Publication Date: 12-21-2025

Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid (2004) review

Dir. Dwight H. Little

By: Steve Pulaski

Rating: ★★

Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid takes a second-rate idea and stockpiles it with third-rate characters but a first-rate setting. Clearly a film with ambition, yet financial and writing limitations, to call it poorly made is simply far too extreme, yet to call it a worthy sequel to is predecessor is going too far.

I’m one of the few who appreciated the original 1997 Anaconda, with Ice Cube and Jennifer Lopez headlining the picture. What can I say? I’m biased towards films where creatures of nature are human’s enemies and considering they’re an easy genre to find but not an easy one to do well. if the film has gleefully corny aspects, decently likable characters, and some attractive aesthetic charm, I can appreciate them. In terms of “creature features,” I have always been particularly very fond of the famous Tremors franchise, and while Anaconda doesn’t come close to matching the wits of that series, it’s appreciable on multiple levels.

Our story concerns a group of researchers off to explore the island of Borneo, where deep in the jungle exists the mysterious and precious “blood orchid,” a plant whose powers could provide humans with a longer, healthier lifestyle and quite possibly rid them of any current diseases. The researchers are Jack (Matthew Marsden), Ben (Nicholas Gonzalez), Gordon (Morris Chestnut), and Tran (Karl Yune), Samantha (KaDee Strickland), Gail (Salli Richardson-Whitfield), and Cole (Eugene Byrd), all commanded by the likes of the cut-throat Bill Johnson (Johnny Messner). Many of the characters are notably capable, with the exception of the dead-end Cole, who seems to be just itching to say the next loud, unnecessary zinger.

So, they venture out to this island, it’s raining like hell, everyone’s patience are thin, and just to give things a little extra spice, there is a giant, man-eating anaconda who has just found some men to chew on. After one of the members is eaten, one of the characters, Bill, I believe, makes the assumption that the anaconda will no longer feast after being filled up by one of their researchers…unless it’s mating season. And, yes; it’s that time of year.

Back to the third-rate characters, it seems as if there is nothing holding these thin characters together but glue and duct tape. They’re horrible oversimplifications of recognizable humans, and are cut from the thinnest, ugliest cloth that their appeal (as characters not as actors, who are mostly efficient) wears dreadfully thin. Fortunately, they exist in a film with fine, vibrant cinematography, equal parts intoxicating and mesmerizing. Much like in the first Anaconda, there is something so pleasantly real about hearing the annoying chirping of bugs and almost feeling the sticky, moist sweat of the humidity-soaked jungle. It’s a tasteless environment captured perfectly on screen.

The scares are pretty mild, where as in Anaconda they were somewhat enjoyable. The effects are clearly limited, but not appalling. It’s a creature feature, so one shouldn’t expect the CGI to be that of high artistry, but what bothers me is how indistinct, dark, and murky everything is for most of the film. When night falls is when most of the action occurs, and we’re plagued by dim, blurry darkness for much of the film.

Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid is a rather unremarkable stroll through the jungle. The film is only made slightly memorable because of Matthew Marsden and Johnny Messner’s gifted performances, and its overall impressively cinematography. However, what it mainly lacks is direction, fun, surprise, scares, and most importantly, the 1997 film’s biggest asset; Jon Voight.

My review of Anaconda (1997)
My review of Anaconda (2025)

Starring: Johnny Messner, KaDee Strickland, Matthew Marsden, Nicholas Gonzalez, Eugene Byrd, Karl Yune, Salli Richardson, and Morris Chestnut. Directed by: Dwight H. Little.