Night of the Cobra Woman

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.

Some films have titles that are too good to be true. I mean, who doesn't want to see a cobra woman - a scaly half-human, half reptile with snake eyes and a flicking tongue? But this being a low-budget Filipino B-movie, we just know that what we'll get won't be that great. Sure enough, the titular creature is simply actress Marlene Clark with arms and legs coated in a thin layer of latex to make her skin look rough. Occasionally, she can be seen mid transformation with stupid looking large eyes slapped over her real peepers. The effect is terrible.

Of course, a lousy monster can be easily forgiven if the story is great, but NOTCW fails big time there: the plot feels like it was made up as it went along, and is not going to be easy to summarise. I'll give you the gist...

During WWII, nurse Lena Aruza (Clark) is bitten by the fabled Firebrand Cobra, endowing her with eternal youth, so long as she keeps herself topped up with venom. Decades later, and Lena is still going strong, her scaly pal Movini providing her with the necessary life-giving secretion. When UNICEF worker Joanna (Joy Bang) pays a visit to Lena, looking for help with making an anti-venom, she is turned away, so she sends her boyfriend Duff to see if he can have better luck (Roger Garrett). Quite the opposite... he's bitten by the Firebrand Snake, and only survives when Lena sucks out the poison.

Joanna goes looking for Duff, and while waiting for Lena at her home, notices a sample of Firebrand venom in a pot, and so half-inches it and leaves. When Lena realises what Joanna has done, she sends her snake Movini after the girl, not reckoning on her having Duff's pet eagle Dirk with her. The eagle kills the snake, leaving Lena no option but to feed on the life-force of young men by having sex with them, starting with Duff...

What follows is extremely sloppy storytelling, with zero concern for logic, terrible pacing, animal cruelty (a monkey is strapped to a table and snakes are killed) and very poor special effects, all leading to a downbeat ending in which Duff chooses to stay with Lena (who is in permanent snake form). Joanna walks away dejected, pausing to pluck a venom-infused mango from a tree.

On a 'scale' of 1 to 10, I give thissssss a 3.5/10, generously rounded up to 4 for the nudity (both Bang and Clark get naked for the camera), the hidden pig (I thought it was a rock, and then up it popped!) and for cult Filipino favourite Vic Diaz as a hideous hunchback.

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

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...

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.