La serpiente voladora

Of all the horror films cranked by the poverty row studio's in the 1940's, those made by PRC were the most outrageous. THE FLYING SERPENT is a case in point. George Zucco, who was always entertaining as the villain in these films, plays a mad archaeologist who discovers a hidden Aztec treasure and living Archaeopterx. Zucco is convinced the prehistoric bird he has found is the actual feathered serpent god Quetzalcoatl of the Aztecs. Zucco discovers the bird is very jealous of its feathers and will kill anyone who possess one and uses the bird to knock off his enemies.

A lot of people have mercilessly trashed this minor little thriller. I must confess, I have a lot of affection for it. Its actually very entertaining if viewed in the right frame of mind. Scenes of the big bird flying stiffly through the air and landing on the people, border on the surreal. George Zucco was always entertaining in these pictures and he is very entertaining here. I don't think one could say Zucco ever walked through a part.

George Zucco made numerous small budget horror movies. In this one he is an archaeologist who has found Montezuma's treasure (billions of dollars), but he becomes paranoid and enlists the help of a supposedly mythical bird/reptile to kill the people who may get in his way. With a little bit effort, he could have protected this treasure. After all, no one knows about it. So he finds Quetzacotl, the plumed serpent and keeps him locked up in a cage in a mountain cave. We aren't privy as to how he got hold of this thing. Feathers belonging to old "Q" cause him to root out the poor victims. Eventually, George becomes so arrogant that he tips the apple cart.

Oh, one question. Why does the hero of the story feel the need to bring along a nitwit friend to assist him. Just saying.

PRC Pictures, the cheapest of the B studios in the '30s and '40s, specialized in "horror" movies, few of which were "horrible" and most of which were barely movies. British actor George Zucco starred in many of them, and Sam Newfield--the brother of PRC president Sigmund Neufeld--directed many of them; neither Zucco nor Newfield had reason to be proud of any of them. The one thing they all had in common was shoddy production, technical ineptness and fifth-rate storytelling. This one is no different. The "story" concerns a mad doctor who has captured Quetzlcoatl, a mythical Mexican bird god of death, and uses it to kill his enemies. The bird model is laughable, with the strings used to move it clearly visible in almost every shot. Flubbed lines, pauses where actors forgot their lines for a second are all left in; in fact, there is one scene where the camera follows someone walking down a city street, and as the person walks by a plate glass store window, the reflection of the entire crew is clearly visible! Director Larry Cohen used the basic idea for his film "Q" in the 1980s, but with far better results. The fact that Cohen remade the film is astounding enough; the realization that he actually must have sat through to the end of this movie in order to do so is absolutely mind-boggling.

Archaeologist George Zucco has discovered an ancient Aztec treasure along with the mythical bird that guards it. He's mad, quite mad….He keeps the treasure hidden in a cave and visits it secretly.

Back in town, his step-daughter has noticed that he's been acting strangely—disappearing for days on end, talking about some great imminent discovery. She shares her concern with an ornithologist friend….who soon thereafter is found savagely murdered, his throat cut and all of the blood drained from his body. What is up? Did the ornithologist's death have anything to do with the mysterious feather that Zucco had dropped at his house?

Cut to New York: a radio station is sending (handsome young) mystery writer Dick Thorpe to New Mexico to investigate the strange crime and to broadcast daily reports from the field. As the plot thickens and bodies begin to pile up, Dick's daily remote broadcasts get better and better: "Ladies and gentlemen, there's been a murder at the studio. Professor Louis Havener was struck down by the feathered serpent as he stood at the window examining the feather we had just found....We'll be back on the air again tomorrow morning at the same time."

The radio writer and the step-daughter (Ralph Lewis and Hope Kramer – not household names for me, I'm afraid) eventually team up on the investigation; however, while the young couple are ostensibly the protagonists in the story, it is unquestionably Zucco who has the meaty role in the picture.

For example, why does he keep the treasure hidden? "Because it's mine. Mine, do you hear? All mine. I'm the richest man in the world!"

Oh, the bird is good, too. Special flying effects combined with a dramatic music score actually combine well enough to make the attack scenes just a bit spooky.

It's very silly, really not very good…but great fun nevertheless.

THE FLYING SERPENT stars George Zucco as Professor Andrew Forbes, a greedy archaeologist who fervently protects an Aztec treasure he's discovered. How does he protect it? He has the titular Quetzalcoatl kept in a cage. Knowing how much the legendary creature covets its feathers, Forbes leaves one with anyone he sees as a threat to his wealth. Then, throats are torn out and jugular veins severed!

As others have already stated, this is a "re-imagining" of THE DEVIL BAT with Bela Lugosi. This time, the mythical monster stands in for the big bat. Rather than special shaving lotion, it's lost plumage that drives this beast wild! Zucco is his old, perfectly stolid self, and Quetzalcoatl is serviceable enough, especially for a PRC release.

An enjoyable yarn...