Video Beaverhausen: Freudian Horror ~ Cult of the Cobra (1955)

That's a big one, but Long looks ready!

I have an entirely Freudian view of the 1955 B-horror flick, Cult of the Cobra, from Universal Pictures. Every time the cobra raises its ugly head, it's like a phallic symbol rising. Friends of mine watched this with me one afternoon, a few years back, and we all laughed and hooted at what seemed quite obvious to our libidos.

In this film, Marshall Thompson and Richard Long play "roommates." Oh, you know those bachelor types before Stonewall! Long has a blond girlfriend. In 1955, however, that could mean trying to go straight or a "beard."

Then along comes Faith Domergue, a B-movie girl of the period, and of This Island Earth fame, with her guided missiles.

In exotic, xenophobic India (studio backlot), six Army buddies stumble upon a bizarre Hindu ceremony. They witness a sacred ritual that involves a ridiculous dance with a woman rising from a clay jar, dressed in a body stocking head to toe (because Domergue can't dance for shit, but it's a plot point they not see her face as well). David Janssen (tv's The Fugitive) is among the Army boys.

You know, sometimes when you're drunk at a bar, it's best to just go sleep it off. It really is, rather than go looking for kicks, which these dudes do. Naturally, they end up having a curse placed upon them, and karma is a bitch -- Ms Domergue to be specific. Ms D's Cobra Dance is, however, no match for Maria Montez's in Universal's Cobra Woman, filmed a decade before.

Living in the closet kills is the subliminal message I take away from Cult of the Cobra. However, see it for yourselves and tell me what you think.

Written by Jerry Davis, directed by Francis D. Lyon with much noirish style. Beautiful b&w cinematography with top-notch production values.