GL84 After unintentionally insulting a sacred ceremony while overseas in the war, a group of soldiers return back to America and find themselves stalked and killed by a strange creature with the powers of the cult inflicted upon them.An overall enjoyable 50s Horror effort that's better than expected but still mildly flawed, the best part here is the film's rather entertaining attack scenes. Using the camera to showcase the snake's approach is quite nice by getting around the troublesome topic of how to show that in the time-period while not really doing anything graphic or such, and several of them get pretty creepy especially the apartment attack. It's also a lot more modern-feeling than expected, which is due to utilizing the modern theme in this of the revenge-rampage of the cult to set-up the later actions, which is still being done nowadays and gives it a nice touch, as do the scenes inside the meeting which give it a creepy middle-eastern vibe that works well in making it seem foreign and exotic. There's some flaws here, including the conflicted agent of the cult storyline that's a cliché by the time it was featured here, and comes across moreso even now and seems shoehorned into the film for no reason, as well as the cheap special effects that really denote the low-budget nature of this one quite clearly. It's not all that bad, but it's definitely not all that great either.Today's Rating/PG: Mild Violence.

Woodyanders Six American GI's stationed in Asia find themselves in considerable jeopardy after they witness a secret ceremony by a Hindu cult who worship snakes. Lovely and charming snake goddess Lisa Moya (well played and perfectly embodied by the beautiful and beguiling Faith Domergue), who has the ability to transform into a lethal serpent, goes to America and starts picking the guys off one by one. Director Frances D. Lyon, working from a compact and engrossing script by Jerry Davis, Cecil Maiden, and Richard Collins, relates the absorbing story at a steady pace, offers a neat evocation of the foreign land setting in the opening third, and builds a good deal of tension and spooky atmosphere. The solid acting from a capable cast helps a lot: Richard Long as the affable Paul Able, Marshall Thompson as the decent and likable Tom Markel, Kathleen Hughes as the sweet Julia Thompson, William Reynolds as nice guy Pete Norton, Jack Kelly as smooth womanizer Carl Turner, and David Janssen as the happy-go-lucky Rico Nardi. Moreover, there are a few cool little touches such as animals all being scared or freaked out by Lisa's presence and Lisa feeling conflicted by what she has to do. The actors playing the GI's display a pleasantly relaxed and natural chemistry and hence make for engaging protagonists. Russell Metty's handsome black and white cinematography boasts several funky cobra POV shots. The shuddery and spirited score by Irving Getz, William Lava, and Lou Maury hits the spine-tingling spot. A worthwhile movie.

Edgar Soberon Torchia 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.

keith-moyes Cult of the Cobra is now available on DVD in a pristine print that does full justice to whatever merits it has as a movie. Unfortunately, that is not saying much.It has a competent cast of second-rankers that acquit themselves as well as could be expected under the circumstances. It is efficiently directed, entirely on sound stages and standing sets on the studio backlot. It looks OK, but is ponderously over-plotted and at a scant 80 minutes it is still heavily padded.For example, the double cobra attack on the first of the GIs was surely one attack too many.The business about Julia choosing to marry Pete rather than Tom never amounts to anything. Tom immediately falls in love with Lisa and she never has any reason to be jealous of Julia (nor is she).Julia's 'feminine intuition' is introduced as if it is going to lead to an important plot development, but it doesn't. Similarly, Pete's investigation into cobra cults and the suspicion that briefly falls on Tom serve no purpose other than to fill up screen time.These are just symptoms of the underlying problem. The movie is structured like a mystery but it isn't. As soon as the curse is pronounced we know exactly where the story is heading, so the characters are left painstakingly uncovering what we already know.The ending is particularly lame. Julia is menaced purely by accident. Lisa has no reason to want to kill her - she just happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. When Tom turns up in the nick of time to save her, it is not even clear whether she was threatened at all. He then simply disposes of the cobra in the way any of the previous victims might have done.It is such an inconsequential little pipsqueak of a story that I found myself wondering how on earth it had been pitched to the studio heads. Then it occurred to me. Someone said: "Those Val Lewton movies were very successful over at RKO, so why don't we make one like that?"Cult of the Cobra is clearly modelled on Cat People: mysterious, troubled, shape-shifting woman falls in love with the hero, is apparently frigid, kills people, arouses the suspicions of the hero's woman friend and dies at the end. But 'modelled on' doesn't mean 'as good as' - by a wide margin. It copies, but doesn't understand what it is copying.It is obviously trying for the low-key, suggestive Lewton style, but this approach doesn't follow through into the story. Lisa is no Irene. She is meant to be strange and mysterious but there is no mystery about her. We get a glimpse of her after the first attack in Asia, so immediately recognise her when she turns up in New York. There is never any doubt about her purpose. Neither is there any ambiguity about whether of not she actually turns into a snake.Then again, during her nocturnal prowling we get, not one, but two attempts at 'buses'. Neither come off, because the director doesn't understand what makes a 'bus' work and, in any case, they happen to the stalker, not the person being stalked.These faint echoes of Cat People give Cult of the Cobra whatever small distinction it might have, but they only draw attention to the yawning gulf between the original and the imitation.Plagiarism may be the sincerest form of flattery, but I doubt if Lewton or Tourneur were particularly flattered when this tepid little time-passer came out.