Filmmaking

Horror Movies Need to Research Reptiles

I’m tired of seeing harmless snakes portrayed as monsters

Me seeing pythons portrayed as venomous. Credit: NEON

Longlegs should have been an unsettling, edge-of-my-seat watch. The love letter to The Silence of the Lambs is a dark descent into a series of disturbing, Satanic murders interspliced with images of red-washed serpents. Snakes are, of course, a symbol of the Devil that tempted Eve to partake in the forbidden fruit of the Tree of Knowledge.

But was that snake a ball python?

I was taken out of what should have been an immersive horror experience by repeated images of a bowl filled with ball pythons. My sister leaned over in the theater to whisper, “Look at the puppies!”

This is a ball python. I think they’re pretty cute.

For those not in the know, ball pythons are extremely common in the pet trade because of their docile nature and, frankly, cute little faces. They are even known as good starter pets for children interested in reptiles because they are amiable to handling, almost friendly. That’s why it was so jarring to see a languid pile of ball pythons presented as a scary homage to Satan. Imagine a beagle cast in the role of Cujo.