Funny how people in movies that change into animals are almost always turning into wolves. Sure, Wallace of Aardman fame may have been a were-rabbit in one film, but characters rarely turn into were-kangaroo or were-amoebas. 1955’s Cult of the Cobra is the only time I can recall seeing a woman who is a were-cobra.
Faith Domergue is that creature, and she is in the US after some GIs infiltrated a ceremony of the titular cult back in “Asia” and witnessed one of their ceremonies.
Richard Long is the most sympathetic of those army guys, and we see him early on calling out the offensive behavior of his friends. Given that, you’d think he would respect the privacy of the cult, except he’ll also be there with his friends, everybody in a hooded cloak. I find it hilarious secret societies like this always have the same dress code, as having each person’s face exposed would instantly reveal any intruders and, with that, remove any potential for suspense. Even with the cloaks, it seems just having any increase in the number of people attending a secret ceremony would raise suspicions, as there are five or six guys in Long’s circle of friends.
Really, I’m a bit unclear as to the size of their group at that point, as this is a weirdly bland group that is largely composed of nearly identical white men. Hey, I’m Caucasian and even I had trouble distinguishing between the four or so guys here who look uncannily like Bob Dobbs, icon of The Church of the Subgenius.
One blond guy stands out (James Dobson) because this is the dipshit who brought a large camera with a flash on it into the meeting. He wants to capture the moment when a woman supposedly changes into an actual snake, but the ritual wasn’t really all that impressive to me. The opening act is a guy who may be the first Riverdancer. The featured attraction is a bit better, but still like off-brand Cirque de Soleil.
Still, Dobson tries to get that pic, thereby exposing himself and his friends as interlopers. I bet this is kind of guy who is always holding up his phone right in front of your face at any concert, trying to record the entire show. He probably also goes to the zoo and knocks on the glass of the enclosures.
It is no surprise when Dobson pays for that indiscretion with his life. What the others don’t expect is the cult would seek retribution even when they have returned home.
For somebody who only knows “Asia”, Domergue’s snake woman sure knows how to acclimate quickly and thoroughly to life in suburban America of the late 1940’s. For some reason, these guys who served together also all settled in the same town, as if this is After M*A*S*H. The lot usually hangs out at David Jannsen’s bowling alley, where we learn from a banner that we should “Bowl for your health.” I rolled my eyes when I saw that, sarcastically commenting that would explain why most bowlers are such perfect specimens of physique.
It is there that Kathleen Hughes tells Marshall Thompson, one of the gang, that she is instead marrying Long. As she tells him, “I wouldn’t expect you to not be hurt or angry.” That’s nice, but I wonder if she’s mentally appending that with, “but I’ll be disappointed if you’re not.”
Thompson easily picks up Domergue on the rebound. In the meantime, she is working her way through the group, seducing and killing each man, but Thompson. She can’t seem to sink her fangs into the guy because of this newfangled emotion called love. The others are never defined fully enough for us to care whether they live or die, yet I pity the guy who receives a hickey from a were-snake.
One example of those other guys is Williams Reynolds, a man whose only character trait is his endless annoyance at prospective girlfriend Myrna Hansen. Guess he didn’t realize when somebody said she’s “a million laughs” that only meant how many times she giggles each day.
The attack sequences are interesting, as they are shot from the perspective of the cobra. There’s an odd effect used around the border of the frame in those moments. I’m not sure how it was done, but my best guess is it was filmed off a screen with a bowl of water between it and the camera. Really, I just like how I don’t exactly know how it was accomplished. More than that, I wondered how she is fully clothed when changing back from being the cobra.
Cult of the Cobra isn’t exactly good, but I have seen so much worse cinema of its kind so as to make it seem better than it is. I detected a hint of self-awareness, but not enough to make a mockery of the material. It is the kind of movie that has a book titled The History of Cults with a cobra on the cover, as if the one in this picture is the only cult in existence. A statement made by Long about Domergue possibly being an asp feels rather apt: “It’s just a hunch—the flimsiest kind of circumstantial evidence.” Twisting this statement makes for a concise metacommentary of the movie overall, as it is the flimsiest kind of entertainment.
Dir: Francis D. Lyon
Starring Faith Domergue, Richard Long, Marshall Thompson
Watched as part of Shout Factory’s blu-ray boxed set Universal Horror Collection: Volume 6