Blu-ray Review – The Snake Woman (1961)

      The Snake Woman, 1961.

      Directed by Sidney J. Furie.

      Featuring John McCarthy, Susan Travers, Arnold Marlé, Geoffrey Denton, John Cazabon, Frances Bennett, Elsie Wagstaff, Dorothy Frere.

      SYNOPSIS:

      While looking into bizarre snakebite fatalities in a rural community, a Victorian Scotland Yard detective becomes smitten with a chilling beauty. Released under Hammer’s Hammer Presents… series of British horror films, The Snake Woman is indeed quite peculiar. The film opens in Bellingham, Northumbria, where pregnant Martha Adderson (Dorothy Frere) receives an injection of snake venom from her herpetologist husband, Dr. Horace Adderson (John Cazabon), who believes this is the only way to manage her mental health issues. After Martha dies during childbirth, the village midwife, an alleged witch named Aggie Harker (Elsie Wagstaff), claims the baby is the spawn of Satan because it is cold to the feel and does not blink, prompting the local populace to burn down Adderson’s lab and home. Before they reach him with their torches, Adderson manages to escape with the baby, aided by Dr. Murton (Arnold Marlé), who assisted with the birth and is about to depart for Africa.

      Nineteen years later, Murton returns to find the villagers of Bellingham convinced they are under the spell of a snake woman, who is allegedly biting and killing people, as bodies with cobra venom have been found. After a few phone calls, Scotland Yard detective Charles Prentice (John McCarthy) takes on the case, heading to Bellingham where he encounters the enchanting Atheris (Susan Travers), who is cold to the touch, doesn’t blink, and is drawn to the melody Charles plays on his snake charmer's flute.

      With a brief runtime of just 68 minutes, The Snake Woman resembles a B-picture one might expect from Universal in the 1930s, and this is not necessarily negative regarding its atmosphere and visuals, which lend it the feel of an old-fashioned creature feature. However, the short duration and brisk pacing lead to certain character behaviors that stretch believability—like the torch-wielding villagers' eagerness to ignore the situation, as well as Adderson's insistence that his work supersedes the value of a child's life—along with plot conveniences that are too absurd to accept.

      It’s unfortunate, as there are intriguing concepts here that, with a larger budget and more development, could have been compelling, like the curse and the midwife everyone believes to be a witch (and likely is). Yet with only 68 minutes to work with, more than half the time is dedicated to the baby’s birth and Dr. Murton’s escape, making Charles's introduction as the main character—nearly 40 minutes in—seem somewhat like an afterthought, as does the unexplained mental illness and what exactly Adderson was researching.

      There’s a reasonable plot buried within, but The Snake Woman never quite coalesces into anything above a frivolous B-movie that suffers from dubious regional accents, visible wires pulling snakes, and a script that feels like a hastily written first draft. The Blu-ray includes an audio commentary by filmmaker Heidi Honeycutt and film critic Sarah Morgan, which provides context; however, without it, The Snake Woman comes across as more of a filler piece than a serious film.

      Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ / Movie: ★ ★

      Chris Ward