I really like Samuel L. Jackson and Julianna Margulies, but this doesn't sound like fun: "On board a flight over the Pacific Ocean, an assassin, bent on killing a passenger who's a witness in protective custody, lets loose a crate full of deadly snakes."

Snakes on a Plane (2006, alternative title: Pacific Air 121) — like slithery predecessors Anaconda (1997), King Cobra (1998), Silent Predators (1999), Python (2000), Boa (2001), Fangs (2001), Venomous (2001), Python II (2002), and Boa vs. Python (2004) -- is not one I'll be sitting through - the movie trailers alone make my skin crawl. So do Snakes on a Plane reviews and this portion of the film's Motion Picture Association of America rating: "intense sequences of terror and violence."

Snakes rattle me, wherever I encounter them, but although I find them repulsive and frightening, I'm not phobic. However, Snakes on a Plane targets several common, clinically diagnosed fears — most notably, fear of flying (aviatophobia), fear of snakes (ophidiophobia), and fear of enclosed/confined spaces (claustrophobia) — and it's a safe bet that phobics will sit out this movie with me.

Nevertheless, the filmmakers need not fear.  We squeamish, who can't stomach slithering serpents (and other aspects of the movie) and will steer clear, are barely biting into box office revenues. Snakes' Rottentomatoes.com Box Office History reports the film ranked #1 in week one and grossed $15,250,000.  Apparently, Snakes' sales are charmed by three factors that give the film legs: its lengthy marketing campaign, its summer debut, and its appeal among moviegoers with a taste for venom.