Jaws of Satan (1981)

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The slight amount of credibility required for a successful horror movie is lost in the opening scenes of this derivative story of a cobra who is really Satan in disguise, taking revenge against a Catholic priest for some crimes committed by the priest's ancestors. When the cobra invades a train full… More The slight amount of credibility required for a successful horror movie is lost in the opening scenes of this derivative story of a cobra who is really Satan in disguise, taking revenge against a Catholic priest for some crimes committed by the priest's ancestors. When the cobra invades a train full of people, the glass partition that keeps the snake safely away from the actors is quite visible and is even emphasized as the poor snake hits its head against it. After that inauspicious beginning, the film cannot really go downhill, but it continues the same standard in the acting and script. Father Farrow (Fritz Weaver) belongs to a family cursed long ago because they persecuted Druids. Now snakes are taking the lead from the "king cobra" and attacking people in the town where the demoniacally harassed Father lives, while the mayor and local town leaders try to cover up the reptilian menace so as not to scare off patrons for the soon-to-be opened dog racetrack. Even if the snakes had raced the dogs, this horror film is too trite and predictable to be salvaged. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi