Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

Hot Snake Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf September 11, 2022

1976’s “Hot Snake” certainly has a way of making an immediate impression. The opening scene has the villain of the picture stopping the transport of a coffin containing a military official. The bad guy shoots the escorts and rips off the widow’s top, soon shooting her and raping the corpse. Director Fernando Duran Rojas gets cold-blooded in a hurry with the endeavor, which maintains a certain level of merciless while detailing a bizarre story of revenge and desert survival. Of course, as with most low-budget offerings, padding is king, but “Hot Snake” contains a decent amount of atmosphere and weirdness to sustain the viewing experience, giving spaghetti western fans an adequate dose of the hard stuff as leathery men set out to kill one another.

Jenkins (Carlos East) is a monstrous outlaw crossing the land looking for trouble, creating an incident when he murders the widow of a military hero. The Army and the sheriff of Hot Snake County want him brought in, offering a hefty reward for his capture, which entices Emiliano (Eric del Castillo), a bounty hunter with a fondness for a local prostitute, Eva (Christa Linder). Setting out to find Jenkins, Emiliano enters the desert, using spiritual power provided by Ramona (Monica Miguel), a Native American mystic, helping him to find and collect Jenkins. During this journey, another cowboy emerges from the distance, tracking the hunter, with Erick (Ricardo Noriega) focusing his rage on Emiliano for past humiliations he can’t emotionally process.

Once Jenkins and his nastiness is established, “Hot Snake” settles into a pursuit story, with Emiliano accepting the challenge of finding the outlaw, sending him into the desert to do so. The screenplay aims to create a community of hard men, also bringing in Miranda, another brute going after Jenkins (amusingly, the cowboys discuss the details of this situation while taking a bath together), and there’s a little sexual heat provided by Eva, who’s committed to Emiliano. However, most of “Hot Snake” takes place in the open world, with a significant amount of screen time devoted to travel across the desert, which isn’t terribly exciting. Conflicts arise, complicating Emiliano’s pursuit of reward money, and Erick remains afar, dealing with his thoughts, which often turn to moments of emasculation, fueling his anger as he figures out how to reach the dangerous bounty hunter.

Those sensitive to real animal violence should be aware that “Hot Snake” does contain footage of snakes being shot, sliced, and peeled open. The production does linger on such suffering.

Hot Snake Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (2.39:1 aspect ratio) presentation is a fresh 4K scan of the 35mm original camera negative, giving "Hot Snake" compelling detail with western touches. Facial particulars on hairy, unwashed men are excellent, along with skin textures on assorted characters and desert creatures. Interiors preserve decorative additions, and exteriors offer compelling dimension with wide open spaces. Color is preserved, with natural skin tones. Female costuming carries more vivid hues, and desertscapes are distinct. Delineation is satisfactory. Grain is fine and film-like. Source is in good condition, but some wear and tear remains, including some lengthy scratches.

Hot Snake Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 2.0 DTS-HD MA mix shows some signs of age, offering slight fuzziness with highs throughout the listening event. Dialogue exchanges aren't crisply defined, but they remain intelligible. Scoring cues support satisfactorily, retaining passable instrumentation and dramatic emphasis. Sound effects are appreciable, mostly dealing with gun shots, spurs, and wind.

Hot Snake Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

There is no supplementary material for this release.

Hot Snake Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Oddity is present in "Hot Snake," as Rojas takes a moment to watch horses mate, and he's committed to the mystic character, trying to work in spiritual nonsense to give the tale some dark magic. What ultimately emerges is a revenge story, and one that takes its time reaching a resolution. However, there's atmosphere to enjoy in "Hot Snake," along with a few twisted characters with shifting motivations, keeping things interesting as the feature returns to seemingly endless shots of men on horseback crossing the desert.