With New Line's Snakes on a Plane only a few days away, a lot schlock-hounds (including me) were really looking forward to checking out The Asylum's homage/ripoff Snakes on a Train. But I've noticed a few strange little things recently...

1. Despite its having a release date of ... yesterday (8/15), you cannot buy a new copy of Snakes on a Train at Amazon. Or DVD Empire. Or Deep Discount DVD. You can't even rent it from Netflix.
2. I was at Best Buy last night, and they didn't have any copies of the DVD. Ditto Circuit City.
3. Snakes on a Train cannot be found on IMDb. I coulda sworn it was there a few weeks ago ...
4. And unless I'm really stupid, it doesn't look like you can even buy a copy from The Asylum's website, either. (Though it seems that Blockbuster did receive a few copies, as that's how my pal David Cornelius was able to review the flick.)

So what's the story? Amazon has no problem stocking The Asylum's other titles, but they're not stocking this one. (Not yet, at least.) Has there been a shipping problem? A release date delay? An issue with New Line? Are the big boys pressuring the retailers to ignore The Asylum's little snake flick?

Frankly I have no idea. If anyone out there has any info, let me know. I'd like to see Snakes on a Train. Yeah, seriously. (And I absolutely refuse to give any money to Blockbuster, no matter what.)

UPDATES: 1. One kind commenter points us towards a new release date at VideoETA.com. 2. Jeffrey Wells of Hollywood Elsewhere has a much more thorough explanation as to the missing train snakes. Thanks to both.

Ask your average hardcore horror geek if they're familiar with "The Asylum," and watch a bemused grin crack across their melon. Production house, distributor and loony bin all wrapped into one (hence the name), The Asylum has recently grown into somewhat of a production-line outfit, which only serves to make the studio feel a whole lot like the big Hollywood boys. The Asylum inmates are simply a little more forthcoming with their schlock, and they wear their cinematic influences (not to mention affections) on their frequently gore-soaked sleeve.

I had a chance to pick the brain of Mr. David Michael Latt, currently the head crazy over at The Asylum. As old buddies, we shot the breeze in laid-back and movie-geek style, focusing mainly on the indie studio's more recent crop of "blockbuster piggy-backs" -- some of which are actually more entertaining than their big-budget brethren. Some.