While this has the right look for a Gothic horror film, it really lays as flat as a snake's belly on hot cement as it tries to unleash its ridiculous plot. First of all, we are supposed to believe that a woman on her deathbed who looks like Marjorie Main is about to deliver a baby even though her equally ancient-looking husband is inserting her with snake venom to allegedly cure her of insanity. Within hours of the baby being born, the parents are both deceased and somehow, the child grows up to be a beautiful woman who somehow has the ability to kill through the kiss that dispenses snake venom. Then, there's a witch who apparently raised the child who knows how to dispense of her, and it appears that the man destined to take on that job has fallen in love with her.
While this starts in the past of where the majority of the film is set, it is still a period piece which is a good idea to keep the gothic theme going. Unfortunately, the script is slow-moving with little action other than shots of a gorgeous slithering snake (assumed to be the woman in snake form), and there isn't even an attempt at bad special effects to show the transition.
The acting is either ridiculously dull (John McCarthy and Susan Travers in the underwritten leads) or completely over the top. Elsie Wagstaff as the witch plays the role as if she has just escaped from a production of "MacBeth" and knocked off her two sisters along the way. It's unfortunate that what really could have been an enjoyable little spooky horror film ends up being like shedded reptile skin, a fascinating find at first but ultimately something that nothing can be done with.
While this starts in the past of where the majority of the film is set, it is still a period piece which is a good idea to keep the gothic theme going. Unfortunately, the script is slow-moving with little action other than shots of a gorgeous slithering snake (assumed to be the woman in snake form), and there isn't even an attempt at bad special effects to show the transition.
The acting is either ridiculously dull (John McCarthy and Susan Travers in the underwritten leads) or completely over the top. Elsie Wagstaff as the witch plays the role as if she has just escaped from a production of "MacBeth" and knocked off her two sisters along the way. It's unfortunate that what really could have been an enjoyable little spooky horror film ends up being like shedded reptile skin, a fascinating find at first but ultimately something that nothing can be done with.