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Snakes... on the brain!

Serpents land on the big screen with alarming regularity

Is "Snakes on a Plane" any good? It hardly matters.

In cinema, 2006 will go down — maybe even in flames — as the year Hollywood co-opted Internet buzz to juice a B-movie blitz of ssssing vipers. Though principal photography was completed in 2005, New Line Cinema undertook new shoots this year to up the horror from PG-13 to R and reportedly incorporated a line of cursing dialogue by Samuel L. Jackson that originated in an online parody.

New Line Cinema Read reviews of "Snakes on a Plane."

Not that we haven't loved snakes in the movies all along. Herewith, we offer, from great slithering to lesser so, snakes that are not-so-plain.

SSSSS (Super snaky)

 • "Anaconda" (1997) — Undoubtedly the grossest of all, its giant snake devours Jon Voight only to eventually throw him up.

 • "Clash of the Titans" (1981) — Talk about snakes on the brain. In ancient times, Harry Hamlin duels with Medusa, she of the mythical hair of vipers.

SSSS (Seriously snaky)

 • "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (1981) — Indy "I Hate Snakes" Jones quickly figures out why the floor of the Well of the Souls moves.

SSS (Sizably snaky)

 • "Conan the Barbarian" (1982) — Playing an evil sorcerer, James Earl Jones turns into a big snake that looks like, well, James Earl Jones.

 • "Kill Bill: Vol. 2" (2004) — A black mamba says hello to Michael Madsen's face.

 • "The Ten Commandments" (1956) — Behold! Charlton Heston's staff is cast down and turns into a cobra and, later, eats the snakes created by the Pharaoh's wizards.

 • "King Kong" (1976) — Just as the big ape (mainly a guy in a fur suit) and Jessica Lange get all mushy, a gigantic (rubber and fake-looking) viper shows up and gets a Kong-size thrashing.

 • "SSSSSSS" (1973) — Snakes meet experimenting scientist. Scientist meets college student. College student starts acting like a king cobra.

SS (Sorta snaky)

 • "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" (2002) — Our boy wizard uses a sword — and a little Phoenix help — to battle a giant snake.

 • "Billy Jack" (1971) — In a Native American ceremony, America's ultimate do-gooder gets down with rattlers to gain strength and fight all prejudice.

 • "Cleopatra" (1963) — Elizabeth Taylor's last asp.

S Slightly snaky

 • "The Bible: In the Beginning ..." (1966) — The world's first tree serpent beguiles an artfully naked Adam and Eve.

(Contributing: Eleanor Ringel Gillespie and Steve Murray)