King Cobra (film)
Encyclopedia
King Cobra is a 1999
Trimark Pictures direct to video horror
/sci-fi film about an escaped genetically engineered
hybrid
of an Asia
n 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
.
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 Asia
n 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
).
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.
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".
and VHS
. Both have since been discontinued and have for long gone out of print. Due to the negative reviews, there will mostlikely not be a Blu-Ray or DVD release.
1999 in film
The year 1999 in film involved several noteworthy events and has been called "The Year That Changed Movies". Several significant feature films, including Stanley Kubrick's final film Eyes Wide Shut, Pedro Almodóvar's first Oscar-winning film All About My Mother, science fiction The Matrix, Deep...
Trimark Pictures direct to video horror
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
/sci-fi film about an escaped genetically engineered
Genetic engineering
Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification, is the direct human manipulation of an organism's genome using modern DNA technology. It involves the introduction of foreign DNA or synthetic genes into the organism of interest...
hybrid
Hybrid
In biology and specifically, genetics, the term hybrid has several meanings, all referring to the offspring of sexual reproduction.#In general usage, hybrid is synonymous with heterozygous: any offspring resulting from the mating of two distinctly homozygous individuals#a genetic hybrid carries two...
of an Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
n King Cobra
King Cobra
The king cobra is the world's longest venomous snake, with a length up to 5.6 m . This species, which preys chiefly on other snakes, is found predominantly in forests from India through Southeast Asia to the Philippines and Indonesia...
and an Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake
Crotalus adamanteus
Crotalus adamanteus is a venomous pit viper species found in the southeastern United States. It is the heaviest venomous snake in the Americas and the largest rattlesnake. It featured prominently in the American Revolution, specifically as the symbol of what many consider to be the first flag of...
. The film was written and directed by David Hillenbrand
David Hillenbrand
David Hillenbrand is an American writer, director, and composer. He often collaborates with his brother Scott Hillenbrand on projects.-Directing:# The Black Arrow # Transylmania # National Lampoon's Dorm Daze 2...
and Scott Hillenbrand
Scott Hillenbrand
Scott Hillenbrand is an American director, actor and screenwriter. He often collaborates with his brother David Hillenbrand on projects. He is usually credited under the name "Scott Brandon" when he acts.-Directing:# The Black Arrow...
, and featured special effects by The Chiodo Brothers
The Chiodo Brothers
The Chiodo Brothers are a group of sibling special effects artists, best known for their film Killer Klowns from Outer Space and creating puppets and effects for films such as Critters, Ernest Scared Stupid, and Team America: World Police...
.
Plot
A geneticsGenetics
Genetics , a discipline of biology, is the science of genes, heredity, and variation in living organisms....
laboratory
Laboratory
A laboratory is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. The title of laboratory is also used for certain other facilities where the processes or equipment used are similar to those in scientific laboratories...
run by Dr. Irwin Burns (Joseph Ruskin
Joseph Ruskin
Joseph Ruskin is an American character actor.Ruskin is one of only 4 actors or actresses to have starred in both the original Star Trek and then in one of the spin offs...
) to research aggressive behavior has an accident, resulting in a chemical fire
Fire
Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material in the chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. Slower oxidative processes like rusting or digestion are not included by this definition....
and explosion
Explosion
An explosion is a rapid increase in volume and release of energy in an extreme manner, usually with the generation of high temperatures and the release of gases. An explosion creates a shock wave. If the shock wave is a supersonic detonation, then the source of the blast is called a "high explosive"...
, and the escape of a thirty foot long hybrid
Hybrid
In biology and specifically, genetics, the term hybrid has several meanings, all referring to the offspring of sexual reproduction.#In general usage, hybrid is synonymous with heterozygous: any offspring resulting from the mating of two distinctly homozygous individuals#a genetic hybrid carries two...
snake
Snake
Snakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales...
with traits of both the Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
n King Cobra
King Cobra
The king cobra is the world's longest venomous snake, with a length up to 5.6 m . This species, which preys chiefly on other snakes, is found predominantly in forests from India through Southeast Asia to the Philippines and Indonesia...
(in the film, it is referred to as the African King Cobra, even though the King Cobra
King Cobra
The king cobra is the world's longest venomous snake, with a length up to 5.6 m . This species, which preys chiefly on other snakes, is found predominantly in forests from India through Southeast Asia to the Philippines and Indonesia...
species doesn't inhabit the African Subcontinent) and the Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake
Crotalus adamanteus
Crotalus adamanteus is a venomous pit viper species found in the southeastern United States. It is the heaviest venomous snake in the Americas and the largest rattlesnake. It featured prominently in the American Revolution, specifically as the symbol of what many consider to be the first flag of...
. 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
Scott Hillenbrand
Scott Hillenbrand is an American director, actor and screenwriter. He often collaborates with his brother David Hillenbrand on projects. He is usually credited under the name "Scott Brandon" when he acts.-Directing:# The Black Arrow...
) 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
Hoyt Axton
Hoyt Wayne Axton was an American country music singer-songwriter, and a film and television actor. He became prominent in the early 1960s, establishing himself on the West Coast as a folk singer with an earthy style and powerful voice. As he matured, some of his songwriting efforts became well...
) and demand he cancel an upcoming town lager festival. The Mayor refuses, but after more deaths, the town eventually brings in snake expert
Herpetology
Herpetology is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians and reptiles...
and hunter Nick Hashimoto (Pat Morita
Pat Morita
Noriyuki "Pat" Morita was an American actor of Japanese descent who was well-known for playing the roles of Matsuo "Arnold" Takahashi on Happy Days and Mr. Miyagi in the The Karate Kid movie series, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1984.-Early life:Pat...
).
Cast
- Pat MoritaPat MoritaNoriyuki "Pat" Morita was an American actor of Japanese descent who was well-known for playing the roles of Matsuo "Arnold" Takahashi on Happy Days and Mr. Miyagi in the The Karate Kid movie series, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1984.-Early life:Pat...
as Nick "Hash" Hashimoto - Scott HillenbrandScott HillenbrandScott Hillenbrand is an American director, actor and screenwriter. He often collaborates with his brother David Hillenbrand on projects. He is usually credited under the name "Scott Brandon" when he acts.-Directing:# The Black Arrow...
as Dr. Brad Kagen (as Scott Brandon) - Hoyt AxtonHoyt AxtonHoyt Wayne Axton was an American country music singer-songwriter, and a film and television actor. He became prominent in the early 1960s, establishing himself on the West Coast as a folk singer with an earthy style and powerful voice. As he matured, some of his songwriting efforts became well...
as Mayor Ed Biddle - Joseph RuskinJoseph RuskinJoseph Ruskin is an American character actor.Ruskin is one of only 4 actors or actresses to have starred in both the original Star Trek and then in one of the spin offs...
as Dr. Irwin Burns - Courtney GainsCourtney Gains-Life and career:Gains achieved success during the 1980s with a variety of roles in films such as Children of the Corn, Hardbodies, Lust in the Dust, Back to the Future, Can't Buy Me Love, Colors,Wing Commander III, The 'Burbs and Memphis Belle...
as Dr. Joseph McConnell - Eric LawsonEric LawsonEric Lawson is an American mixed martial arts fighter. He currently competes in Strikeforce.-Mixed martial arts career:Eric Lawson began his professional mixed martial arts career on February 12, 2004 for the California based mixed martial arts promotion Gladiator Challenge at Colusa Casino in...
as Sheriff Ben Lowry - Erik EstradaErik EstradaHenry Enrique "Erik" Estrada is an American police officer and actor, known for his co-starring lead role in the 1977–1983 United States police television series CHiPs...
as Bernie Alvarez - Nick JamesonNick JamesonNick Jameson is an American actor and voice actor, as well as a songwriter, composer, musician and producer. He has appeared in the television series The Critic, 24, Lost and, vocally, in Star Wars: Clone Wars as Palpatine , the radio adaption of Dark Empire, and several other productions of Star...
as Jurgen Werner - Megan BlakeMegan BlakeMegan Blake is a pet lifestyle expert and an actress based in Malibu, CA. She is also Miss Georgia 1983.-Career:Blake is a pet expert on, hosts, segment produces and writes for Animal Attractions Television, the #1 Pet Series on PBS and winner of two Tellys and an Honorable Mention at the Genesis...
as Grace Stills - Casey Fallo as Jo Biddle (as Kasey Fallo)
- Arell Blanton as Jesse
- Jerry Kernion as Conrad
- Michael Leopard as Buck
- Cedric Duplechain as Deputy Bud Fuller
- Paul Morgan Fredrix as Dr. Pat Kagen
Development
When David Hillenbrand and Scott Hillenbrand developed the concept for King Cobra, the film AnacondaAnaconda (film)
Anaconda is a 1997, adventure-horror film, directed by Luis Llosa, starring Jennifer Lopez, Ice Cube, Jon Voight, Owen Wilson, and Eric Stoltz. It centers around a film crew for National Geographic who are kidnapped by a hunter who is going after the world's largest giant anaconda, which is...
was not yet "in the pipeline". They wished to take an approach in the genre in a similar vein as Jaws
Jaws (film)
Jaws is a 1975 American horror-thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg and based on Peter Benchley's novel of the same name. In the story, the police chief of Amity Island, a fictional summer resort town, tries to protect beachgoers from a giant man-eating great white shark by closing the beach,...
or Alien
Alien (film)
Alien is a 1979 science fiction horror film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm and Yaphet Kotto. The film's title refers to its primary antagonist: a highly aggressive extraterrestrial creature which...
. Production problems allowed Anaconda to beat their film to release.
Reception
In 2001, G. Noel Gross of DVD TalkDVD Talk
DVD Talk is a website for DVD enthusiasts founded in January 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman when DVDs and DVD players were first beginning to hit the market.The site started as an online forum, an email newsletter, and a page of DVD news and reviews...
wrote that the snake effects of King Cobra were "better than the CGI-addled Python
Python (film)
Python is a made-for-TV horror movie directed by Richard Clabaugh. The film features several cult favorite actors, including William Zabka of The Karate Kid fame, Wil Wheaton, Casper Van Dien, Jenny McCarthy, Keith Coogan, Robert Englund , and Sean Whalen.The film concerns a...
that followed" and made note of a "hilarious cameo" appearance by Erik Estrada
Erik Estrada
Henry Enrique "Erik" Estrada is an American police officer and actor, known for his co-starring lead role in the 1977–1983 United States police television series CHiPs...
. 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 DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
and VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
. Both have since been discontinued and have for long gone out of print. Due to the negative reviews, there will mostlikely not be a Blu-Ray or DVD release.