The dumb-but-fun ANACONDA was a giant snake movie that received a lot of flak from the critics. Personally, I thoroughly enjoyed the film, both at the cinema and at home on television. So when I saw the reviews for KING COBRA (itself marketed as ANACONDA 2 in some instances) I didn't take too much notice of them, figuring them to be just more negative comments from guys who hate the genre in the first place. Sadly, the criticism received by KING COBRA is entirely correct, as this cheap and tacky killer snake flick scrapes the bottom of the barrel in every instance. Heck, even the poorly-acted low-budget '50s B-movies with appalling effects were more fun than this modern variation, which has better effects but is substandard in every other way.Anybody expecting the monster rampage usually offered by such "creature features" will be disappointed by the minimal action on offer here; the film progresses as usual, with the creation of the threat and then the gradual deaths of townsfolk living in the outskirts of the town in the woodland, but things never progress from here. Instead, the best entertainment value the film can offer is throw a bunch of dumb rednecks into the snake's lair and have it eat them all one by one. Later, when a wooden actor uses a Van Damme kick to repel the snake, you know the film is in big trouble. The snake P.O.V. shots are also WAY overused, to the point of exhaustion, whereas any opportunity for gore or sadism is kept to a minimum, unfortunately, by the film's PG-13 certificate.Not that there aren't any incidental pleasures. Indeed, one of the film's highlights is an out-of-nowhere appearance by a down-on-his-luck overacting Erik Estrada, playing the town's campest inhabitant, whilst an aged Pat Morita appears to offer an amusing spin on his KARATE KID mentor character and gives the film some of its best humour. The special effects of the snake itself are very well created, unsurprising when it turns out that the reliable Chiodo Brothers are behind the menace, and it's just a shame that they aren't used to a greater purpose. The anti-climatic ending is also stupid and unexplained and as a whole the entertainment value is kept to a minimum, with just a few high points of so-bad-it's-good value. Definitely not a film to bother with unless you have a really high tolerance for pure trash.

After a series of snake attacks, small town doctors find that the snake is an escaped test subject which has the genetics of a cobra and a rattlesnake forcing them to find and destroy the deadly creature before it goes through the town's populace.This was a lot better than expected. One of its best features is the fact that the film moves along at a fast pace, never hitting a lull or a dull spot and there's plenty of stuff going on here to keep it interesting. It starts off nicely as the opening action in the lab with the loosened snake is great as it stalks the others through the flaming ruins, the building suspense of the experiment going out-of-control and the chaos and panic works really well while other action scenes are just as good. There's a lot to really enjoy about the attack in the home, which is wonderfully suspenseful and really interesting from the snake POV used to sneak up on the victim to its rather impressive revelation, where the snake appears as a silhouette against the just-turned-off TV screen, the realization dawns and the attack begins. The fact that the snake's POV is used often is another good one for the film, since it's an actually fun technique that manages to get some really tense moments when it's stalking it's victims, and as there's a lot of really good stalking scenes throughout this allows for a couple of nice scenes. The final encounter in the woods is all-out fun with logical methods of dealing with the creature, a lot of really nice strikes and the really clever manner of catching the creature is one of the best parts of the film. The cobra look is also really good, as there's prosthetics used in place of CGI, the addition of the menacing and unique hood is another nice touch and gives it a really impressive look that gives off the appearance that it's actually there for its positive points that hold this one up enough against the flaws. The most obvious one is the rating, as the fact that this one is a PG-13 film does stand out in here. The kills are either so quick as to be hardly imaginable or simply bloodless as they're really just bites and have no real jolt to them. Some diversity in the kills as well would've helped this one immensely as a difference in the amount of bloodshed would've gone a long way with this one. The other flaw in this one is that there's an extreme over- reliance on lame jump gags, as stuff like the friendly-POV that scares an innocent victim, the screeching cat and the off-screen crashing noises are all used frequently and too ill-effect, making for some aggravating viewing at times. Otherwise, there's a lot to really like about this one.Rated PG-13: Violence and Language.

It's true. Pat Morita ("Happy Days;" the "Karate Kid" series) plays a herpetologist* recruited to help capture a genetically-engineered reptile. Why genetically engineered? Well, Joseph Ruskin plays a biochemist trying to find a neurochemical cure for hyperviolent aggression (like that exhibited by serial killers, I guess).But, he can't experiment on humans, right off the bat. And, normal wild animals aren't aggressive enough (unless, of course, you cruelly provoke them). So, he creates Seth. And, here is where the zoological accuracy goes out the window even worse than it did in "Anacondas!" The Eastern diamondback is a genuine species of rattler . BUT, THERE IS NO SUCH SPECIES AS THE African KING COBRA!! Oh, the scientific name (Haemachates haemachatus) was pronounced, correctly. That belongs to a _very_ aggressive species of South African spitting cobra known as the "ringhals." The proper scientific name for king cobras, however, is Naja hannah. AND, THEY ARE NATIVE TO SOUTHEAST ASIA! So, was Seth's biological daddy a gene-spliced hybrid, himself?Perhaps. In any case, before you become a professional snake handler (like Dr. Hashimoto), maybe you should take out a life insurance policy with Mutual of Omaha. *Herpetologists, btw, study reptiles _and_ amphibians, in general. A zoologist who specializes only in snakes is technically an ophiologist. "Here endeth the lesson." (Sean Connery, "The Untouchables")

An explosion at a government lab mixes behavior modification chemicals with a gene-spliced African king cobra/diamondback rattler, leading to "30 Feet of Pure Terror!" as the highly aggressive hybrid grows to mammoth size and escapes. Two years later, just in time for a small town's "lager festival" the snake emerges in the woods with a sudden urge to sink its teeth into innocent townspeople. It's up to a doctor (Scott Brandon), a female deputy (Kasey Fallo), a snake expert (Pat Morita) and others to track to beast down, but naturally they're opposed by townspeople who don't want to cause a big commotion. There's too much blurry POV camera-work and this entire film is completely contrived and predictable (right down to the local redneck posse trying their hand at capturing the fanged fiend), but the production values and cast are good, and this is a well-crafted direct-to-video flick. The model snake (designed by the Chiodo brothers, creators of CRITTERS and KILLER KLOWNS FROM OUTER SPACE), raises up on it's rattling tale, breaths, consumes prey whole and is actually much better than the one used in the bigger-budgeted ANACONDA. And love that Erik Estrada cameo.