Originally this was titled SSSSNAKE, but someone in Universal's publicity department thought SSSSSSS was clever. So the name was changed, and the movie did poorly in the theaters. In 1976, NBC acquired the rights to this film, and it became a sort of cult movie, growing stronger as VHS in 1997 and DVD in 2004 added fuel to the fire.
This is basically your standard mad-doctor film. Strother Martin plays Dr Stoner, who believes man is doomed as a species. He wants to speed up man's evolution, and since the King Cobra is the deadliest creature on the planet, he wants man to evolve into the King. So he finds a college student to act as his assistant, and injects him with cobra venom (the student thinks the serum is an inoculation against snake bites).
SPOILER ALERT ***** SPOILER ALERT **** SPOLIER ALERT ****
For those of you you have seen the film, you know that the film ends on a freeze frame of Heather Menzies screaming as the David/Snake is killed by the mongoose. I've always thought this was a weak ending! If this movie is ever remade (as everything is these days), I hope the producers would consider this ending:
Heather grabs the policeman's gun and shoots the mongoose. She saves David/Snake. Now that her father's dead, she runs the show on Sundays. She begins the show by saying: "The King Cobra is the deadliest creature on the planet. But I have a very special Cobra here" David slithers out. Heather pets David/Snake on the head. The crowd gasps in surprise. "He is a very special friend of mine".
This is basically your standard mad-doctor film. Strother Martin plays Dr Stoner, who believes man is doomed as a species. He wants to speed up man's evolution, and since the King Cobra is the deadliest creature on the planet, he wants man to evolve into the King. So he finds a college student to act as his assistant, and injects him with cobra venom (the student thinks the serum is an inoculation against snake bites).
SPOILER ALERT ***** SPOILER ALERT **** SPOLIER ALERT ****
For those of you you have seen the film, you know that the film ends on a freeze frame of Heather Menzies screaming as the David/Snake is killed by the mongoose. I've always thought this was a weak ending! If this movie is ever remade (as everything is these days), I hope the producers would consider this ending:
Heather grabs the policeman's gun and shoots the mongoose. She saves David/Snake. Now that her father's dead, she runs the show on Sundays. She begins the show by saying: "The King Cobra is the deadliest creature on the planet. But I have a very special Cobra here" David slithers out. Heather pets David/Snake on the head. The crowd gasps in surprise. "He is a very special friend of mine".