Snakes on a plane

Last week I went to Ballston to see the 11:45am showing of Snakes on a Plane. I said, "One for Snakes on a Plane.", and immediately thought to myself "I can't believe I just said that."

I walked into an empty theater, which is always a thrill, but also a bit of a nerve-wracker for me. On one hand, I always think it's pretty neat that the rare occasion arises that one can sit in a room made for hundreds and watch a movie on a large screen all by oneself. On the other hand, it's also a little creepy, with the specter of someone else, someone unknown, being in there without me knowing. A few more people showed up.

The general feeling I heard before seeing it was "a good b-movie" and "bad movie, good experience". That's pretty much accurate, though I don't really think of it as a "b-movie" at all. I see it more as a film that pokes fun at itself and acknowledges that the real reason the audience is there is because the movie is called--hello--"Snakes on a Plane". Someone on the imdb boards pointed out that one of the things that make it work is that everybody plays it straight. There are some b-movie type homages, such as:

--The young mother saying, "My baby! Where's my baby?!" The Simpsons have quoted this one once or twice.

--What I think of as "Monster Vision", where we see the world through the eyes of the snakes, a sort of green blurry haze.

--The most unlikable, stuck-up jerk of a character gets killed in a most enjoyable fashion (hardly unique to b-movies, but pretty much required for them).

There were only seven people in the theater when I saw it. I laughed when it was funny, and maybe a couple of times when it wasn't. I flinched whenever the snakes struck, even though I knew it was coming. I can't help feeling that it would be a lot different experience to see it in a theater full of people familiar with the backstory to the picture. Maybe I'll do that for the sequel.