“Alabama Snake” explores the story of Oct. 4, 1991, when a violent crime was reported in the town of Scottsboro, Alabama. Glenn Summerford, a Pentecostal minister, was accused of attempting to murder his wife with a rattlesnake. The details of the investigation and the trial that followed have “haunted Southern Appalachia for decades.”
I love a good crime mystery and the weirder, the better, but this story has got to be the weirdest of them all. In 1991, a preacher in Scottsboro, Alabama, was convicted of attempted murder after ordering his wife to put her hand in a cage of rattlesnakes. You may be thinking, why on earth would a preacher have rattlesnakes? Well, from what I’ve researched, serpent-handling has been around in some religions for decades. Snakes are used in a ritual to cast out demons and it was common for the preacher and his wife to handle multiple snakes in church gatherings.
After claiming he was full of demons, his wife recounts him grabbing a gun and forcing her hand into the snake pit. Between the two of them, both of their recollection of the incident could be used to create a whole other film. The wife claims he was a drunk and would become violent towards her, and while the preacher admits to a violent past, since giving his life to the lord he was a changed man and never resorted to violence. While she says he threatened her with a gun, he denies this brutal act, saying she put her hand into the snake pit as an attempted suicide.
After the end of the film, I honestly didn’t know who to believe as both stories were so outlandish they didn’t add up. Either way, this is a great film if you’re looking for something fascinating yet bizarre.
“Alabama Snake” debuts on HBO Max Wednesday, December 9th
