The Flying Serpent

George Zucco made numerous small budget horror movies. In this one he is an archaeologist who has found Montezuma's treasure (billions of dollars), but he becomes paranoid and enlists the help of a supposedly mythical bird/reptile to kill the people who may get in his way. With a little bit effort, he could have protected this treasure. After all, no one knows about it. So he finds Quetzacotl, the plumed serpent and keeps him locked up in a cage in a mountain cave. We aren't privy as to how he got hold of this thing. Feathers belonging to old "Q" cause him to root out the poor victims. Eventually, George becomes so arrogant that he tips the apple cart.

Oh, one question. Why does the hero of the story feel the need to bring along a nitwit friend to assist him. Just saying.

PRC Pictures, the cheapest of the B studios in the '30s and '40s, specialized in "horror" movies, few of which were "horrible" and most of which were barely movies. British actor George Zucco starred in many of them, and Sam Newfield--the brother of PRC president Sigmund Neufeld--directed many of them; neither Zucco nor Newfield had reason to be proud of any of them. The one thing they all had in common was shoddy production, technical ineptness and fifth-rate storytelling. This one is no different. The "story" concerns a mad doctor who has captured Quetzlcoatl, a mythical Mexican bird god of death, and uses it to kill his enemies. The bird model is laughable, with the strings used to move it clearly visible in almost every shot. Flubbed lines, pauses where actors forgot their lines for a second are all left in; in fact, there is one scene where the camera follows someone walking down a city street, and as the person walks by a plate glass store window, the reflection of the entire crew is clearly visible! Director Larry Cohen used the basic idea for his film "Q" in the 1980s, but with far better results. The fact that Cohen remade the film is astounding enough; the realization that he actually must have sat through to the end of this movie in order to do so is absolutely mind-boggling.

George Zucco's archaeologist character has a major problem at the beginning of the 1946 cheapie "The Flying Serpent." He had recently discovered Montezuma's treasure horde in an Aztec cave in New Mexico, and now fears that the locals might start to get snoopy. Good thing he's also found Quetzalcoatl, the legendary Aztec serpent/bird god, and has learned that the creature will track down and kill whoever is in unwitting possession of one of its feathers. Thus, pretty soon, Zucco is planting Q plumage left and right, sitting back and enjoying the carnage... Anyway, this 57-minute film is minimally fun, and Zucco is always interesting to watch, but the picture is unfortunately done in by supercheap production values, a tediously talkative screenplay, occasional goofball humor, and the simple fact that we never get a solid, steady look at Quetzalcoatl itself. Worse, the film's resolution is asinine and inane, with Zucco behaving uncharacteristically stupid and contrary to common sense. Matters aren't helped by the badly damaged film print offered to us on the Image DVD that I just watched, with problematic sound, to boot. Many other viewers have noted the similarity between this picture and another PRC effort, "The Devil Bat," a Bela Lugosi vehicle released five years earlier. In that film, Bela had lured his flying killer to the intended victim by using a special shaving lotion; here, those darn feathers have been substituted. Bottom line: I would have to say that "The Flying Serpent" is a movie for George Zucco completists only, if such an animal exists. Other viewers who are interested in a film featuring the feathered serpent god alive and well in the 20th century would probably be better advised to seek out Larry Cohen's 1982 film "Q."

I'd been after The Flying Serpent for some time and finally obtained it at the beginning of this year (2006) when a mate ordered it for me from Amazon. Despite reading some bad reviews, I quite enjoyed it.

A mad Professor, Andrew Forbes discovers a living example of Quetzalcoatl, the Aztec flying reptile/bird god. He then gets feathers off it and gives them to people he doesn't like and sends the creature to these people and it kills them. Police are baffled by these deaths and towards the end, Forbes ends up with a feather himself...

A rather unconvincing model on strings was used for Quetzalcoatl and you can see these at times.

The cast is lead by B-horror regular George Zucco (Fog Island, Scared To Death) as Forbes. I've haven't heard of anybody else in this.

The Flying Serpent is a good way to spend an hour. Very enjoyable.

Rating: 3 stars out of 5.

One of my favorite Poverty Row movies. Yes, it's cheap. Yes it's corny. No, it's not a milestone in film achievement. What it is, though, is a camp classic featuring the always awesome George Zucco as an insane archaeologist using the Aztec bird-god Quetzalcoatl to kill his enemies. If that simple description doesn't pique your interest, then this isn't the movie for you. Of course the special effects are limited. It was a PRC movie shot on a shoestring budget. But if you can look past its limitations you will see that it's a good solid hour of fun. Recommended for all fans of George Zucco or 1940s horror movies in general.