelly and Lauren Fain as the sweet Sam offer some light relief. You know a film is exceptionally lame when the hot chick keeps her top on during the obligatory gratuitous simulated sex scene. A complete wash-out.

Absolutely awful

[krystinapilkington · 1/10 · 12 May 2010]

I'd give Lockjaw 1 star purely because IMDb will not allow me to rate it any lower. 1 star is being extremely generous. The whole film is terrible with wooden acting throughout, at times it's too painful for words. In addition you have to endure the lack of continuity that runs from beginning to end. As if the horrendous special effects don't make it unbelievable enough.

I would seriously not recommend this film if time is remotely precious to you. It's an hour you'll never get back and will leave you questioning why on earth it ever made it to DVD. It cost £7 here in the UK which is absolutely shocking. I like cheesy horror films that manage to be awful but good at the same time. This can't even claim to be that, it is just genuinely one of the most ridiculously dire films I have ever seen.

"I told her if it doesn't itch or burn don't worry about it..." Sci-Fi Channel standard 'Creature Feature'.

[poolandrews · 3/10 · 23 August 2008]

Lockjaw: Rise of the Kulev Serpent starts as a young boy named Alan (Brendan Aguillard) & his friend Becky (Abby Rao) steal the 'Kulev Stick', a powerful ancient Voodoo relic from a house nearby. Back home & Alan uses the stick which is actually a pencil to draw a giant Kulev Serent which comes to life & kills his abusive drunk father (Tony Senzamici). Jump forward a couple of decades later & Alan (Louis Herthum) & Becky (Lisa Arnold), now all grown up, are married. While collecting the post Becky is hit & killed by a huge 4x4 driven by five out of town teens who are on their way to a camp, incandescent with rage Aan uses the Kulev Stick once more to draw the Kulev Serpent who once more comes to life to wreck revenge on those who has wronged him. As the Kulev Serpent sets out to kill the teens only rocket launcher wielding local Voodoo guy Nick (executive producer DMX) can save them & stop the Serpent for good...

According to the IMDb this had a working title of The Corn Patch even though character's mention that the setting is in fact a Cane field on several occasions, directed by Amir Valinia I was going to describe Lockjaw: Rise of the Kulev Serpent as the sort of 'Creature Feature' that even the Sci-Fi Channel would be embarrassed to show but then I realised that the Sci-Fi Channel will show anything without any embarrassment but I will say it's pretty much right down there with the worst 'Creature Features' the Sci-Fi Channel has screened. The script is a bit of a mess really, for a start I don't care what anyone says I do not believe that you could hit a woman with a car & not one of the five people inside notice. How did Alan know what to draw? At the start he seemingly stole this Kulev Stick which is in fact a pencil & drew the Kulev Serpent in intricate detail with his father in it's mouth which actually happens in reality but how did Alan know this would happen? A lucky guess or just bad plain dumb plotting? You decide. Then there's this 'camp' that the teens apparently drive to, it doesn't look anything like a camp at all, it's a farmhouse in the middle of a Cane field! Then there's the DMX character who is a bad-ass Voodoo dude with a rocket launcher, I can see an Oscar nomination coming his way... The pace isn't too bad & at least it's short lasting not much more than 80 minutes but as a whole the silly plot, the clichéd & often annoying character's, the lack of horror or gore, a poor climax (what it that lamp with forks stuck on the end all about that Sam carries about?) & a lack of originality means you can skip this one.

At least the director keeps the camera still & steady as well as not using any annoying colour filters or bleaches so it looks alright if a little cheap. The CGI effects are quite poor by they are used sparingly & don't linger on screen for too long which does help. I think this is the only film I have ever seen where the first credit on screen is the 'directed by' one, even before the title of the film & the cast the 'directed by' credit comes up which is odd because it's almost always the last. It really doesn't make any sort of difference but it's so unusual I thought I would mention it. There's next to no gore, a brief impalement & a decapitation but nothing else. There's no nudity or scares either but then you probably guessed that already.

According to the IMDb this had a budget of about $4,000,000 which I find impossible to believe, this is not a $4,000,000 film & if it is where did all the money go? It looks cheap, there are few effects, no big name actors & no set-pieces either. Apparently shot in Port Allen in Louisiana. Despite DMX getting top billing he barely features & only really appears at the end while Wes Brown is not the same as the current Manchester United & England international footballer Wes Brown.

Lockjaw: Rise of the Kulev Serpent is a pretty rock bottom 'Creature Feature' with the usual poor CGI, an even sillier than usual plot, lack of proper blood, gore or action & a highly annoying teen cast who you pray will all get killed off by the twenty minute mark. This is just poor all round really & is right down there with the rubbish the Sci-Fi Channel usually put on.

Behold, the 'Snakigator'!

[BA_Harrison · 2/10 · 2 April 2011]

As a child, Alan Cade steals a wooden voodoo box containing a magical pen that has the power to make whatever is drawn with it become a reality; years later, when a monster truck accidentally runs down his wife Becky, Alan uses the pen to summon a monster to seek revenge on the occupants of the vehicle, five friends partying at a nearby cabin.

Lockjaw: Rise of the Kulev Serpent (AKA Carnivorous) is a derivative straight-to-DVD piece of garbage that rips off its basic revenge plot from enjoyable straight-to-video 80s horror Pumpkinhead. But where Pumpkinhead proved to be a fun creature-feature thanks to solid direction from FX legend Stan Winston, a very cool monster (also by Winston), and a decent performance from seasoned pro Lance Henrickson, Carnivorous simply elicits boredom and unintentional laughter in equal measures with its uninspired script, inexperienced cast, and truly crappy beast—an over-sized, poorly rendered CGI snake with an alligator's head.

Opening with an embarrassingly naff credits sequence, complete with cheesy lightning effects and statues with glowing red eyes, Carnivorous does not bode well from the outset, and matters only get worse from thereon in: director Amir Valinia sets up the film's back-story in an awful prologue that displays a complete lack of talent from its child actors (while also showcasing a neat array of dollar store Halloween props), before cutting to the present day, where he introduces viewers to his equally untalented adult cast, a bunch of total unknowns who are likely to remain that way if this is the kind of bilge they choose to appear in.

After some predictably dumb drunken shenanigans at the cabin, during which sexist jerk Kurt (Caleb Michaelson) gets a lap-dance from drunken big-breasted slapper Ashley (Victoria Vodar), Kurt's nice-girl girlfriend Sam (Lauren Fain) seeks comfort in the arms of good-guy Kelly (Wes Brown), and Ashley has sex with her boyfriend (but annoyingly keeps her bra on the whole time), the creature finally moves in for the kill. Several unimpressive death scenes later, ex-rapper DMX turns up with a rocket launcher and blows the 'snakigator' to kingdom come, finally putting an end to our suffering.

holy cow

[chadkimrey · 1/10 · 6 August 2010]

well nobody will ever read this review, but WOW worst movie ever! This film might be studied by archaeologists in the far distant future. It would serve humanity right for it even being possible to finance this "film."

The most vapid bunch of frat boys and their bowhead cohorts I have ever seen disgrace celluloid. You can feel the stupidity bubbling from the swamp it is set in up through the "actors" and right on up to (hopefully) the ruined careers of the director and producer.

The subplot involves a man whose wife is killed in a hit and run accident by the idiot cast. He finds them to exact revenge, but 10 minutes later one of the sorority girls is yelling at him because he is bumming her out by not being overly concerned about his wife's killers being bumped off one by one.

Everyone involved in this travesty really needs a giant snake to eat them to make sure they can never again waste the money that a film student with any talent at all could have used better

Just a simple fun movie

[wshumake · 7/10 · 4 June 2009]

Lockjaw: Rise of the Kulev Serpent is also marketed under the title of Carnivorous. While there is no denying that this is a low-budget movie, low budget doesn't mean that the movie is not fun. It does have all of the traits of a Sci-fi channel movie, such as the monster appearing early on in the movie (a sci-fi channel requirement as I understand it). Still, I enjoyed it. While the writing and plot had some holes, none were any worse than what I witnessed when I watched the big-budget Angels & Demons. The acting, while not brilliant, was adequate. Nothing about it caused me to be removed from the story. The plot and writing were probably the weakest points. Still I would argue that the writing was no more predictable or formula based that what is seen every week on such hit TV shows as 24, House, or Prison Break. I think it is nice to be able to watch a fun light horror/sci-fi story without having to be heavily invested in the characters. A big budget movie would have played up the loss of the husbands wife and dwelt on his heart-ache and pain after her death. It was nice to not have to have such an emotional entanglement, and simply be able to set back and enjoy what was clearly meant to be a light fun movie. It reminds me of the type thing we used to watch at drive-in theatres. Never too much drama, just lots of light-hearted fun. I would recommend this to anyone who just wants to watch a fun movie.

I liked it

[Wuchakk · 5/10 · 12 March 2014]

I guess I'm the only person here who enjoyed "Carnivorous," also titled "Lockjaw: The Curse of the Kulev Serpent." Not that it was great or even really good but it delivered pretty well as an entertaining Grade-B creature-on-the-loose flick in the "Friday the 13th" mold (Jason was definitely an infernal creature btw or he at least became one as the series progressed).

THE PLOT: A serpent-with-an-alligator-head is released in rural Louisianna via a Voodoo pen that's formed into a serpent/alligator with red glowing eyes. This is unique, but the main plot is the same as most creature features based on "Friday the 13th": A group of youths go out to the boonies to party while the creature takes 'em out one by one. The kids who have sex die, the ones who don't live. So, although the way the monster is released is original (and nigh incomprehensible), the main story is standard.

I should also point out that rapper DMX appears as a black Rambo-type, but it's not a significant role until the 3rd act.

You'll note that everyone else here only gives the film a very low rating so they all obviously think it's a total piece of excrement. However, despite this being a low-budget monster flick it delivered quite well in a handful of requisite areas:

• The film was shot in the cane fields of rural Louisianna; any time you get a modern flick of this ilk shot anywhere other than B.C. Canada it's a plus.

• Most here comment on how unlikable the youths are, but they act precisely as youths would act on vacation at a party cabin in the sticks. Most of us acted this way when we were that age, at parties anyway. Regardless, at least two or three of them aren't obnoxious in any way that I can detect.

• The heroine of the tale, Lauren fain who plays Sam, is good. She's not ultra-sexy or anything but she's likable with a uniquely pretty face.

• Victoria Vodar, who plays Ashley, is the sexpot in requisite skimpy attire. She has a dance sequence that's worth the price of admission. One reviewer referred to this sequence as "exceptionally poor;" all I can say is he has no eye for exceptionally gorgeous women or tantalizing dance sequences.

• The first half of the film highlights a married couple (Louis Herthum & Debra Arnott) who genuinely love each other and clearly show it. This is so rare today, particularly in these types of films, that when you observe it it's not only pleasant, it's actually shocking.

• The CGI creature isn't seen too often but it's serviceable, if not remarkable.

WHAT DOESN'T WORK:

• As noted above, some aspects of the plot concerning the voodoo creature are nigh incomprehensible, but you'll get the gist of it. (What I was wondering is: What if the person with the occultic pen drew something other than a big serpent-creature killing the people? Would the curse still work or does s/he HAVE to draw a serpent-like creature? If so, how did the little boy at the beginning acquire this knowledge?).

• The film's not all that compelling; the storytelling could have been better.

• The absolute worst part of this picture is the hit-and-run scene where the kids hit a woman in their vehicle IN BROAD DAYLIGHT and NOT ONE OF THEM EVEN NOTICES! They dismiss it as possibly hitting an animal or something. Why sure! This sequence is so bad that there's no way I could possibly give the film anything above 5/10 Stars (for what it is) in good conscience.

The film runs a short-but-sweet 76 minutes.

BOTTOM LINE: With the exception of the lame hit-and-run sequence the film delivers pretty well as a fun low-budget creature-on-the-loose flick, nicely shot in the cane fields of Louisianna. Lauren Fain is a solid heroine with a uniquely attractive face and Victoria Vodar's awe-inducing scenes are worth the price of admission.

GRADE: C+

The only terror that is unearthed is how awful the movie is

[TheLittleSongbird · 1/10 · 25 November 2012]

Lockjaw: Rise of the Kulev Serpent's photography is not so bad. That is hardly a consolation, as everything else is and that is an understatement in itself. Lockjaw: Rise of the Kulev Serpent has rather dull lighting and the scenery has little atmosphere or wonder, but they're nothing compared to the truly slipshod special effects. Audibly, it is little better, with a generic and overly-obvious music score and sound effects that manage to undermine the atmosphere, managing to make every bit of suspense or scare predictable instead, instead of adding to it. The dialogue is cheesy and stilted with nothing quotable, while the story is far too heavily padded out, has nothing surprising and brings forward no suspense or any real sense of horror. The snake is nowhere near menacing enough, is used poorly and has no personality, while the direction is at best flat and characterless. The characters are severely underdeveloped and are not likable in the slightest. On top of that, the acting is incredibly wooden from everybody involved, I know that they weren't helped by the writing and their characters but these actors looked as though they weren't even trying. All in all, Lockjaw: Rise of the Kulev Serpent is a terror of a movie and in a bad way. 1/10 Bethany Cox

Lockjaw? More like numb brain...

[Leofwine_draca · 3/10 · 18 December 2014]

Another CGI monstrosity taking the form of a dodgy monster movie. These films tend to be interchangeable from one another and that's the case in point here, it's the kind of film you'll forget you watched just hours after viewing because it brings absolutely nothing new to the table.

Instead, the viewer is saddled with rotten characters, an awful script and of course the requisite CGI gore effects which have to be seen to be believed. The story involves some half-baked voodoo theme in which a grieving husband decides to get revenge on some pesky teenagers by summoning a 'Kulev serpent' to get revenge. Said serpent has the body of a giant snake and the head of an alligator and looks like something out of an old Playstation game circa 1998.

If that wasn't bad enough, the characters in the film are even more annoying than usual, with characterisation reduced down to the level of a comic book. One supposedly intelligent character has glasses, that's how carefully the characters have been created. Inevitably the cast is full of unknowns - I should think so, given the horrible acting on offer - aside from the down-on-his-luck DMX, playing some kind of big game hunter living out in the wilderness. Another movie to stay away from.

Lockjaw: Rise of the Kulev Serpent (2008)

[SnakesOnAnAfricanPlain · 2/10 · 27 January 2012]

I don't keep my ear close to the hippity hop rap circuit. But wasn't DMX once respected and respectable? Hard to imagine when appearing in crap like this. Obviously I enjoyed it, it had a poor CGI monster, some terrible acting and some of the worst lines I've ever heard. However, even bad has been done better. Unlike Komodo, Carnosaur 3 or Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus, I wont even bother rewatching this one. At least, not for a while. If you love your monster movies, and have gone through the regular SyFy channel schlock, you may consider giving this a view.

"I'm sorry about your wife but that was an accident. You drew us to death, that sucks."

THAT BUMP WAS MY WIFE!

[nogodnomasters · 1/10 · 14 August 2018]

This is a re-release of the film "Carnivorous" in an attempt to get the 10 people who purchased the first one, to buy it again. The opening of the film looks and feels like a "Creepshow" episode, and the film should have been shortened to that length. Five inattentive young adults and a stole-away hit and kill a woman (Lisa Arnold) along the road on their way to Kurt Stanley Camp. Alan (Louis Herthum) the husband of the dead woman uses his long buried stolen voodoo pen or "Kulev stick" to create a giant snake to devour the occupants of the vehicle that struck his wife while zipping down the down. He managed to get a good look at all the passengers, so he could draw each one individually, while none of them saw his wife.

It then becomes a snake vs kids movie with a hip-hop sound track that didn't add anything to the film. Bad acting, bad script, bad to non-existing special effects. DMX shows up at the end to help hunt the snake. Not worth a $.99 rental.

Parental guide: F-bomb, sex, strip tease (Victoria Vodar bra/panties), no nudity.

waste of time

[shalaka_shank · 1/10 · 9 August 2010]

I saw this title on TV last night,I surprised that how be worst a movie like this ? There is no suspense, no horror, no twist and even not having a climax also ! No voodoo Magic shown as voodoo sticks are in the story. Even a magic created creature destroyed by a human made gun ? Wow ! I shut my mind until the end of movie and I could not see last the end due to such a waste time movie. I never recommended this movie to anyone. If any one try he will be disappointed. I suggest them to see 'Anaconda','Godzila' and 'Jurasic park'. I also thanks that this movie is not released as worldwide as theater version, otherwise no second show would have been screened at theaters.

Name is INCORRECT: "Carnivorous " is correct name

[latinbarbiewpbfl · 3/10 · 8 September 2021]

Film opens with the name CARNIVOROUS, tried to send IMDB a correction , but their form is beyond confusing and ridiculous. It's a good movie, story line for a B movie.