Music by David Hillenbrand | Cinematography Philip D. Schwartz | |
Directed by David HillenbrandScott Hillenbrand Produced by David HillenbrandScott Hillenbrand Written by David HillenbrandScott HillenbrandGuy Stodel Starring Pat MoritaScott HillenbrandHoyt AxtonJoseph RuskinCourtney Gains | ||
King Cobra is a 1999 Trimark Pictures direct to video horror/sci-fi film about an escaped genetically engineered hybrid of an Asian King Cobra and an Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake. The film was written and directed by David Hillenbrand and Scott Hillenbrand, and featured special effects by The Chiodo Brothers.
Contents
Plot
A genetics laboratory run by Dr. Irwin Burns (Joseph Ruskin) to research aggressive behavior has an accident, resulting in a chemical fire and explosion, and the escape of a thirty foot long hybrid snake with traits of both the Asian King Cobra (in the film, it is referred to as the African King Cobra, even though the King Cobra species doesn't inhabit the African Subcontinent) and the Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake. Loose in the countryside and filled with the experimental aggressiveness drug, the snake, nicknamed "Seth", eventually outgrows his woodland prey, it begins hunting the residents of the small brewery town of Filmore. Doc Kragen (Scott Hillenbrand) conducts an autopsy on a recently found body and determines that the death was caused by a huge snake. He and Police Chief Jo Biddle (Casey Fallo) go to the Mayor (Hoyt Axton) and demand he cancel an upcoming town lager festival. The Mayor refuses, but after more deaths, the town eventually brings in snake expert and hunter Nick Hashimoto (Pat Morita).
Cast
Development
When David Hillenbrand and Scott Hillenbrand developed the concept for King Cobra, the film Anaconda was not yet "in the pipeline". They wished to take an approach in the genre in a similar vein as Jaws or Alien. Production problems allowed Anaconda to beat their film to release.
Reception
In 2001, G. Noel Gross of DVD Talk wrote that the snake effects of King Cobra were "better than the CGI-addled Python that followed" and made note of a "hilarious cameo" appearance by Erik Estrada. Derek Armstrong of Allmovie panned the film, calling it poorly conceived and absurd, with the special effects of the snake "so cheap-looking that it can only be seen in flashes". DVD Verdict also panned the film, writing that what was promoted as "30 Feet Of Pure Terror!", was "more like 93 minutes of pure boredom". While noting that Trimark gave the film nice treatment on its DVD release, they concluded that it was "an incredibly worthless film".
Release
It was released on DVD and VHS. Both have since been discontinued and have for long gone out of print. It is available to view on Vudu, Hulu and YouTube by LionsgateVOD. It is also available for iTunes in some countries.