Cult of the Cobra (1955)

The beginning when the snake charmer offers to show us "She who is a snake" for 100 dollars, followed by a well done and costumed dance scene, is good. The ending is suspenseful and quite good. Unfortunately, everything in between is mush. An effective performance by Faith Domergue as a cult leader who has the instincts to be more humanistic (but doesn't quite know how) cannot overcome the blandly directed, badly lit, overly padded middle hour-plus of this movie. Unfortunately the producers are too cheap to show any cult activity or morphing scenes during the long middle, instead all is only shadow or off screen except at the beginning and the very end.The five future TV stars who portray potential cult victims are all capable and watchable but their efforts are mostly swallowed up in the long dreary middle of the movie. Many familiar faces are also present such as first class actor Walter Coy (The Searchers '56), and also Bing Russell and Ed Platt.I expected more from a Universal horror movie. This film suffers from lack of style, imagination or excitement but you will be pleased to see the talented and enjoyable cast.

This off-beat horror flick is cheesier than those bargain nachos. Big thrill during the Drive-In Movie era. While stationed in Asia,six Air Force buddies sneak into a secret ceremony where cobras are worshiped. After their presence is discovered, a high priest puts a curse on the men. After returning to the states, the group of friends more or less laugh off the curse. Things get suspicious after the arrival of a vengeful priestess, Lisa Moya(Faith Domerue), who moves into an apartment right across the hall from one of the Air Force buddies Tom Markel(Marshall Thompson). Tom is on the rebound after his girl jilted him for one of his buddies. Here is the opportunity to spend time with attractive and too available Lisa . Mysteriously the airmen start dying one by one. Shadows of a cobra and snake venom are involved with each death. Oooooh! Cast includes: Kathleen Hughes, Richard Long, William Reynolds, Jack Kelly, Myrna Hansen and David Janssen.

This motion picture is more remarkable than what I thought. Although it is obviously a simple B product, it seems there were intentions to turn it into something more ambitious, in the line of "Cat People" (1942). It is true that Lisa Moya —the cobra woman played by Faith Domergue— is not as a developed character as Simone Simon's Irena Dubrovna in Tourneur's classic, and the erotic elements are not as strong, but Lisa shows anguish and pain as she seems to be in love with one of the American soldiers she has to kill for desecrating the cult of the cobra. Besides, the film has other resonances today: maybe in the pre-Vietnam time it was made (1955) it was taken for granted that all American soldiers in service abroad were very cute guys who meant no harm as they fought for "democracy", but today we know how things have always been with troops from any nation in invaded countries, and how often they have victimized their people. And last but not least it is interesting to watch all these future TV male stars together: Marshall Thompson, Richard Long, William Reynolds, Jack Kelly and David Janssen.

I had alway wanted to see this, having grown up watching all of the 50's SF films. This one had a cast of people I had grown up with in those SF films. I was not disappointed. The plot is slight, but well done. The 50's were not a decade for whodunits. It's pretty obvious who the killer is before the guys even leave Asia. Faith is a beautiful woman, and rarely has she been prettier than here. A little more meat on the script would have made this a better remembered film. The story is straightforward, with little in the way of subtlety. This was the same studio that made Tarantula and The Deadly Mantis. Both of those films were better than this, yet they had the same cookie-cutter feel to them. I put it up to the need to have new films in the drive-ins every week. All the studios suffered from this by the late 50's, with originality going out the window. Overall, I would give it a 6 out of 10. Good, but it could have been better considering the talented cast they had.------------------------------------------------------------------- Since there is no way to add a Goof to this film, I'll put it here. WARNING: Spoiler ahead.In the scene where David Janssen is killed at the bowling alley, he walks by a wall calendar several times. It is the 5th of the month when he walks past it the first time. The next time he goes by it is the 6th of the month. The date changes twice more between the 5th and 6th as David goes about his business.