If films like Lucky Number Slevin recall the best of '70s cinema, Snakes on a Plane drags back memories of the worst. Yet, that seems to be the unstated goal in this fang-in-cheek disaster film that aches to be shown at a drive-in.

The history of the creation of Snakes is well-known. It was committee work in the widest sense possible. The premise is ludicrous: A dangerous gang leader tries to off a witness to one of his crimes by filling a plane that the witness is on with venomous snakes. Where to go from there?

Professional slacker dude Sean Jones (Nathan Phillips) is minding his own business on his dirt bike in Hawaii's wilds when he sees a vicious killing of a cop by mobster Eddie Kim (Byron Lawson). In his haste to flee the scene, he drops the Red Bull can he's been gulping from — which, apparently, is enough evidence for both the mob and the Feds to track him down.

Taken into custody by the FBI, he agrees to fly to Los Angeles to testify against Kim. The FBI takes over the first-class compartment of a LAX-bound jet, where everything will eventually go pear-shaped.

Sean's fellow passengers are a who's who from Central Casting, and no one will lose bets on who will live or die. There's the man who's terrified to fly (think Sid Cesar in Airport '75), the innocent little kid (same film with Linda Blair), the "star" (ditto Gloria Swanson), etc. Among the crew will be perky blond Tiffany, veteran stewardess Grace (with such a name, can death be far away?), and Claire (demi-star Julianna Margulies), who makes the classic fatal confession that "this is my last flight" before she boards the plane.

The dialogue is as richly varied as the character development, often an exchange of heartfelt clichés. Unfortunately, the film's most deathless line (the one that will forever live on frat boys' T-shirts), uttered by Jackson, is unprintable here.

The other aspect to Snakes that makes it feel like an American International B picture from the '70s is the drive-in-grade sex. The slithering villains seem as preoccupied with breasts as the cockpit crew, though one also has the pleasure of latching on to a male member in the privacy of a toilet cubicle. The snakes, mostly computer-generated, also have a thing for tongues and the odd eye.

The chaos in the sky is matched by the mad scrambling on the ground, as Flynn's FBI superiors try to find the needed "scientific expert" to help explicate plot points. This will be Dr. Steven Price (Todd Louiso), a mild-mannered but snippy ophiologist who has a thing or two to say on the variety of snake venom.

The only thing surprising about Snakes on a Plane is that a group of people felt the world was rather empty without it. The film is trash, but has the good manners to fully identify itself as such, down to the camp music video by a garage band called Cobra Starship that bellows the film's theme song ("Snakes on a Plane — Bring It") during the closing credits.