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Snakes in Movies
Group Pages

All Movie Snakes
Must Die!

All Movie Snakes
Want to Kill You!

Dancing With Snakes

Giant Monster Snakes

Pet Snakes

Shooting Snakes

Snake Bites

Snake Charmers

Snake Face

Snake Fights

Snake People

Snake Pits

SnakeSexploitation

Snakes & Skulls

Snakes Run Amok

Snakes Used
as Weapons

Snakes Used
for Comedy

Snakes Used for
Food or Medicine

Snakes Used
Realistically

Throwing and
Whipping Snakes

Kinds of Snakes

Rattlesnakes

Cobras

Black Mambas

Boas, Pythons,
and Anacondas

Settings

Snakes in Jungles
and Swamps

Snakes In Trees

Genres & Locations

Snakes In
Westerns

Snakes in
Asian Movies

Herps in
Australian Movies

Herps in
James Bond Movies

Herps in
Silent Movies

Herps in
Spielberg Movies

Unusual Species of Snakes In Movies

Some of the more common snakes seen in movies made in North Americs are rattlesnakes, boas, pythons, anacondas, gopher snakes, cobras, black mambas, corn snakes, rat snakes, milk snakes, water snakes, indigo snakes, and copperheads. Chinese movies use lots of Asian rat snakes and beauty snakes, and other Asian movies use a lot of cobras and pythons. European movies use snakes such as grass snakes, and adders, and some movies made in Europe use slow worms, which are actually lizards without legs, to portray snakes. Australian movies tend to use mostly pythons, black-headed pythons, womas, and other species. I haven't seen a lot of movies made in Africa that use snakes, but those I have seen tend to use a lot of pythons.

Occasionally we see other kinds of snakes, which I am calling "unusual" not because they are necessarily uncommon species, but because I have not seen them used in movies very often. Albino pythons and albino corn snakes are not uncommon in movies, but other species of albino snakes are, so I'll add them here if I see any. A lot of these are snakes are found in movies not made in North America which use species from their region, which may not be uncommon in their regional cinema, and which I probably can't identify., but since I have not seen them in movies before, I'm putting them on this list.

Spoiler Alert !

Some of these pictures and descriptions may give away plot details that you might not want to know before watching a film.

Shortcut to Movie Title

Bad Timing (1980)

A couple quarrels in an outdoor cafe overlooking a Moroccan plaza where snake charmers are entertaining the crowd. We see some interesting native Morrocan snakes.

The Big Gundown (1966)

A juvenile Ladder Snake crawls between a captive outlaw and the lawman who tied him up. The outlaw tricks the lawman into thinking he was bitten by a snake by pricking him with a sharp object he holds between his toes.

Black Moon (1975)

In a world where an army of men fights an army of women, a young girl on a surreal journey encounters several snakes, including a pair of mating Western Whip Snakes that she finds under a rock.

The Blood of Fu Manchu (1968)

Fu Manchu makes an army of beautiful female assassins by forcing venomous snakes to bite them. The women develop venomous lips which can kill a man with a kiss.

I don't know the species of all of the species of snake we see, but some of them might be Brazilian rainbow boas.

Castle of Blood (Danza Macabra) (1964)

A ghost vampire decapitates a snake to prove to a skeptic that there is life after death.

not sure of species

Cheaper By the Dozen (2003)

A harmless snake brought to a boy's birthday party as a present, escapes, causing widespread panic, because people are stupid.

not sure of species

Cold Creek Manor (2003)

A snake gets in the pool and then somebody fills a house with snakes to terrorize a family. One of the snakes is the "blairi" color morph Gray-banded Kingsnake, aka an alterna.

The Craft (1996)

Snakes appear throughout this movie about four high school witches, including thousands of snakes that are conjured to torment one of the girls. Some of the snakes used are not common in movies, including the green tree boa seen in the picture to the right.

Dark Tide (1994)

We see lots of sea snakes in this movie, in the ocean, collected for their venom, crawling over naked bodies, and used as weapons.

Eva Nera (Black Cobra) (1976)

Eva dances with snakes, eats them, and kills people with them. Some of them are not common in movies, including some kind of green vine snake.

The Gauntlet (1977)

A woman in a motorcycle gang rides around with a California Kingsnake.
California Kingsnakes are a common species, but for some reason, they are not often used in movies.

The Hellbenders (The Cruel Ones) (1967)

A snake spooks some horses so it gets shot to death. I think it's a juvenile Aesculapian snake, but I could be wrong. Whatever it is, it's not a common movie snake.

I Dreamed of Africa (2000)

A boy has many encounters with snakes after moving to Africa, puts together a collection of snakes and becomes an amateur herpetologist, but dies of snakebite. We see several species of African snakes that are not common in movies.

Jackass Forever (2022)

A rattlesnake and a rat snake are used to traumatize participants in this gross-out comedy. A live rat snake is used in the biting scene. Rat snakes are very common, but for some reason we don't see many of them in movies. Maybe because they like to bite noses, as we see here.

Jurassic World (2015)

Snake DNA from snakes in a lab is part of the recipe for disaster at a dinosaur wildlife safari park and petting zoo. We see several albino snakes of unidentified species in glass cages.

Labyrinth (1986)

The Goblin King turns his crystal ball into a snake then throws it around the neck of a teenage girl.

need to identify

The Lady Eve (1941)

Henry Fonda is an ophiologist who leaves his Amazon expedition with a pet Brazilian Glass Snake that becomes a continuing gag in the comedy.

long-nosed snake

Leolo (1993)

Leolo has a collection of critters in his basement, including a yellow-bellied racer.

Live and Let Die (1973)

A criminal gang uses Voodoo cult assassins to kill people with snakes. Bond finds a snake in his bathroom and burns it to death with a makeshift flame thrower.

Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)

With his fast hands Mad Max grabs a slow snake that's guarding a flying machine.

Mademoiselle (1966)

An Italian woodcutter keeps a snake under his shirt until he needs to take it out to impress the ladies.

Marketa Lazarova (1967)

A man lying in a field with his girl is bitten by the proverbial snake in the grass.

May December (2023)

A middle-aged woman uses a snake to seduce a young boy in a pet store in a scene from a movie about a child-rapist.

corn snake not unusual but not often used

Medicine Man (1992)

A newcomer to the Amazon is scared of a snake hanging from a beam in her hut

The Mighty Quinn (1989)

Snakes from the local witch's collection are used to kill people.

Minari (2020)

A boy throws rocks at a snake until his grandmother teaches him not to.

rat snake not often used

The New World (2005)

A green snake on a Native American's head painted black makes very nice jewelry.

One Million B.C. (1940)

A cave man and cave woman encounter a giant snake in a jungle, then a giant Coatimundi grabs the snake in its mouth, pulls it off the tree, and starts to eat it.

cal king not unusual but not common

Outback (2019)

American tourists lost in the Australian outback encounter deadly snakes.

Pee Wee's Big Adventure (1985)

Pee Wee rescues some disgusting gartersnakes from a pet shop fire then faints from the horror of it.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)

A fear of snakes causes a bunch of men to fall to their deaths, and a voodoo priestess has a pet python.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)

Blackbeard's daughter picks up a venomous snake and holds it in Jack Sparrow's face, but leaves him unharmed.

Prisoners (2013)

A detective looking for abducted children opens some storage boxes and finds some of them full of snakes.

The Red Pony (1949)

A young boy collects frogs and snakes in his school lunch box.

Resurrection (1980)

A woman pets a two-headed snake then develops miraculous healing powers.

Savage Sam (1963)

A snake spotted crawling on the ground near a snapping turtle is interpreted to mean that a rain storm is on the way, shortly before it starts pouring rain.

Shadow of the Hawk (1976)

The ghost of a Native American shaman dances around with a deadly snake then uses her magic to send it to another shaman to bite him.

Sheshnaag (1990)

Pritam and Bano are two wish-fullfilling snakes who have changed into human form. They are pursued by the demon Aghori who wants to catch them and make himself immortal. Bhola, a snake worshipper, helps them escape, so they protect him and his sister.

Shoot the Living and Pray for the Dead (1971)

A woman hostage of a band of outlaws making for Mexico lies down on a blanket to take a nap. A snake crawls up to her but the hero of the movie quickly shoots its head off. The fat wrinkly slow-moving snake is one of the most unusual snakes I've ever seen in a movie. It might be some kind of North African Sand Boa, but I'm not sure.

Shoot the Living and Pray For the Dead Screenshot

Shotgun Stories (2007)

A man uses a Cottonmouth to kill a dog that belongs to his half brother, and doing so, escalates a family feud to violence and bloodshed. We see shots of a real Cottonmouth, though not near any of the actors, which is uncommon. Most movies use non-venomous water snakes to portray Cottonmouths.

Silent Venom (Sea Snakes) (2009)

A bunch of extra-deadly mutated snakes are brought onto a submarine.

Snakes (aka Fangs) (1974)

An old snake collector kills off his enemies with venomous snakes.
We see a woman with a California Kingsnake around her neck. California Kingsnakes are a common species, but for some reason, they are not often used in movies.

Snakes (Snake/Serpent of Death) 2018

An expedition to an uninhabited island to searh for a plant with miraculous healing powers encounters giant monster snakes.We see a couple of real live snakes, in the classroom and on the tree, both of which might be banded red snakes, which are common in east Asia but not so common in movies.

Soldier (1998)

A supersoldier is left for dead on a planet used as a garbage dump that's also filled with dangerous snakes.

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring (2003)

A boy tortures a snake and an old monk is re-incarnated as a snake.

Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

Pythons roam Yoda's jungle planet and there's a California Kingsnake in his kitchen.

The Thief of Bagdad (1924)

A snake kept in an orb on top of a scepter is used as a murder weapon.

A Touch of Sin (Tian zhu ding) (2013)

A woman sits on display inside an open glass box with snakes at her feet outside it.

Turkey Shoot (Escape 2000) (1982)

A prisoner in a re-education camp is set free to be hunted to the death by a hunter. When she ducks into a hole to hide from her hunter, she finds a corpse with a snake crawling out of the skull.

Under the Tuscan Sun (2003)

An American woman fixing up a house in Italy sees a snake crawl in her bedroom window.

U.S. Marshals (1998)

A fugitive on the lam rows a boat past a snake on a branch in a swamp.

Virgin Sacrifice (Fury of the Jungle) (1959)

Snakes are shown realistically as a normal part of the Central American jungle, but they're also used absurdly as weapons thrown into a snake pit to kill someone.

Voyager (Homo Faber) (1991)

A snake crawls onto a sleeping woman and bites her, proving that all snakes want to do is kill people.

We Bought a Zoo (2011)

Scarlet Johannsen shows off her snake-handling skills after some newly-arrived zoo snakes escape their shipping box then just sit around all night waiting to be captured the next morning.

The White Balloon (1995)

A 7-year-old girl is harassed by snake charmers.

Witch Hunt (1994)

In a world where magic is widely and openly used in daily events, snakes are sometimes conjured up.

Xtro (1982)

A young boy's pet snake escapes from its cage and falls into a salad where it is dressed, tossed, then hammered to death.

Yellowneck (1955)

Civil War Confederate soldier deserters hike through the Florida Everglades where they encounter snakes, including a "nest" of rattlesnakes whose only purpose seems to be hanging around waiting to kill them.

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