I give this a rating completely above bomb, simply because it is often hysterical and because of that opening shot of the world map that looks into a non-existent island where this supposedly takes place. A narration of the world's cults and odd customs prepares the viewer for 90 minutes of oddities, from the cackling dwarf overseeing voodoo rituals to the sudden attacks on men by presumably cannibalistic women on unsuspecting men as a part of their snake worshiping rituals. Toss in Boris Karloff as the presumably head of the cult (whose evil looking daughter is seen performing some of the rituals) and you've got the recipe for one of the most laughably bad foreign horror movies ever made.It's obvious to me that this is part of the legion of dozens of bad horror films influenced by Mario Bava's huge success, "Black Sunday", something that even he was never able to top. Certainly the atmospheric settings and sinister looking special effects and bloody photography do have all the elements that make for a visually pleasing ghoul fest. But the cast is truly wretched, and Karloff (dead nearly two years when this got released) seems tired and uninterested. There's no one among the women in the cast who comes even close to capturing the sinister magic that Barbara Steele provided in even the worst of her films. I have read reports that it us not Karloff's voice in the dubbed print, but it certainly sounded like him to me.

On the Caribbean island of Korbai, the natives perform animal and human sacrifices under the mysterious voodoo priest, Damballah. When a new law-enforcement official, Captain Labesch (Rafael Bertrand), arrives, he is outraged that the police have turned a blind eye to the cult's murderous ways. Determined to bring about law and order, Labesch seeks the aid of Carl Van Molder (Boris Karloff), a wealthy and powerful landowner who advises the captain against interfering with native customs. When he ignores Van Molder's advice, policemen start turning up dead, killed by female zombies under the command of the sultry priestess Kalia (Tongolele) and a grinning, maniacal dwarf (Santonon) in sunglasses. There's also a romantic sub-plot involving Labesch's assistant, Lt. Wilhelm (Carlos East), and Van Molder's visiting niece, Annabella (Julissa), who is a proud member of the Anti-Saloon League.Karloff looks like death warmed over but is reasonably effective as the oily Van Molder. Tongolele drips with diabolical sensuality as the snake-handling voodoo priestess; the close-ups of her eyes are particularly stunning. The highly attractive Julissa is less than believable as the chaste and tee-totaling Annabella; her most effective scene is a fevered-dream sequence in which Annabella has lesbian sex with her doppelganger. Rafael Bernard chews the scenery as the self-righteous, tunnel-visioned Captain Labesch. Carlos East is barely there as the handsome, if hard-drinking, Lt. Wilhelm.The most striking performance is the dwarf Santonon's. Whether flogging an errant zombie, laughing insanely as he beheads a chicken, helping Kalia perform a ritual to manipulate Annabella's dreams, or bleeding to death after he is repeatedly slashed with a machete, Santonon fully owns each of his scenes. I can't say that his performance is good, but it damned sure stayed with me!SNAKE PEOPLE is by no means a great horror film, but I found it entertaining—even if it didn't take me long to figure out who Damballah was; even if the horrible dialogue sounds even worse when dubbed from Spanish to English; and even if the ending was too damned abrupt. The best scenes are mainly of the snake-dancers and the voodoo rituals.My favorite line of dialogue, courtesy of Annabella: "Modern science has proved that alcohol is responsible for 99.2% of all the world's sins!" (Yeah, the same way it proved that vaccines are responsible for autism.)

It is very difficult to determine for many which is the best of the late-career-Karloff Mexican films, because they all share the same problems with one another and come this close to having no redeeming qualities. Fear Chamber was the worst, though The Incredible Invasion is one of the absolute worst final films of any actor. Personally, the best is this, Isle of the Snake People because it also has Yolanda Montes' entrancingly sexy dancing as well as Boris Karloff's dignified(though he is also criminally underused) performance, the rest only had Karloff going for them. Saying that is saying little because it is still terrible. The rest of the acting is atrocious, even the dwarf who is more camp than menacing, there is an uneasy mix of those who have no signs of acting talents and those who have no idea how to play their roles. Visually, Isle of the Snake People is the most colourful of the lot but still shows no signs of style, genuine love or finesse, it always looks like it was done on minimal budget and in tight time constraints. The music is overly-strident, the dialogue is horrendously stilted and you never care for the characters. The story is the worst thing about Isle of the Snake People, it is more uncomfortably weird than atmospheric, is very randomly structured and incorporates many things that add nothing and are left unexplained. The abrupt ending and flat direction put the final nail in the coffin. In conclusion, probably the best of the late-career Karloff Mexican films but only has Montes and Karloff who are anywhere close to good. 2/10 Bethany Cox

This thing deserves a better reputation. True, it has its down side. The photographic technique isn't the best. Quickly panning in and out, jerking the camera around, these are things I think directors do when they don't know what else to do. Lack of imagination excused by low budget. Aside from that it has lots of pluses. Karloff is good, as always. The rest of the cast play their parts very well. Two in particular come across perfectly and so help make this a good flick. Carlos (Charles) East does well as Wilhem, making the character very natural and hence believable. But, my opinion, the best player of them all? Yolanda Montes, billed as Tongolele, as Kalea. With her sex appeal and that budding "Bride of Frankenstien" hairdo shes dead on as the Voodoo priestess. And with sex appeal in mind, I noticed a pronounced current of underlying sexuality that flows nowhere. But things like that help pull 'em in when you show the promos. This isn't a bad movie. For a B flick its OK.