Starring Kiana Madeira, Jessica Rothe and Logan Marshall-Green
Directed by Mike P. Nelson
Written by Alan McElroy
Lionsgate
When I was a kid, I was into snakes as much as I was into monster movies, and lamented that the reptiles were underrepresented in the nature-amok subgenre. (This was before ANACONDA and all of its sequels/knockoffs.) So my inner 10-year-old was happy to see the arrival of BEWARE BOIÚNA, though that kid would have been nonplussed that it’s about halfway into the 104-minute running time before the titular titanic serpent truly makes its presence known. Fortunately, the human side of the story is tense and dramatic enough to maintain interest for the long stretch where there’s not a whole lotta snakin’ goin’ on.
Following a found-footage prologue in which a raid on an illegal gold-mining camp in the jungles of Colombia is violently interrupted by the slithering creature of local legend, we meet a small crew traveling a river in the same area with more humanitarian goals. Aboard the R.R. Hermes are a trio of doctors: leader Miguel (Juan Pablo Shuk), zealous Alli (Jessica Rothe from the HAPPY DEATH DAY films) and Callum (Will Close), the kind of nervous, “what am I doing here?” role too often filled by African-American actors in movies like this. Also mechanic Lena (the FEAR STREET trilogy’s Kiana Madeira), who’s in search of her vanished brother, and who treats Hermes captain Raúl (Jaime Newball) like a father figure, though we won’t find out till later what became of her real dad.
The medical mission to help indigenous communities is interrupted by the arrival of some sleazy colonizers led by Brennan (the chameleonic Logan Marshall-Green from THE INVITATION, UPGRADE and others). Though he’s clearly set up as the story’s human villain, one of the welcome touches in Alan McElroy’s script is that the major conflict is sparked just as much by Alli’s impetuousness. Her ill-advised action sets off a chain of events that leads Brennan and his gang to pursue the Hermes team into the territory of Boiúna, which Lena has described to Alli as “Mother of the Waters” and a creature that “decides who lives and who dies.”
It’s no surprise which decision Boiúna makes regarding these characters, though director Mike P. Nelson comes up with some nice moments teasing the monster’s presence before it strikes, like a glimpse of its huge, scaly form between the boards of a dock. He and McElroy also throw in a few practical-effects gross-outs involving the jungle’s other denizens, like larvae being extracted from one unfortunate’s body and a caiman autopsy. Nelson, who previously helmed the remakes of WRONG TURN (also written by McElroy) and SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT, could here be said to have rebooted ANACONDA. Beyond the fact that he’s delivered a better movie than last year’s actual update, he also eschews the original’s over-the-top camp for a more serious approach, aided significantly by Nick Junkersfeld’s harsh, gritty cinematography.
Boiúna itself, largely a CG creation with generally effective digital effects supervised by Nicholas Seal, is mostly seen in quick cuts that elicit a few good jump-scares, and via too much shaky-cam at certain crucial moments. Yet the key to getting caught up in the who-will-survive? suspense is that the filmmakers and cast keep us involved enough and concerned about the people, on a level not seen in many animal-attack flicks like this. Coupled with solid production values and at least one major curveball in the second half that this viewer didn’t see coming, this makes BEWARE BOIÚNA worth a watch for killer-snake-loving kids of all ages.
