Revenge of the Snail

A “Hot Diggety” FILM
WRITTEN BY Margaret Joppa

On the remote west coast of New Zealand, in an area covered with lush vegetation of native rainforest, a mining company has paid millions of dollars to the corrupt government for mining rights. The few people living in the area are powerless to prevent it, and outsiders think the mining will boost the poor economy. But when the mining triggers an earthquake, causing a massive landslide, a team of environmental geologists must come to survey the damage. The foreigners, trained in academic institutions in large cities, are dismayed by the rural conditions. The coal mining company attempts to thwart their efforts to access the area, but rustic locals assist the out-of-place scientists. One of the locals is a handsome National Park Ranger who guides the researchers through the rugged and altered terrain: native habitat of the carnivorous land snail. His ability to seduce the ladies is local legend, and the females on the geology team succumb to his skills one by one. Their scientific pursuits, however, are hampered by a series of bad decisions and a failure to make any backup plans. The team discovers mysterious slime pools as they approach the landslide area, and they soon realize that the landslide has released something more sinister than the mining company itself. When members of the geology team start disappearing, and the cause of their loss is discovered, their only hope is to use the resources of the forest engulfing them.