Anacondas: Trail of Blood (2009)

Anacondas: Trail of Blood (also known as Anaconda 4) is a 2009 American horror thriller television film directed by Don E. FauntLeRoy and starring Crystal Allen, Linden Ashby, Danny Midwinter, and John Rhys-Davies. The film is a sequel to Anaconda 3: Offspring (2008) and the fourth installment in the Anaconda film series. It premiered on the Sci-Fi Channel on February 28, 2009.

It was followed by Lake Placid vs. Anaconda (2015), a crossover sequel with Lake Placid franchise.

Plot
A baby anaconda, which was captured at the end of the previous film, is being used for experiment by Peter Reysner, who creates a hybrid of the blood orchids from Borneo that enabled the anaconda to grow very large and live longer, and creates a serum for cell regeneration. After the test seemingly works for the baby anaconda to regenerate, Peter burns it. When he disappears, the long anaconda escapes from the cage and kills Peter in a mine filled with blood orchids. Peter "J.D." Murdoch, a billionaire suffering from bone cancer, sends his assassin Eugene and his team of henchmen mercenaries to find Peter and the serum Peter created so that it can cure him. He also tells them to be careful of Dr. Amanda Hayes, and to kill her if needed. Dr. Amanda Hayes, the sole survivor of the previous snake attack, and two officers also go in search of Peter, determined to destroy the serum and kill the snake.

On the way, they meet Alex, a trekker who appears lost in the Romanian Carpathians, while doing a paleopathology project. When they discover the blood orchids in the mine, Amanda sets the explosives to destroy the orchids, but she and the group are attacked by the anaconda that kills one of the officers with her while the other officer hides and disappears. Amanda is able to trick the snake into causing a cave in that "kills" the snake however as she and Alex attempt to leave the mine, she is knocked unconscious and Alex escapes to get more help. Meanwhile, a group of explorers: Jackson, girlfriend Wendy, Wendy's best friend Heather, and brothers Patrick and Scott, get dragged into the search for the snake. Due to the serum, the anaconda can no longer die without significant damage to its internal organs and regenerates itself from the previous cavein. Heather falls ill due to a spider bite. The next day, The group Murdoch hires is attacked by the anaconda and it kills one of them. Alex and Amanda are able to regroup after Amanda saves Alex from the snake and they both eventually find the explorers from earlier after the snake attacks and tears off the arm of Patrick. Eugene and his henchmen eventually find Hayes and Jackson's group and captures them. When Amanda is uncooperative in their efforts to get information about the serum Eugene shoots and kills Patrick. During this moment of confusion Wendy tries to escape and Eugene shoots her dead which enrages Jackson.

Amanda and Scott are forced to find the serum, and are accompanied by two henchmen of Eugene to find it. They put up at Peter's house. There the two find the serum but keep it hidden. The anaconda strikes the house and devours one gunman and, while the other is trying to fight it off, Amanda and Scott escape. Jackie corners them, but is taken by surprise by Scott. The snake attacks Jackie and he accidentally blows himself up with a grenade while trying to destroy the snake. It then chases Amanda and Scott. Scott sacrifices himself to the snake to buy time for Amanda to run. In an attempt to destroy the snake, Amanda throws a gasoline tank at the snake and blows it up, but the snake regenerates after she flees.

Back at the base camp, Murdoch appears, but is in for a rude shock when he sees that his arch enemy, the "officer" who had originally accompanied Amanda earlier, Vasile. Murdoch orders Eugene to "clean house" however it turns out Vasile offered more money and gets Eugene to join forces with him instead. When Vasile orders him to kill Murdoch, Jackson takes the moment of hostility to stab Eugene whose gun accidentally goes off and kills Vastile. The last remaining mercenary Armon hears the commotion and is tackled by Jackson, however Jackson gets wounded from a bullet and just as Armon is about to kill him Amanda shoots him to death. Murdoch reappears after the gunfire, holding Armon's gun and demands that Amanda give him the serum. As they do that, he keeps his word and allows them to leave. As the remaining survivors leave in the jeep, Murdoch injects himself with the serum and discovers that it works, but the snake rips his head off after coiling him. Amanda finally destroy the orchids for good in the mines, and the group try to escape in a jeep as the anaconda pursues them, but they are attacked by Eugene, who had clung on the back of the vehicle. Jackson confronts him in the back of the truck after he gets a shot off at Amandas arm. They both fight in the back of the jeep which gives Amanda enough time to kick him out of the car with two grenades in hand. While the snake devours him, it is blown to bits. As the group departs, the anaconda, who seems to have regenerated, slithers into the forest.

Cast

 * Crystal Allen as Dr. Amanda Hayes
 * John Rhys-Davies as Peter "J.D." Murdoch
 * Linden Ashby as Jackson
 * Ana Ularu as Heather
 * Emil Hostina as Eugene
 * Danny Midwinter as Scott
 * Călin Stanciu as Alex
 * Anca Androne as Wendy
 * Alexandru Potoceanu as Roland / Patrick
 * Claudiu Bleont as Armon
 * Dan Badarau as Vasile
 * Zoltan Butuc as Peter Reysner
 * Cristina Teodorescu as Murdoch's Assistant

Production
The film was shot back-to-back with Anaconda 3: Offspring in Romania (Bucharest, Danube Delta, etc.). When the film was first announced, David Hasselhoff was slated to appear reprising his character of Stephen Hammett from the third film, but he does not appear.

Reception
DVD Verdict rated it 58/100 and called it "hugely boring".