Cult of the Cobra ** (1955, Faith Domergue, Richard Long, Marshall Thompson, Kathleen Hughes) – Classic Movie Review 7230

‘Can a woman’s beauty be changed to a thing of terror?’ Yes, apparently it can. Director Francis D Lyon’s 1955 American black-and-white horror film Cult of the Cobra stars Faith Domergue as Lisa Moya, who heads a coven of cobra cultists and sets killer snakes loose on a group of six American soldiers one by one.

Six American Army Air Force officers stationed in Asia in 1945 witness the snake-worshipping cultists’ secret ritual at an Asian Lamian temple, seeing a dance about the rescue of the Lamian people by their cobra goddess. When the drunken Nick Hommel (James Dobson) photographs the dancer as she slithers back into a woven basket, the Lamians are outraged, and their snake cult priest (Edward Platt) curses the intruders.

Cult of the Cobra.

The soldiers set fire to the temple to cover their escape, but one is bitten by a snake, and the High Priestess vows ‘the Cobra Goddess will avenge herself.’ Then, after returning to the US, the remaining soldiers start experiencing a mysterious woman entering their lives, and a cobra shadow is seen before they die.

Paul Able (Richard Long) and Tom Markel (Marshall Thompson) are roommates, rivals for the lovely Julia Thompson (Kathleen Hughes), when a mystery woman (Faith Domergue) turns up as new girlfriend for Tom. Deaths that follow seem to be accidents but Paul notices the cobra bite marks.

Cult of the Cobra is a hugely silly and unbelievable fantasy horror mystery movie, but Domergue (from This Island Earth) impresses, there is a smooth Universal-International Pictures production, and it is good fun as a camp cult chiller.

Cult of the Cobra also features Richard Long (as Paul Able), Marshall Thompson (as Tom Markel), Kathleen Hughes, Jack Kelly, William Reynolds, David Janssen, Myrna Hansen, Leonard Strong as Daru (‘I have a great need of money, and for a great need, an old man will take a great risk’), James Dobson, Walter Coy, Olan Soule and Helen Wallace.

Happily, it turned out that the serpent’s curse in the film was not permanent. All the six actors playing the GIs were later hits on TV – Richard Long (77 Sunset Strip), Marshall Thompson (Daktari), William Reynolds (The FBI), Jack Kelly (Maverick), David Janssen (The Fugitive) and James Dobson (Boots and Saddles).

It was released as the support feature to Revenge of the Creature (1955).

Sultry brunette Faith Domergue (1924–1999).

You have got to have Faith. Sultry brunette Faith Domergue (1924–1999) replaced Mari Blanchard after a few days’ shooting.

Long and Thompson (Tom Markel) were brothers-in-law, as Long’s elder sister Barbara Long was married to Thompson. Long was married to Mara Corday.

The main cast are 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 Corporal Nick Hommel, and Edward Platt as Snake cult priest.

Cult of the Cobra is directed by Francis D Lyon, runs 82 minutes, is made and released by Universal International Pictures, is written by Jerry Davis, Cecil Maiden and Richard Collins, from a story by Jerry Davis, is shot in black and white at Universal Studios by Russell Metty, is produced by Howard Pine, with music by Irving Gertz, William Lava, Lou Maury and Stanley Wilson, and Art Direction by Alexander Golitzen and John Meehan.

Universal Pictures released Cult of the Cobra in its DVD boxed set The Classic Sci-Fi Ultimate Collection Vol 2, which also includes Dr Cyclops, The Land Unknown, The Deadly Mantis, and The Leech Woman.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7230

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