A long time ago in 112 A.D. Cyrenaica, during an eclipse, a giant snake-like creature wakes up and attacks a group of men. This is "Basilisk: The Serpent King" and he is angry. Basilisk spits out a long stream of white stuff, which turns people into stone. Two thousand years later, in present day Libya, a team of archaeologists led by steadfast Jeremy London (as Harrison "Harry" McColl) dig around in the same area. Watch out! They discover some artifacts which will lead to the return of Basilisk, but not quite yet...Two months later, in Pueblo Springs, Colorado, Mr. London meets attractive blonde archaeologist Wendy Carter (as Rachel Donegal). He really digs her, even with sexy Yancy Butler (as Hannah) hanging out. They are at an archaeological event during an eclipse when, like the first one, Basilisk wakes up. This time, he seems even angrier. And, with good reason. According to geeky scientist Griff Furst (as Rudy), "Basilisk: The Serpent King" is pregnant. If the snake king isn't destroyed, there will be 18-20 more...Yikes! *** Basilisk: The Serpent King (11/25/06) Stephen Furst ~ Jeremy London, Wendy Carter, Griff Furst, Yancy Butler

As a veteran aficionado of the SciFi originals, I had my usual expectations going into "Basilisk". Laughable special effects, transparent characters and formulaic situations clumsily stumbled into by unwitting victims of the CGI beast-du-jour; all comprising a solidly entertaining and heartily enjoyable experience. While "Basilisk" dutifully fulfilled many of my preconceptions, I have to say that it was a cut well above the standard Saturday night fare.This creature flick can rightfully take its place among such greats as "Hammerhead: Shark Frenzy" (Jeffery Combs can't make a bad movie), "Frankenfish" and many of the other SciFi offerings but I have to put "Basilisk" into its own category all together. The effects are of the same caliber as its worthy cousins, but I think that what lifts this one for me is the script. It is witty without being contrived and never leaves a slow moment or the feeling of awkwardness that comes with so many screenplays that try too hard to be hip (see: Lucky Number Slevin. Actually, don't see it, it's terrible). Cleavant Derricks does an outstanding job as the weekend warrior Colonel and his bantering exchanges with Jeremy London are the stuff of high theatrical art.So all in all, this one is not to be missed. Next time SciFi decides to air it, set the TiVo and prepare to be entertained. You will not be sorry.

Basilisk wasn't as bad as some of the other Saturday night Sci-fi Channel offerings. The majority of the budget was obviously spent on CGs. While there were scenes where the CG effects weren't great, there were others that it was.My big complaint about these movies are little details. These movies are filmed in Eastern Europe, where the buck can be stretched further than in the states. That's fine, but at least if you're depicting the U.S. military, use American-issued weapons, not weapons fixed to look like them. Would it be too hard to scrounge up some decent-looking M-16s?

"Basilisk: The Serpent King" is an incredibly enjoyable Sci-Fi Channel original creature feature.**SPOILERS**On a dig in Persia, Professor Harry McCall, (Jeremy London) and his team Rudy Skeeters, (Griff Furst) and Sierra, (Sarah Skeeters) find a series of ancient statues depicting soldiers and a large unknown creature. Meeting up with fellow scientist Rachel Donegan, (Wendy Carter) they attend a party honoring the discovery, and during an eclipse, the creature statue comes to life as a Basilisk and goes on a rampage. While trying to escape, they find Col. Douglas, (Cleavant Derricks) and his National Guard unit fighting the creature. When they realize that the only way to fight the creature is a scepter held by thieves Hannah, (Yancy Butler) and Brock, (Doug Dearth) they race to get it back before it continues it's rampage.The Good News: This one really surprised me by how good it was. A giant snake loose in a major city is one of the few ideas left in this series, and here it works magically. Rather than just having out in the middle of nowhere with very few targets, the snake is loose inside an urban center, which holds the possibility for tons of damage and tons of fun, which this has plenty of. The snake itself goes on a major rampage, biting off limbs, decapitating a couple, having objects crushed when they collide with them, and even the requisite number of people turned to statues. Those are handled very well, not really looking very CGI at all and looking quite natural. The various action scenes are all nicely paced and quite exciting, keeping it moving forward and always on the move. There's very little down-time between pretty much anything, as the pace moves along very rapidly from once scene to another. The snake itself is out and about very rapidly as well, coming out very early and staying that way for most of the most of the movie. The reawakening is a great action set-piece, with tons of bodies flying everywhere and a general mass panic. The mall sequence features some great action parts as well, making it a real highlight. The fact that the mystical creature gets explained in here with some factual evidence gives this one some more weight to it that most don't really have in the science background, and really sounds quite credible. Though it does look quite fake, the snake does have a rather creepy look to it in certain scenes, with a snake-like body mixed with a crocodilian jaw and a set on horns along the side of the body. Far better film than it should've been.The Bad News: It's getting very tiresome to call these films on the very badly-done CGI, and this one is no exception. Here, the same applies. Very rarely does the CGI used to make the creature look anything close to being believable. The CGI is apparent on the creature whenever it moves for a period of time, but when it doesn't really move is when there's a believable appearance, but it's still pretty easy to tell it's not a real creation. This is a common problem, and one that really doesn't show a lot of signs towards ending, and must really be endured more so than most other films. However, this is the one main problem with this. It's really not all that bad.The Final Verdict: Far better Sci-Fi Channel original than it had every right to be, this falls into the upper echelon of their pantheon of films and features a lot to like about it. Sure, there's the fact that it doesn't look real at all, but that is becoming par for the course with these films and is now a given. Fans of the past films should see this one immediately.Rated R: Graphic Violence and some Language