Faith Domergue (This Island Earth),
Richard Long (TV's Nanny and the Professor)
Marshall Thompson (Fiend Without a Face)
Kathleen Hughes (It Came from Outer Space)
David Janssen (The Fugitive himself!)
and
Jack Kelly (Bart Maverick himself!)
Behind the Camera:
Directed by Francis Lyon
Produced by Howard Pine
Written by Jerry Davis, Cecil Maiden, and Richard Collins
In the 1950's, Universal Studios had their last great run at the science
fiction, fantasy, and horror pictures they'd been pwning since the monumental
releases of Dracula and Frankenstein in 1931. They had zipped
through the previous decade mainly cranking out sequels starring different
conglomerations of their famed Universal Studios Monsters, but those horror
worthies were relegated to facing off against Abbott and Costello by the end of
the decade. Universal rather admirably turned to a series of new monsters, and
while some of them were a little out there (The Monolith Monsters,
anyone?) having all new beasties to marvel at was probably more exciting than a
ninth or tenth entry on the Frankenstein monster's resume' would have been.
The story here gives us six servicemen stationed in Asia in 1945,
looking for kicks as World War II nears its end. They hear tell of a local cult
who worship snakes and are even legendarily able to transform into snakes. One
well placed bribe later, the sextet find themselves duded up in robes and
watching one of the cult's rituals, warned to keep a low profile or face
possible death. The ritual itself seems to consist more of variety show dancing
than snake transformations, but finally there is a snake on a string that comes
out of the same woven basket a woman crawled into. It's not much different than
a bad Las Vegas magic show, but that doesn't stop the dumbest member of the
group whipping out his trusty camera, which of course is the size of a lunch box
and is equipped with a giant flash bulb.
Flash! Sure enough, this causes no end of consternation among the
cultists, and the film's biggest surprise occurs when the boys are summarily
cursed by none other than the Chief of Control himself.
 |
| "What do you mean uncredited? I'm Ed Platt, dammit!" |
One guy runs a bit faster than the others, and he is soon after found snakebit outside the cult clubhouse. Luckily this doesn't kill him, but a second run-in with a snaky shadow in his hospital room sends him to the Great Beyond. Wow, that's just like what Ed Platt said, but the rest of the boys have to get packed to head home, so la-de-da.
What is Domergue's secret, and will Long be able to convince Thompson
she's not what she seems? Or will Thompson assume Long is just c-blocking him
again after winning over Julia? The answers await those brave enough to
face...The Cult of the Cobra!
This is not a bad little flick, helped immensely by the presence of familiar faces like Long, Kelly, and Janssen. Top billed Domergue is okay, a little too conflicted in her mission perhaps - it might have been more fun if she took more evil delight in her misdeeds, but that's a quibble. The movie is also a little light on monster action, as we only get a few shots of that String Cobra, er, I mean, King Cobra, in action, mainly making do with the aforementioned snake shadow and snake-eye camera. But it's fun in that 1950's horror flick way, with almost nobody working any kind of visible job - Hughes is in some kind of show, and Janssen runs a bowling alley back in the states, but the rest just hang out, drinking and smoking and not worrying about death curses. For that alone, this one gets a recommendation, just keep the anti snake venom serum handy!
 |
| This is what James Garner might have seen if he'd had astigmatism. |
This is not a bad little flick, helped immensely by the presence of familiar faces like Long, Kelly, and Janssen. Top billed Domergue is okay, a little too conflicted in her mission perhaps - it might have been more fun if she took more evil delight in her misdeeds, but that's a quibble. The movie is also a little light on monster action, as we only get a few shots of that String Cobra, er, I mean, King Cobra, in action, mainly making do with the aforementioned snake shadow and snake-eye camera. But it's fun in that 1950's horror flick way, with almost nobody working any kind of visible job - Hughes is in some kind of show, and Janssen runs a bowling alley back in the states, but the rest just hang out, drinking and smoking and not worrying about death curses. For that alone, this one gets a recommendation, just keep the anti snake venom serum handy!
Let's Get Out of
Here ?
Around the 15:00 minute mark, Marshall Thompson
advises Richard Long to drop the basket so they can vacate the
area to avoid further encounters with angry snake
cultists.
Eye Candy ?
Kathleen Hughes qualifies for the list in all her slender blonde glory.
Buddha Man sez:
 |
| "Cult of the Cobra may be a little slow, but I've seen worse movies. This WEEK!" |
Thank you Mr. Man. Until tomorrow, you Can Poke Me With A Fork, Cause I Am Outta Here!
Love me some MONOLITH MONSTERS...
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