Spasms (1983) on Netflix
Bitten by a giant taipan in Micronesia, millionaire Jason Kincaid survives with a telepathic link to the serpent. He hires psychiatrist Tom Brasilian to break the bond.
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- Netflix2.2/5
- IMDb4.4/101,367 votes
- Rotten TomatoesNot available
Trailer
Plot summary
Jason Kincaid, a reclusive millionaire and philanthropist, lost his brother to a huge taipan while hunting in Micronesia. The same snake bit Kincaid and he lived, and the venom left him seeing visions of its killings and linked to it in his mind. He pays a poacher to catch the serpent and bring it to his estate near San Diego, and hires Tom Brasilian, a psychiatrist who researches ESP, to break the link. A Satanic cult that worships the snake as a demon also wants it.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Spasms (1983)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Filming of Spasms had barely begun when original studio Filmpro Limited went bankrupt less than a week in; banking firm Cinequity Corporation took over, brought in two inexperienced producers, rewrote the script to add supernatural elements and replaced the wrangled snakes with animatronics, hiring William Fruet as director in May 1981.
- The original plan was to use live snakes for the attack scenes, with herpetologist Bob Zappalorti supplying the reptiles and model-maker Raymond Mendez making hand puppets; a 14 foot Indian Rock Python was bought and stored in New York for almost a year before the idea was dropped.
- Model-maker Raymond Mendez and a crew of six built the mechanical snake in New York over eight weeks in 1981, using two 22 ft bodies, three 6 ft necks to fit an armature, and puppet heads; plans for six separate snakes were dropped because of money and time constraints.
- The gore effects, including the graphic results of the snake's bite, were designed by Academy Award-winning makeup artists Dick Smith and Stephan Dupuis, using heavily Smith's signature air bladder technique.
SPOILER
A climactic end battle between Oliver Reed and the snake was filmed, with the snake partially swallowing Reed's arm and him stabbing and dismembering it, but director William Fruet disliked the effects, cut most of the snake's appearances and padded the scene with flashbacks.- Novelists Michael Maryk and Brent Monahan were invited to watch the filming in Toronto but left after three days, fed up with the constant alterations being made to their book.
