Cobra Girl

There is a whole sub-genre of snake horror films in Hong Kong cinema as part of their interest in rather odd occult films. Films like Killer Snakes, where a young slum dweller exacts revenge on the men who have bullied him, and the women who haven't loved him, by setting venomous snakes on them in a variety of tasteless ways, are melodramas which seem rather outre to a Western eye and the same is true of the barking Fangs of the Cobra. Essentially it is the tale of a peasant girl with a snake as her best friend who falls for the returning heir of the local bigwig farmer, and secret snake hater, and the passage of their romance through the machinations of others. Sleaze, fights, sugary romance and dubious animal choreography are what's in store. Tang Shi-de has returned from studying abroad when his car breaks down and gets a passing woman, Ah-Fen, to help him get the engine going. He falls in love with her but when he gets home he finds that his cousin Man-Ling has her mind set on him marrying her, largely because she intends to help her lover, Hu Ling, remain as farm manager and hide the corruption he has benefitted from in the farm's finances. Hu Ling plans a kidnap with the idea of getting Tang and Man-Ling together, but after a sudden attack of snakes and a case of mistaken identity it is Ah Fen who finds herself locked away with Tang. This speeds up the course of true love, and marriage and children are in the offing so Hu Ling plants a bomb in the bridal car as part of his ongoing attempts to ensure his place on the farm.