just read this in wired and thought it was a great insight.
"After getting the kind of public drubbing that Snakes on a Plane has, you could imagine a producer deciding that the safest option was to send it directly to video. But in this case, the producers listened closely enough to hear the affection underneath the raspberries. If the film strikes it big at the box office, it will be a powerful illustration of what happens when fans take charge of the promotion of a major hollywood release."
I saw it last night and thought it was really good, even though the premise was stupid.