Jaws of Satan

A big-ass king cobra with magical powers (?) escapes from a locked box on a train (?), and slithers its way into a small town, where it begins killing everyone with its super-deadly venom. While a sexy local doctor and a snake expert try to track the snake down, the town priest becomes convinced the the snake is the devil, come to do battle with him.

There was some real potential here, for sure. Jaws of Satan, for what it is, is well shot and well acted, with some interesting ideas floating around the margins. I liked the characters and a handful of scenes, but too much of it is either terminally dull or poorly handled. The snake itself (a sometimes unconvincing special effect) lacks personality or menace, draining pretty much all suspense or even basic interest from all of the set pieces. And it all builds up to a stunningly lame finale, where the snake is SPOILERS defeated when the priest holds a cross up to it and says a prayer, and then the snake bursts into flames THE END.

Grade: C