Alabama Snake (2020) Poster

(2020)

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6/10
At times intriguing documentary about Alabama folklore
paul-allaer8 January 2021
"Alabama Snake" (2020 release; 85 min.) is a documentary about the strange Alabama folklore of snake handling during religious "Pentacostal" services, and how things got out of hand. After introducing us to East Tennessee State University folklorist Thomas Burton, we go to Chapter 1 "Bite Nite", and it is "October 4, 1991, Scottsboro, Alabama", where the paramedics are called on the scene with a woman (Darlene) claiming that her husband Glenn tried to kill her with snake bites. Say what?!?

Couple of comments: this is the latest documentary from producer-director Theo Love, who just last year produced the enjoyable "McMillions" mini-series. Here he digs (with a major assist from Thomas Burton, on whose research the film is based) into the strange but still thriving subculture in pockets of communities that use snake handling in their religious services. Along the way we get the story of Glenn Summer ford, who is accused of attempted murder of his wife. The two appear separate and parallel stories, but you just wait and see how it all comes together. The movie is divided in 5 Chapters and an Epilogue, and flows by quickly. One reason that I don't rate this movie higher is the dearth of archival footage, and instead the film has plenty of 'reenacted' scenes, which I am not a fan of.

"Alabama Snake" premiered on HBO last month, and is now available on HBO On Demand and other streaming platforms. If you are curious about the strange folklore of snake handling in religious services,. or are simply looking for a decent documentary to watch, I'd suggest you check this out and draw your own conclusion.
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5/10
Victim blaming documentary
rusty_shacklefords_revenge28 February 2023
Warning: Spoilers
As someone who studied anthropology and is a huge fan of folklore--especially from the region of Appalachia--I was sucked into this story from the beginning. Snake handling culture seems fascinating, and I loved the first-person interviews from people involved in the central story.

Then, as the documentary progressed, I realized that the narrative the filmmakers are presenting is an attempt to cast doubt on the guilt of an incredibly violent and abusive man who was convicted of attempting to kill his wife with a rattlesnake bite.

*Warning* description of violent content: This guy admitted to beating a man until his eyeball popped out of his head, not once but with two different men. (Once during an underground fight, and the second time was recounted by his son, who as a child was present when his father beat a man for flirting with his wife and "threw him off a waterfall for dead".) His first wife said he regularly beat her. One piece of evidence the doc offers for why he might be innocent: "If he wanted her dead, she'd be dead."

This was an interesting story, but I don't understand the need to present it from the side of the abusive husband. Despite the descriptions of extremely violent acts, it presents him as a sympathetic character who had a hard lot in life and did some bad things but then found "redemption." His wife, who was 19 at the time they got together (and at least a decade younger than him), described him as terrifying from day 1. She was presented as a temptress who manipulated others into seeing her as a victim. I get that it can be intriguing to approach cases that seem cut-and-dried from the opposite angle, but domestic violence and violence against women is a horrifically large problem in the US. This is not the "hot take" we want or need.

The wife is the "Alabama Snake" the title is referring to... YIKES.

Are these filmmakers incels or something? It really reads that way. Disappointing.
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6/10
Alabama Folks Are DAF
bt698nhj20 December 2021
If you can get through the backwards grammar, it's a fairly interesting story. Trailer parks rule and roll tide.

More characters needed. Am I close to 150?????
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1/10
Just so everyone knows
michellemdial5 January 2021
Warning: Spoilers
This is a true story and yes he did it. He tried to kill her. Take it from someone that is blood related to them. I was only 11 at the time it happened and still remember it like it was yesterday. I wish they wouldn't have made this movie. Our family has been trying to hide from this and now they did a movie about it and it reopens old hurt and hatred for our family.
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3/10
Don't bother
megriffin13403 March 2021
Utter nonsense. An hour and five minutes in, with only twenty minutes remaining, I could no longer stand it.

I'm not from that area, nor am I of that religion, but from an outsider's point of view, all of these people have either bought into the falsehoods repeated to them over the years or they are just crazy. I can't say whether or not Glenn Summerford was trying to kill his wife, but the fact that he didn't take her to a doctor after she was bitten by a RATTLESNAKE because it was simply "in God's hands" is criminal in itself.

The only reason I gave it three stars instead of one is because of the documentary's production. With that said, letting these people spew their absolute nonsense for an hour and a half is a waste of airtime. With the exception of the first responders, and maybe his first wife, there are no redeeming characters, and certainly no worthwhile storyline.
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8/10
A well told story of an Appalachian family and a "reformed" Pentecostal snake handler husband
aSchizoCat11 December 2020
This doc lays out a story of accounts from those in or around the attempted murder of an Appalachian mother, and they tell their stories as to how events unfolded before them almost 30 years ago.

The most interesting accounts being from the convicted husband, and the abused wife (who, unfortunately, was most likely high on meth in this doc). He laid out what he knew from prison when he was interviewed decades ago - she laid out what she knew in this doc (while she was tweaked out of her mind.).

It's not really a doc with firsthand footage, it's a doc with firsthand / secondhand / thirdhand accounts explaining what they remembered, saw or knew. And I must say, everyone told their stories very well.

While oral history is told, you'll frequently have acted footage shown - one of the rare instances where this didn't take away from the doc, but rather added to it. The small amount of historical footage shown paints the scene at the time, while the spoken accounts tell the actual story.

Side note: Religion is interesting, good or bad. With that said... this isn't a movie about religion, nor is this a move about politics. This is more of a human interest doc - real folklore if you will.

The fact there's a review claiming this is a "left wing" doc with an "anti religion agenda" is mind boggling to me. That's not the case at all, and it's sad to see people claiming such - so much so that I decided to create an account just to make this review...

Documentary fans, you will enjoy this story, and it'll keep you hooked as the story unfolds.
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8/10
Strong Narrative Structure
patriciacmurphy10 January 2021
I truly appreciated the organizing structure of this documentary. I found the historical information compelling and the interviews were insightful and seamless.
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8/10
Gripping!
billsoccer3 January 2021
A story about a Pentecostal minister who may have used a snake to try to kill his wife! She certainly was bit, but the question is - did she do it herself or did he make her? Don't be put off by the fringe religious practices. While featured, this isn't a story about them, or religion in general. There is some actual film from the incident - which is pretty helpful. Several cages holding many rattlers. The film explores the seedy (that's generous) past of the minister, and hints at a troubled past in his second wife's past. Both are quite uneducated. The film does a great job of unearthing many living witnesses and legal transcripts, but most of all the interviews of the first 2 wives and the minister himself.
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8/10
thank god that...
ops-5253510 December 2020
There are documentarists out there that sweeps the historic field of peculiar and heresays, lets call it urban legends. so if you take a look at this hbo docu directed by theo love you will get crocodile shoes oiled with snake oil and a bit of venom to reach the highestlevel of resurection and as close as it can get to god, the holy father, used as a religious relique in a sect down in the blessed old state of alabama usa, like you eat oblat and drink wine in a church sermony.

but snakes as a murder weapon??? clever and clueless, in fact a perfect murder if you ask me. so hang on to this all absorbing documentary, you will gawp your jaw just as the grumpy old miself did. higly recommended.
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