Horror Extreme Movie Catalog

In "King Cobra" Scott and David Hillenbrand bring us another giant snake epic. I have seen any number of this genre of films and this is actually one of the more entertaining of the bunch. The film borrows conceptually from the great "animals gone wild" films that came before it, most notably "Jaws", but does so in an entertaining manner that lets the film be derivative yet simultaneously amusing.

The film opens in a secret lab where there is a mutiny by several underlings who don't understand the scientific method at all well. The net result is the release of Seth, a giant half-cobra, half-rattlesnake mutant which was bio-engineered for maximum aggression.

Two years later a small town is preparing to host a lager festival, which is wholeheartedly endorsed by Erik Estrada in a hilarious and very flamboyant cameo completely unlike his typecast roles. After a few deaths the mayor is asked to call off the festival, but of course that's out of the question. An expert herpetologist is called. Who could it be? None other than Pat Morita, who comes up with a plan involving a vibrating machine, a large metal tube, and a goat to capture the snake. To say that the plan encounters difficulties is something of an understatement. (As an aside, is kung fu really a recommended method of self defense against a thirty foot long snake?) The plot is resolved and the cast is thinned out in a manner you may be completely expecting, but the scenes of the love-struck protagonists rolling a giant tube containing a huge snake around in the forest is a special treat.

The DVD has several extras including a decent commentary from the Hillenbrand brothers, a trailer for the film, and a making of feature that is brief but interesting. For all the cheesiness to be had here the actual models and special effects are notably better than many CGI snakes that have starred in other (even worse) giant snake films.

If you like implausible B-movies featuring giant creatures eating helpless small town citizens, this is a predictable, inane, yet fairly entertaining herpetological voyage.

Having had a life long fear of snakes in general it seems strange that I would actually get around to viewing and reviewing a horror movie which features the most oversized and vicious snake you could imagine. A while before "Anaconda", paved the way with its CGI snake creation, the production crew on "King Cobra", did a sterling effort in creating its own fearsome monster and putting together a very tense little drama that despite its many critics is alot better than many other snake efforts from the early part of this current decade. The creature of the title is a quite unique creation being a combination of an African King Cobra and a Diamond Back Rattle Snake and the end result is a fearsome as you would imagine it to be. I made the right decision in listing to the films excellent commentary before writing this review as it really goes into excellent detail about every facet of the creation of "King Cobra". Combined with quite good performances by the lead actors given the obvious limitations of the characters in such a story, and truly excellent cinematography "King Cobra", is a most worthy effort to be included in every horror movie lovers personal library.

The story begins in a vast laboratory where experiments are being conducted by Dr. Irwin Burns (Joseph Ruskin), and his team in the study of aggression whereby with the use of a new drug the aggressive elements in animals and people can be increased so as to be made treatable. Unfortunately one of the doctors assistants is impatient with his cautious way of research and tries to sped up the whole process after he locks Dr. Burns outside the lab. Unfortunately things go terribly wrong and the whole labratory explodes into a sea of flames that unfortunately has the result of mixing the biochemical matter of two of the animals the scientists were experimenting on producing one huge 30 foot long King Cobra/Diamond Back Rattlesnake which escapes from the ruins of the lab into the forest. We then move ahead two years and the setting is now the small rural town of Fillmore which is in the midst of its hectic preparation for the annual beer festival. The giant monster has settled in the area and being of a very aggressive nature begins to attack and kill a number of the locals. Local doctor Brad Kagen (Scott Hillenbrand), is involved with local policewoman Jo Biddle (Casey Fallo), and plans to leave for a new life in the city when he is brought in to examine the very strange deaths that begin occuring in the area. Sensing something is very wrong and after finding the shedded skin of the huge snake near one of the victims Brad realises he has more on his hands than he can cope with as well as facing strong opposition from the town's leaders who are only worried about th etown loosing its revenue from the gathering crowds present for the festival. After his own father is killed by the snake now nicknamed "Seth", Brad hires a noted herpetologist Nick Hashimoto, an expert on trapping exotic snakes to come to the town's rescue. Meanwhile some of the local men think it might be great "sport" to trap the elusive snake however this 30 foot monster is far too smart and aggressive for them and one by one they are struck down by the snake. Nick begins to set up his owns elaborate plan to trap and kill Seth however at the final confrontation Seth proves more than a match for Nick's years of experience and after a number of close calls it is finally left up to Brad and Jo to trap Seth in the specially made funnel that Nick has constructed and then pump gas into it to kill him which with much effort they succeed in doing. All ends happily with Brad deciding to stay in Fillmore afterall with Jo now that the giant snake is dead but as we see in the final shot, is it actually dead?

The unusual title beast here is really the film's chief claim to fame and the giant snakes construction outlined in the included making-of documentary makes fascinating viewing whereas if the same film was being made now most of this creature would have been created on computer.Although made as an independant feature which I doubt received much of a theatrical release anywhere, this film boasts alot of excellent production qualities that really heighten the tension of the story. The technique of viewing much of the action from the snakes point of view is very effective, in particular in the attack scenes as th esnake approaches its victim and it was a wise move by the production team to keep the views of this ferocious snake to a minimum until the real climax of the story takes. When talking about performances in a film like this we are really looking at something which is often secondary to the action. Scott Hillenbrand who was also one of the producers with brother David does a great job I feel in the lead as the reluctant hero planning to leave town for big city excitement but who finds himself thrown into trying to stop the killing spree of the terror in the town's midst. He has good chemistry with love interest Casey Fallo as Jo and the pair work well together leading up to their final confrontation with the snake. The story is certainly populated by a number of the stock characters that usually appear in these "monster on the loose", stories ie: the unsuspecting young lovers killed while making out in the woods, the stubborn Town Mayor who doesn't want to call off the town's festivities and loose the profits all because "one little snake is on the loose", to the gun happy shooters out to kill the reptile as sport who make things worse and get themselves killed in the process. Towering over all these cliches is of course Pat Morita as the snake expert who has the final showdown with the giant snake at the stories end in an admittedly funny performance which perhaps wasn't intended originally to be that way. His performance did raise much laughter from critics as did the bizzare cameo role of Erik Estrada long after his stardom on "Chips", as a stereotyped gay man with a little dog which is really more funny than offensive. Much of the location photography done in forested areas just outside Los Angeles and the sound effects, in particular of the snakes rattler, are surprisingly well done and help give the film much extra tension along the way. Some "tricks" such as one of the victims first seeing the huge snake in a reflection of his television set just before being attacked from behind is also well done and really helped send shivers down this viewer's spine.

"King Cobra', will never go down in the lists of Hollywood's greatest horror efforts but the film's excellent cinematography and fearsome title character make it essential in th ecollection of every horror movie lover. I find much to commend the film and the commentary and making of documentary certainly indicates the care and dedication put into the overall production by the producers, actors and production team. A combined African King Cobra/Diamond Back Rattlesnake makes for an ideal horror monster and "Seth", the 30 foot combination of these two killers most certainly earns his place in the horror hall of fame. For an hour and a half of excitment and horror be sure to check out Scott and David Hillenbrand's "King Cobra" soon.