What's the first behavior rule when you're visiting a faraway continent – particularly Asia, Africa or South America – that culturally speaking differs a lot from your own? Duh, don't interfere with local religious movements and/or voodoo cults, because they WILL come after you and they WILL find you, even when you consider yourself to be safe back home again. "Cult of the Cobra" is a charming and fairly entertaining 50's occult thriller, but it's certainly nothing special or unique. In fact, the plot is quite derivative of the Jacques Tourneur/Val Lewton classic "Cat People" (undeniably one of the greatest horror milestones ever made),since both stories revolve gorgeous women living with the ability – or is it curse? – to transform into a deadly animal. Six American members of the same Air Force unit spend a few touristy days in an Asian country (my best guess would be either India or Malaysia) and bluntly pay a snake charmer big money to secretly attend a gathering of the infamous Lamian cult, of which the members supposedly change themselves in snakes and back. Naturally they get caught, when the dumbest boy of them all takes a photograph, and only narrowly escape. Unaware they've been placed under a curse, the six friends start being killed off one by one when back in the United State. Moreover, the mysterious accidents began simultaneously with Tom acquaintance with an introvert exotic beauty living across the hall. "Cult of the Cobra" benefits the most from Faith Domergue's performance as the oddly seductive Lisa (she's a lot better here than she was in "This Island Earth" or "It Came from beneath the Sea") and a couple of imaginative camera gimmicks, like for example snake POV shots and nice use of shadow effects. Unfortunately, there are also several overlong and tedious scenes and not a single one of the male protagonists deserves any of your sympathy. Especially Tom is a pretty loathsome guy, since his behavior is obtrusive and aggressive towards women and jealous towards his own friends.

Six American GIs with liberty in India want something new and different in the way of kicks. For $100.00 given to a snake charmer played by Leonard Strong they get invited to the ceremony of a cobra worshiping cult. They should have waited for advances in photography because when one of them snaps a picture and the flash goes off that sets off a wild mêlée where they have to fight for their lives to get out of there. They leave with the curse of the high priest Edward Platt threatening that all will die, one by one.

And that's just about how it happens. Back in the states the five survivors, James Dobson having died in India, start getting eliminated one by one. Only Richard Long suspects what's going on. And it all starts about the time that the mysterious and slinky Faith Domergue enters the life of another of the thrill seekers, Marshall Thompson.

For a cobra woman that Faith Domergue is sure a fox. Not hard to tell what Howard Hughes saw in her. But whatever he did see, he was over and done with her because she was doing films like Cult Of The Cobra.

As for the film it's an OK horror film with a few camp laughs in it for those who think they're above this sort of thing.

A very average monster movie from Universal, made on a seemingly small budget. It involves six American soldiers running amok in an unspecified area of Asia (although it looks very much like India),where they stupidly bust in on a sacred ritual and pretty much tear the temple down around them. Back in the USA, they find themselves succumbing one by one to a dreaded 'snake curse'. The OTT death sequences are fun here, but the rest merely plods along with so-so dialogue and performances; Marshall Thompson co-stars alongside an Elvis lookalike and Faith Domergue's femme fatale, with future TV star David Janssen lower in the cast. The whole imperialist/snake curse plot was handled a lot better in Hammer's THE REPTILE, made a decade later.