The Anaconda franchise is once again rearing its giant snake head with the 2025 reboot starring Jack Black, Paul Rudd, Thandiwe Newton, and Steve Zahn. The latest installment in the creature feature franchise takes a decidedly different approach, playing up comedic elements alongside the intense snake thrills. It even gets a bit meta, with the characters attempting to remake the original movie they love.
The franchise began with 1997’s Anaconda, starring Jennifer Lopez and Ice Cube, who were documentary filmmakers who came under attack from a massive snake in the Amazon jungle. The series produced several sequels, some of which went directly to the SyFy channel, with lackluster effects and some rough performances, sending the franchise into obscurity. Now, Anaconda is back with a new spin, making it the perfect time to see where it fits in with the other movies in the creature feature series.
‘Anaconda 3: Offspring’ (2008)
While the horror films were never going to be taking home notable awards, Anaconda 3: Offspring took a considerable nosedive in quality from the first two installments. Starring Baywatch‘s David Hasselhoff and Lord of the Rings‘ John Rhys-Davies, the sequel went straight to TV, back when the SyFy channel was still Sci-Fi. It actually connects to the second film, with the plot involving the Blood Orchid flower, which is used to experiment on an anaconda that escapes, prompting the hiring of Hasslehoff’s mercenary to capture it.
While there are kills to be had, Anaconda 3 features a low budget, leading to terrible CGI, even by 2008 standards, and phoned-in performances. It’s a cheap excuse for B-movie monster thrills, and Offspring was the first step toward burying the franchise under mediocrity.
‘Anacondas: Trail of Blood’ (2009)
Anacondas: Trail of Blood is the fourth movie in the creature feature franchise, and another straight-to-TV movie made in quick succession with the third film for back-to-back releases. It features some returning cast from the third movie, including Rhys-Davies, with Trail of Blood acting as a direct continuation. The plot continues to see people not learning from their mistakes, with experimental snakes again laying waste to numerous victims after one is cut in half and then grows into two.
Given the rapid production, poor script, and continued abysmal CGI work, Anacondas: Trail of Blood is a pretty terrible sequel. It barely inches above Offspring, with the two being interchangeable in quality, but it does at least bring the connected story to a merciful close, allowing it to rank higher on the list.
‘Lake Placid vs. Anaconda’ (2015)
Lake Placid vs. Anaconda attempts to capitalize on low-budget creature features where monsters fight. However, for every franchise that has the budget to do it right, like Godzilla vs. Kong, there is a Lake Placid vs. Anaconda doing it horribly wrong. Lake Placid is its own long-running monster movie series, with six films, each taking its freshwater crocodile menace to lower and lower budgets, making it the perfect pairing to battle the titular snake from the Anaconda franchise.
Lake Placid vs. Anaconda brings back characters from the last Lake Placid film while also incorporating ideas from the Anaconda movies, like the Blood Orchid. Still, the resulting film features plenty of cheesy kills, bad acting, and terrible dialogue, perfect for despising or for some mind-numbing thrills. Lake Placid vs. Anaconda is far from ideal, but the creature-on-creature action plus human body count add up to a sequel that is ever so slightly better than Offspring and Trail of Blood.
‘Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid’ (2004)
Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid is the only decent sequel the franchise ever spawned. Some fans of the snake horror thriller even tout The Hunt for the Blood Orchid as better than the 1997 original. The sequel features a decent cast, including Johnny Messner and Morris Chestnut, with a plot that involves a pharmaceutical company heading into the jungle in search of the titular Blood Orchid flower, which could earn them billions.
The complications in Anacondas ensue when the expedition discovers that the Blood Orchid is fed on by local snakes, causing them to grow to immense size and protect the area around the flower. The Hunt for the Blood Orchid features far better acting than the sequels that followed and had a bigger budget, allowing for relatively sound special effects for the time, even topping those of the 1997 original in places. While it is understandable why some fans love Anacondas more than the first film, it earns its place thanks to the thrills that started it all.
‘Anaconda’ (2025)
While the 2025 reboot of Anaconda leans into humor, allowing the screwball premise to spur laughs, it also delivers on the thrilling snake action, with plenty of perilous threats. Given that none of the other Anaconda movies have been funny, at least intentionally, that puts the latest installment in its own category, as it embraces the horror comedy sub-genre. Yet, even taking a foray outside Anaconda’s usual territory, the reboot is still capable of scaring audiences.
Black and Rudd are known for their hilarious antics, and Anaconda has plenty for audiences to enjoy. Still, it knows its roots, embracing the fun snake thriller format that helped launch the series. The reboot may stray too far from the original tone for some fans, and it clearly has a bigger budget, but 2025’s Anaconda earns its place thanks to genuine laughs and an evident love of the film that started it all.
‘Anaconda’ (1997)
Lopez and Ice Cube led a cast that also included a young Owen Wilson, taking on a terrifyingly large snake in Anaconda. The monster movie was not well received by critics, who found it a generic excuse for people to battle a snake. While that argument has validity, Anaconda also captured B-movie thrills in a scary, original way. Thanks to advancements in CGI, audiences were treated to a quick-moving snake blended with practical effects, allowing for mesmerizing kills, such as the waterfall grab.
While the mix of effects wasn’t on the level of something like Jurassic Park, Anaconda found a loyal cult following that latched onto the creepy Amazon jungle-set film, squeezing it tight like the titular snake. While the back half of the franchise left many fans wanting, Anaconda and the 2004 sequel are both worthy entries, with the nostalgia that kicked it all off holding its place at the top.
- Release Date
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December 24, 2025
- Runtime
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99 minutes
- Director
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Tom Gormican