Night of the Cobra Woman

Those crazed people from the Philippines and their absurd horror tales are always guaranteed to keep you intrigued and entertained! I don't think I've ever seen a half-decent horror movie from there, but it doesn't matter, since they qualify as "so bad it's good". With "Night of the Cobra Woman", director Andrew Meyer doesn't deliver the same flamboyance and utter silliness as the notorious directors Eddie Romero or Cirio H. Santiago, but the concept is nicely messed up nonetheless!

The lovely Lena has been able to keep her youth and beauty ever since WWII, when she was bitten by a Cobra snake that she now keeps as her pet. But when a couple of dumb students pass through Manila with their pet eagle, her Cobra gets killed and Lena must find a different way to survive. She enslaves the dorky boyfriend and starts roaming the streets to pick up men and suck them dry. In case you were looking for any logic or sense, ... don't! "Night of the Cobra Woman" is pointless, incoherent and borderline boring, but there are a few remarkable highlights, including when Lena sheds her snakeskin, when her eyes turn all serpent-like, or simply when she parades around in red underwear. The actress, Marlene Clark, is ravishing, but I can't deny that I would undeniably have loved this film a lot more if her role was played by either Pam Grier or Laura Gemser. Weirdo Vic Diaz also briefly appears, although he doesn't add any value, as a sort of Quasimodo of the jungle.

Joy Bang plays a brilliant scientist (hold on a second--I have to stop laughing hysterically) who is in the Philipines doing research on snakes. Her dorky boyfriend comes to visit, for some reason bringing his pet falcon with him. He goes exploring in the jungle and his falcon ends up killing a snake--bad news since this was the sacred snake of a Filipino snake cult led by an African-American woman (Marlene Clark) who has been using snake venom to keep herself young ever since she was accidentally bitten by a snake while serving as a nurse during World War III. Problem is all this snake venom apparently causes her to turn into a snake (at least, I think--they kept this particular transformation offscreen, possibly as a homage to the original "Cat People", but more likely because this is a cheap-ass Filipino production). But speaking of asses, it is left up to the owner one of the nicest ones of the early 70's (Bang) to save the day after her boyfriend is seduced into some interracial ((and perhaps inter-special) lovin' by the evil cobra women.

Actually as Filipino productions go this isn't that bad. It has the same scruffy charm as the John Ashley/Eddie Romero "Blood Island" series and between Clark and Bang it almost approaches the T and A level of the Roger Corman/Jack Hill WIP films. It also seems to directed with a considerable amount of intelligence by someone who was clearly in on the joke (although being in on the joke is vastly overrated in my opinion). The acting is a little weak. Bang is a little miscast and not nearly as good as leading lady as she is as a character actor, and Marlene Clark is no Pam Grier (who really should have played this role). The interest of either of these women in the dipstick leading man is REALLY beyond me though.

Not great, but Filipino horror/exploitation fans at least will certainly want to check it out.

Marlene Clark is good (and very sexy) as a nurse who becomes a Cobra Woman. This could have been an interesting little horror film, but the film is defeated by amateurish acting and a mediocre presentation. There were two female leads, so why was the focus more on the completely ineffectual male actor? As for Joy Bang (interesting name), her problem was that she didn't have any "bang." As my heading says, only Marlene Clark makes this movie worthwhile. Marlene shows some skin here, but not enough. The movie, in general, comes across as too timid for its own premise.

NIGHT OF THE COBRA WOMAN stars Marlene Clark as the titular character, Lena. Joy Bang (MESSIAH OF EVIL) is UNICEF field researcher, Joanna, who seeks out Lena, and her mythical cobra in the jungles of the Philippines. Upon meeting Lena, Joanna steals a vial of the cobra's venom, leading to her being attacked by the snake.

Luckily, Joanna just happens to have a cobra-killing eagle, named Dirk! Oh, and she has a rather dense boyfriend, named Duff (Roger Garrett), for whom Lena has nefarious plans. And, there's a hunchback (Vic Diaz)! And a mad scientist! Annnd black magic!

Even by Filipino cinema standards, this is one weird, disjointed movie! Plot? What plot? Thankfully, there is ample nudity! Unfortunately, there's animal cruelty as well.

Actually, Lena's eventual rampage is the best part of the story. She's sort of a reptilian vampire, draining the life from her victims. The rest is mostly flotsam...

During World-War II, a nurse is bitten by a cobra in a cave. She survives, and is blessed with eternal life, beauty, and a highly lethal sexual prowess. She cohabitates in the cave with the cobra(which she has named "Movini"), and utilizes its powerful venom for all sorts of surprising practicalities...as a healing agent, fertilizer, nail polish remover, etc.

Flash to modern times(1972)...pretty, young Joy Bang(fetching ingénue of many films of this type during the 70s)is a UNICEF researcher working to develop antivenoms. She hears about the reclusive snake-lady, and naturally goes snooping around her cave. Things heat up when Ms. Bang's pet eagle(!) kills Movini, and her boyfriend becomes the serpentine seductress's new "boy toy". All hell proceeds to break loose in a rather insouciant and formulaic fashion.

This film's theatrical poster image and tagline deceitfully suggested a story involving a woman in lustful, taboo concupiscence with a large snake. So much for tantalizing prospects. It is, however, a sufficiently entertaining low-budgeter which might register as slightly above average due to some able performances and marginally higher-than-usual production values for a quickie flick of its particular feather. Despite these minuscule endowments, however, NIGHT OF THE COBRA WOMAN remains a very modest production, and a far-from-crucial viewing experience.

5/10