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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

Unusual Species

Settings

Snakes Indoors

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

Snake Species Not Often Used In Movies

This page is meant to highlight species of snakes that are not commonly used in movies I've seen. Most snakes seen in movies made in North Americs are rattlesnakes, boas, pythons, anacondas, gopher snakes, cobras, black mambas, California kingsnakes, corn snakes, rat snakes, milk snakes, water snakes, indigo snakes, and copperheads. Chinese movies use lots of Asian rat snakes and beauty snakes and pythons, and other Asian movies use a lot of cobras and pythons. European movies tend to use common snakes such as grass snakes, and adders, and some movies made in Europe use slow worms to portray snakes even though they are actually lizards without legs. Australian movies tend to use a lot of the pythons native to the continent. I haven't seen a lot of movies made in Africa that use snakes, but those I have seen also 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 seen in movies that were 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 an unknown species of snake to prove to a skeptic that there is life after death.

Cheaper By the Dozen (2003)

An unusual and unknown species of snake brought to a boy's birthday party as a present, escapes, causing widespread panic, because people are stupid.

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 shown here.

The Hellbenders (The Cruel Ones) (1967)

A snake spooks some horses so it gets shot to death. The snake might be a juvenile Aesculapian snake. 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. The snake appears to be a banded watersnake.

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. The snake is actually a 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, including some species of green tree python seen here. Bond finds a snake in his bathroom and burns it to death with a makeshift flame thrower.

Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)

A gyro helicopter pilot uses an Australian Carpet Python to guard his flying machine.

Mademoiselle (1966)

An Italian woodcutter keeps a snake under his shirt until he needs to take it out to impress the ladies. The snake appears to be a Four-lined snake, Europe's largest nonvenomous snake.

Marketa Lazarova (1967)

A man lying in a field with his girl is bitten by the proverbial snake in the grass. The snake is a Common European Viper (or Common European Adder).

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. The snake is a Corn Snake, a very common snake in the pet trade, but not often seen in movies.

Medicine Man (1992)

A newcomer to the Amazon is scared of a snake hanging from a beam in her hut. The snake is some type of boa not common in movies, but we never get a very good look at it.

The Mighty Quinn (1989)

Snakes from the local witch's collection are used to kill people. One is a Corn Snake, but I don't recognize the species of other snakes, but none appears to be a common movie snake.

Minari (2020)

A boy throws rocks at a snake until his grandmother teaches him not to. The snake is one of the large eastern Rat Snakes, which are not often used in movies.

The New World (2005)

A green snake on a Native American's head painted black makes very nice jewelry. It's probably one of the North American green snakes, neither of which is used much in movies.

Outback (2019)

American tourists lost in the Australian outback encounter deadly snakes, including a Black-headed Python, a native Australian snake.

Pee Wee's Big Adventure (1985)

Pee Wee rescues some disgusting gartersnakes from a pet shop fire then faints from the horror of it. Gartersnakes are very common but not in movies, probably because of their small size.

Prisoners (2013)

A detective looking for abducted children opens some storage boxes and finds some of them full of snakes. The snakes seem to be mostly an assortment of different kinds of rat snakes and corn snakes with some other species mixed in such as a ribbon snake or garter snake, none of which are very typical movie snakes.

The Red Pony (1949)

A young boy collects frogs and snakes in his school lunch box. We see a small green snake, probably a Rough Green Snake.

Resurrection (1980)

A woman pets a two-headed snake then develops miraculous healing powers.The snake is a Pine Snake, which is uncommon in movies, and the extra head makes it even rarer.

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. The snake is a Desert Kingsnake.

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. Some of the snakes in the movie are cobras, pretty common in movies, but therre are other obviously harmless Indian species that are less common.

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.
A lot of harmless pet snakes are used, including corn snakes, albino corn snakes, milk snakes, albino milk snakes, pythons, king snakes, and indigo snakes, most of them fairly unusual snakes to see in a movie.

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. They use a good assortment of fake and live snakes here, including ball pythons, green tree boas, milk snakes, Burmese pythons, a gray-banded kingsnake, and probably a mountain kingsnake and a corn snake or two.

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

A boy tortures a snake and an old monk is re-incarnated as a snake. One of the snakes appears to be a Korean Tiger Keelback (aka Oriental Tiger Snake.)

The Thief of Bagdad (1924)

A snake kept in an orb on top of a scepter is used as a murder weapon.
The snake looks like either a Long-nosed Snake or a small California Kingsnake, we don't see it very well. Long-noses snakes are uncommon in movies, but Cal Kings are often used.

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 that I can't identify.

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. The snake is some species of Australian python.

Under the Tuscan Sun (2003)

An American woman fixing up a house in Italy sees a snake crawl in her bedroom window. The snake is most likely one native to Italy, possibly a whip snake.

U.S. Marshals (1998)

A fugitive on the lam rows a boat past a snake on a branch in a swamp. The snake is a Red-bellied Mud Snake which I've never seen before in a movie.

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. Some of the snakes are Boa Constrictors, often used in movies, but others are not so common.

Voyager (Homo Faber) (1991)

A snake crawls onto a sleeping woman and bites her, proving that all snakes want to do is kill people. The snake we see in the movie is a harmless snake, probably a Four-lined Snake.

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. Several species of snakes are used, including some farily common movies like bal pythons, corn snakes, gopher snakes, garter snakes, maybe a boa constrictor, but there are also some less common snakes including slbinos. albino snakes of some species I can't ID.

The White Balloon (1995)

A 7-year-old girl is harassed by snake charmers. I don't recognize most of the snakes in the movie, but there appears to be a horned viper which is not common in movies.

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. The snake could be a not-very-often seen North American gartersnake, but it might also be a Grass Snake, which is fairly common in European movies.

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. We see some Eastern Diamond-backed Rattlesnakes, which are not as common as the western rattlesnake species in movies, but we also see a yellow rat snake which is uncommon.

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