David R Ellis's much-anticipated slither-fest certainly generated a wave of internet hype, but this by-the-numbers thriller barely surpasses the standard of a straight-to-video movie. As the gimmicky title suggests, the poisonous reptiles are let loose on a Hawaii to LA flight. Their target is Nathan Phillips (Wolf Creek), the only witness in a major murder case, who is in the protective custody of FBI agent Samuel L Jackson. The script is a few one-liners short of an Airplane! sequel (and some of these were tailored to internet bloggers' suggestions), and the plot is as unconvincing as the CGI snakes that gorily strike the mile-high club's bevy of eccentric passengers. Once you're past the shock of a "snake shower" falling from the oxygen masks, repetition soon sets in, and the attacks merge into standard disaster movie fare, complete with plummeting aircraft. And, yes, stewardess Julianna Margulies does have to fly the plane.

FBI agent Neville Flynn boards a flight from Honolulu, Hawaii to Los Angeles, escorting a key witness to testify against a mob boss at an upcoming trial. An on-board assassin releases a crate full of hundreds of deadly venomous snakes in an attempt to eliminate the witness. Flynn and a host of frightened passengers and crew must band together to survive the slithery threat.