Cult of the Cobra (1955)

The mid fifties saw Universal return to its roots and start producing low budget horror films again - a genre it had abandoned when it merged with International in the late forties to become Universal-International and tried to move upmarket.  The result was a new cycle of fantastical black and white B-features, more often than not with a science fiction theme, (in accordance with the times), which included Tarantula!, The Leech Woman, The Mole People, The Land Unknown and The Creature From the Black Lagoon and its sequels. 1955's Cult of the Cobra is relatively unusual in having a supernatural theme and arguably harks back less to Universal's forties monster pictures than it does to the horror thrillers produced for RKO by Val Lewton.  Indeed, while it features a 'monster' than can transform from human to animal, it is closer in style and theme to Lewton's Cat People than Universal's The Wolfman.  That said, Cult of the Cobra also included a touch of the 'exotic' jungle set films that had been popular in the forties, with its far eastern cults, forbidden temples and secret rites that feature in the opening part of the film.

The scenario is straightforward and familiar - at the end of World War Two a group of US servicemen witness the dance of the Cobra Cult, something forbidden to outsiders, desecrating the cult's temple in the process.  The high priest vows vengeance and, even before they can return to the US, the six servicemen start dying, apparently victims of a cobra bite.  Back in the US, a mysterious woman appears and the deaths continue - is she a cultist capable of transforming into a deadly snake?  The film is full of familiar faces: Faith Domergue, who around the same time could be found being menaced by the Metalunan Mutant in the more prestigious Universal science fiction film This Island Earth, is the mystery woman, while the errant servicemen include Richard Long, (The Big Valley, Nanny and the Professor), Marshall Thompson (First Man Into Space, Fiend Without a Face and Daktari!), Jack Kelly (Forbidden Planet, Maverick) and David Janssen (The Fugitive, Marooned and Harry O).  

Lacking a memorable monster like most of the other films in Universal's fifties cycle of B-horrors, Cult of the Cobra instead tries for atmosphere and suspense, but ends up coming over as silly and more than slightly camp, with its 'monster' eventually being killed with a coat rack.  The director, Francis D Lyon, was a former editor, who directed a number of low-budget B-movies throughout the fifties and sixties and was also a prolific director of TV episodes.  While Cult of the Cobra isn't the strongest entry in Universal's fifties horror and science fiction cycle, at only eighty two minutes it at least isn't too taxing a watch.