CULT OF THE COBRA is pretty much a remake of CAT PEOPLE without the Guiding Light of a Val Lewton. It's not a BAD movie, per se, nor is it an Outstanding one. Faith Domergue is at her loveliest here and the Sanke, when used, is handled well, but the movie takes its time shifting into gear (we know damned well where everything is leading; why waste Time- and considerable Footage- getting there?). The inclusion of so MANY characters is detrimental to the overall film: too often, the movie seems to lack any true FOCUS ("crowd scenes," in which a large number of players are squeezed into too small a space, are common throughout).

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.

Six GIs, about to be send home and discharged, get drunk and sneak into a cult meeting in Asia. Surrounded by hooded figures, two male dancers pretend to have a fight. Behind them, on an altar, a woven basket opens and a figure painted emerges and begins imitating a snake, finally biting one of the dancers on the neck. The imitation snake is dressed in some scaley looking body tights. (This is definitely a female imitation snake.) The cult member who has sneaked them into the secret meeting has warned the six men repeatedly that the ceremonies must not be interrupted and, most definitely, no photos must be taken or else they will be hunted down and killed. Naturally, the GIs take a flash photo, send the cult members into an angry hysteria, steal the basket containing the "snake" and run off with it into the Asian night.One of the guys, the most offensive and snarky, dies from a cobra bite on the neck, though no one can explain how the snake got into his hospital room.Back in New York, it all seems rather old news as the discharged men settle down into their civilian lives, still maintaining their bond with one another. Their jobs range from manager of a bowling alley (David Janssen) to graduate research student (Richard Long). James Dobson, Jack Kelly, and Marshall Thompson are also part of the neighborhood. Richard Long has a nice blond girl friend. Kelly is a somewhat reckless womanizer. But they all get along well enough and all of them seem happy.Then a dark, shifty-looking, mysterious woman (Faith Domergue) shows up and Marshall Thompson takes a liking to her and insinuates her into the group.Guess what happens. First Janssen is terrified by a shadow in the back seat and dies in a car crash. Then Kelly gets a visit from Domergue. Something scares him so badly he tumbles through the window and dies in the fall to the sidewalk. Long and Dobson begin to suspect what the viewer already knows -- that Domergue has had something to do with the deaths. They also reckon that maybe she's turning into a cobra, which is the case. Dobson confronts her with his suspicions and she proves his point.By this time Long and Thompson are thoroughly frazzled, particularly Thompson, who is in love with Domergue and has discovered that she is attracted to him, too, although he must explain to her what "love" is. No matter. A final reckless attack by the cobra woman against Long's girl friend -- not one of the six original offenders -- and Thompson must throw the snake out the window. On the pavement below, the body changes to that of Domergue. The end.I think I'll skip over most of the questions that the plot raises. I'll just mention one of the more prosaic ones in passing. Who paid for Domergue's fare from somewhere in Asia to New York? Who's paying her utility bills in the hotel? Who paid for her spectacular wardrobe? How come she speaks American English so well? What the hell's going on? The writers and director have clearly seen some of Val Lewton's modest horror films and, though not much effort has gone into this production, they've unashamedly stolen some gimmicks from Lewton. In Lewton's "The Cat People", for instance, the woman is transformed into a black leopard but, with one tiny exception, the threat is always kept in the shadows and is all the more spooky for it. Most of the transformations here use shadows too, but unlike Lewton's, the shadows are clumsy and unambiguous.Lewton also made occasional use of what he called "buses". Lewton's first "bus" was a literal one. A potential victim is hurrying alone through the dark tunnels of Central Park with only the sound of footsteps. Something or someone is following her. She freezes with fright under a street lamp. Something rustles the branches of the shrubs above her. She looks upward. There is a loud, wheezing shriek that makes your hair stand on end. It's a bus using its air brakes to stop for her. The producers used at least two "buses" in this film and they amount to nothing. A guy is walking distractedly across an intersection, for instance, and there is the sudden rumble of a truck that almost hits him. There is no set up to the shot. It's jammed in with a shoe horn.I don't much care for movies that perpetuate the stereotype of serpents as slimy, ugly, venomous, and phallic. As a matter of fact, no snakes are slimy, most are harmless, and many are extraordinarily beautiful. Furthermore, they're more feminine than masculine in their sinuous movements and serpentine approach to goals. You want a reptilian symbol for masculinity? Try a six-lined racerunner. It's a really fast lizard. When it sees something to eat, it rushes up and gobbles it down.Anyway, if you want to see some fine, low-budget scary films, don't bother with this one. Find "The Cat People" or one of Lewton's other minor masterpieces, of which this is an obvious copy.

What's the first behavior rule when you're visiting a faraway continent – particularly Asia, Africa or South America – that culturally speaking differs a lot from your own? Duh, don't interfere with local religious movements and/or voodoo cults, because they WILL come after you and they WILL find you, even when you consider yourself to be safe back home again. "Cult of the Cobra" is a charming and fairly entertaining 50's occult thriller, but it's certainly nothing special or unique. In fact, the plot is quite derivative of the Jacques Tourneur/Val Lewton classic "Cat People" (undeniably one of the greatest horror milestones ever made), since both stories revolve gorgeous women living with the ability – or is it curse? – to transform into a deadly animal. Six American members of the same Air Force unit spend a few touristy days in an Asian country (my best guess would be either India or Malaysia) and bluntly pay a snake charmer big money to secretly attend a gathering of the infamous Lamian cult, of which the members supposedly change themselves in snakes and back. Naturally they get caught, when the dumbest boy of them all takes a photograph, and only narrowly escape. Unaware they've been placed under a curse, the six friends start being killed off one by one when back in the United State. Moreover, the mysterious accidents began simultaneously with Tom acquaintance with an introvert exotic beauty living across the hall. "Cult of the Cobra" benefits the most from Faith Domergue's performance as the oddly seductive Lisa (she's a lot better here than she was in "This Island Earth" or "It Came from beneath the Sea") and a couple of imaginative camera gimmicks, like for example snake POV shots and nice use of shadow effects. Unfortunately, there are also several overlong and tedious scenes and not a single one of the male protagonists deserves any of your sympathy. Especially Tom is a pretty loathsome guy, since his behavior is obtrusive and aggressive towards women and jealous towards his own friends.