Cult of the Cobra

Cult of the Cobra is a 1955 American black-and-white horror film from Universal-International Pictures, produced by Howard Pine, directed by Francis D. Lyon, that stars Faith Domergue, Richard Long, Kathleen Hughes, Marshall Thompson, Jack Kelly, William Reynolds, and David Janssen. The film was released as a double feature with Revenge of the Creature.

Six American officers witness the secret ritual of Lamians (worshipers of women who can change into serpents). When the soldiers are discovered by the snake cult, the High Lamian Priestess vows that "the Cobra Goddess will avenge herself". Once back in the United States, a mysterious woman enters into the life of each service man, with disastrous results: "accidents" begin to happen, and before each death the shadow of a cobra is seen.

Critics noted story similarities with Val Lewton's prior horror film Cat People, released in 1942.

Plot
Before shipping home at the end of World War II, six American Army Air Force officers explore an Asian bazaar. There, they meet Daru, a snake charmer. Paul Able mentions the cult of the Lamians, who worship snakes. Daru says that if the soldiers pay him, they can see it for themselves. He brings the group to the Lamian temple, warning them that they will die if caught. In disguise, they see a dance about the rescue of the Lamian people by their cobra goddess. As the dancer slides back into a woven basket, a drunk Nick Hommel photographs her. The Lamians are outraged, and their priest curses the intruders.

Freeing himself from two Lamians, Nick grabs the basket. The Lamians kill Daru, and the servicemen set the temple afire to cover their escape. Speeding away in a jeep, the group stops when they see Nick on the road with a woman standing over him. Tom Markel sees that a snake has bitten Nick, and Paul notices the empty basket on the road. In the hospital, Nick assures his friends that he can ship out the following day. As he sleeps, something slips into his room through an open window. It rears up over Nick and kills him. Nick's friends are devastated by his death, but Paul is the only one who believes it is the result of the Lamian curse.

In his New York City apartment, Tom is startled by a scream from Lisa Moya, his new neighbor across the hall. He forces his way into her apartment and finds her startled. Lisa says she believed seeing an intruder, but Tom does not find anybody near the premises. After calming her down, he persuades her to spend the day with him.

Later that night, Rico Nardi, one of the six soldiers, closes his bowling alley and drives home. He sees something in the back seat in his rear-view mirror that strikes at him. The car swerves, crashes, and flips over, killing him. A crowd gathers, and Lisa slips away into the shadows.

Carl Turner, another one of the soldiers, and roommate Pete host a party. Carl flirts with Lisa, and a jealous Tom punches him. Tom and Lisa leave. She returns there when the party is over, and Carl is cleaning up. While fixing Lisa a drink, he sees a cobra in the room. The snake lunges at him, driving him backward out an open window. Bystanders gather as Pete returns and notices Lisa in the crowd. The next morning, Julia Thompson, Paul's fiancé, joins them at breakfast. They learn of Carl's death and go to the police station while Julia cleans up. Lisa comes over and sees Julia looking through Paul's books on cults and humans transforming into snakes. Julia cannot help but feel threatened by Lisa. Paul tells the police about the Lamian curse and his theory that Lisa turns into a cobra to kill them out of revenge. The inspector dismisses the theory, but Paul requests toxicology tests be run on Carl and Rico. Surprising Lisa at Tom's apartment, Pete sees the scratch on her arm and realizes that she killed his friends. Lisa transforms into a cobra in response and attacks him. Toxicology tests indicate that Carl and Rico were killed by cobra venom. Paul and the police arrive at Tom's apartment and find Pete's body. Paul calls Tom at the theater about Pete's death, asking him to keep Lisa busy until the police arrive. Lisa goes into Julia's dressing room. When Julia returns, a cobra attacks her. Tom rushes in and using a hall tree, he corrals the cobra and pushes it out of the window. The cobra falls, dies and transforms back into Lisa, as she lies dying on the sidewalk below. Now standing over her lifeless body, Tom covers his face and walks away through the gathered crowd of gawkers.

Cast

 * Faith Domergue as Lisa Moya
 * Richard Long as Paul Able
 * Marshall Thompson as Tom Markel
 * Kathleen Hughes as Julia Thompson
 * William Reynolds as Pete Norton
 * Jack Kelly as Carl Turner
 * Myrna Hansen as Marian Sheehan
 * David Janssen as Rico Nardi
 * Leonard Strong as Daru
 * James Dobson as Cpl. Nick Hommel
 * Edward Platt as Snake cult priest

Production
Mari Blanchard started the film, but actress Faith Domergue replaced her a few days after shooting began.

Home media
Universal Pictures released Cult of the Cobra as part of their DVD boxed set The Classic Sci-Fi Ultimate Collection Vol. 2, which has four other genre features: (Dr. Cyclops, The Land Unknown, The Deadly Mantis, and The Leech Woman). On August 25, 2020, Scream Factory released "Universal Horror Collection: Volume 6," a four-movie set in which "Cult of the Cobra" featured an audio commentary by Tom Weaver, David Schecter, Steve Kronenberg and Dr. Robert J. Kiss.

Reception
The Philadelphia Inquirer was as much amused as horrified: "the snaky lady goes into her reptilian act once too often and meets her doom leaving some unfinished business behind. It's all pretty silly, and...not even remotely frightening. The cobra-conscious lads whose sight-seeing gets them into trouble are played with a minimum of conviction by Richard Long, Marshall Thompson, James Dobson, William Reynolds, Jack Kelly and David Janssen."