Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

Satan himself releases snakes on a small town, all to get back at the ancestor of St. Patrick. If this sentence makes you say, "And then?" you are the person that this movie was made for.The majority of director Bob Claver's work is on the small screen. So if this feels like a TV movie to you, that's fine. Is that even a bad thing? Not in these parts.Father Tom Farrow (Fritz Weaver, Creepshow, Demon Seed) has lost his faith. His town? It's getting a new dog track. And then the devil makes all the snakes go crazy! He teams up with Dr. Maggie Sheridan (Gretchen Corbett, Let's Scare Jessica to Death) and herpetologist Dr. Paul Hendricks to save his town before its too late.This is the debut of Christina Applegate. Her mother, Nancy Priddy, also appears in the film.It was shot by Dean Cundy (Halloween), so there are some moments of artistic flourish despite the low budget. There's also a scene where a snake gets its head shot off that had me fall on the floor in a fit of hysterics.Honestly, I've never seen a movie that somehow rips off Jaws and 1970's occult cinema at the same time. It also has some elements of rural backwoods melodrama, so if you like that sort of thing, this would be the movie for you. Also - a drunken priest! I'm sure here's an IMDB search list for that!

A carnival train lets loose a snake (or snakes) near a small Alabama town, which is just about to open a dog track as a hopeful economic booster. When people start turning up dead with strange bites, and others report seeing unusual snakes, most of the town can't put two and two together, but Dr. Maggie Sheridan (Gretchen Korbett) becomes suspicious (nothing gets by her!) that something weird is going on and wants to alert the town. She's excited enough about it that she'd also probably like to call in the National Guard, and maybe even nuke Alabama just to be safe. The Mayor, Grady Thorpe (Jack Gordon), and the dog track developer, Matt Perry (Bob Hannah), will hear nothing of it. Meanwhile, the local Priest, Tom Farrow (Fritz Weaver) comes to believe that the snakes just might be Satan, at least after the local witch looks at his coffee grounds. On the other hand, maybe it has something to do with that discussion he has with a church member about acid.Although I can find no literature related to the film to confirm this, it's virtually impossible for me to believe that Jaws of Satan (aka King Cobra) wasn't intended as a horror/comedy. Much of the dialogue and plot is simply too ridiculous to have been taken seriously. In any event, Jaws of Satan is a delight to watch, even if it is a poor film by traditional criteria. It was enjoyable enough to earn my coveted 5 out of 10 "so bad, it's good" rating.Within the first five minutes, director Bob Claver shows us what an amusingly confusing mess he has in store for us. Two men are on a carnival train that seems otherwise unpopulated. For some reason (either it wasn't stated very well or I was already falling asleep) one leaves to check on a crate. It moves in mysterious ways. The lock on the crate opens itself, and our carny is surprised to see a cobra appear. It bites him. Some invisible force then pushes him off the train (invisible forces are always a sign that you're in for a doozy or a film). Meanwhile, his buddy is bitten in the face by the same or another snake, or at least the snake bumps into the really dirty plexiglass they had in front of the camera, then the buddy dies on the spot. We cut to an outside shot of the train, which suddenly slows and stops. We're never shown the engineer or what happens to him, but presumably there was an engineer, something happened to him, and he stopped the train gracefully. Cue the audience jumping out of their seats.In an interview about the film, producer Bill Wilson said that the film was inspired by a true story circa 1955 that happened near Springfield, Missouri. A carnival train derailed, loosing countless snakes in the countryside. Many people were bitten and died. The way the incident is shown in the film is an indication of the kind of budget and technical finesse we're dealing with. Since Wilson and company obviously couldn't afford to have a train derail or crash, it simply stops, gently. We've only seen one snake up to that point, but within minutes, after just one more snakebite, Dr. Sheridan is ready to hit the panic button.Much of the film has the same non-sequitur logic and low-budget sensibility, making for some very funny scenarios. It should be clear from the title--and it's implied very early in the film--that Father Farrow ends up being right--Satan has something to do with the incidents (and there is a long, convoluted backstory about Father Farrow's family and some druids). However, the film's logic is so loose that it's never clear just how Satan is involved. Snakes that should be possessed are easily killed--often through methods such as blowing their heads off with guns. There are a number of different snakes, although not enough to ever create much suspense, and certainly not enough for the big blowout that you might expect for a finale. Is it a collective possession? We end up with a battle against one particular snake, so that doesn't seem to be the case, but then what was the deal with all of the other snakes in the film? It's best not to worry too much about this shady storytelling, and simply chuckle at the bizarre scenarios--such as an "assassin motorcyclist" who tries to chase down the whistleblowers to rape and/or murder them, or a mad chase through a cemetery where humans cannot outrun a slowly slithering beastie, or our heroes in peril because they have chosen to simply lie down, unbound, beneath the main villain in his lair, and so on. None of it makes much sense, but most of it is funny, especially when you add the consistently ludicrous dialogue.And yet, unbelievably, there are flashes of brilliance in the film. Cinematographer Dean Cundey finds a number of beautiful, symbolic shots. That probably had something to do with his extensive experience--prior to Jaws of Satan, Cundey had already been a cinematographer on films such as Halloween (1978), Rock 'N' Roll High School (1979) and The Fog (1980); he's understandably had a long, successful career since. Weaver is a delight as Father Farrow, being humorously irreligious as he tells off-color jokes, drinks, smokes and regularly refers to his faith as "a bunch of superstitious nonsense".I'd certainly recommend Jaws of Death, but only for fans of low-budget cheese and unintentional humor, despite its few intentional highlights. It's obvious that the producers were trying to cash in on a combo of two popular 1970s genres--religious (and especially possession) horror and nature run amok films. Obviously, there are many better examples of each genre to watch from the era, but none may be quite as funny as Jaws of Satan.

This film has some very good aspects to it:1: A simple, yet well-done story that is interesting and a good script. (I loved the beginning of the films' excerpt from the bible)2: Great filming locations (Alabama)3: A vet. actor! (Fritz Weaver)When I first saw this film, I was a little confused since I only saw the ending. I eventually found it on DVD and watched the whole thing through. I thought it was great and I added Fritz Weaver to my list of my fav actors. I then found out that A lot of people hated it. What the heck is up with that? Oh well. Anyway, I love this film and I wish the producers would make a sequel. My rating: 4/4 stars

During the 1970's and into the early 80's movie viewers were routinely given the opportunity to see the latest "Nature running amok" film where some animal/mammal/fish starts to pester decent folks and when the few courageous people try to stop it they run into bureaucrats who don't want to be bothered. This story is about Satan that has taken the shape of the King Cobra and after getting loose from on board a train it pops up in a small Alabama town where the snake is trying to track down Father Tom Farrow (Fritz Weaver) whose ancestors were druids. The Cobra is able to control the local rattlesnakes and make them start acting aggressively and biting people. Doctor Maggie Sheridan (Gretchen Corbett) who works at the hospital is suspicious of all the snakebite victims and some of the wounds look stranger than usual. She calls a snake expert in to investigate and Dr. Paul Hendricks (Jon Korkes) flies in. *****SPOILER ALERT*****After more victims are found Maggie and Paul try to persuade Mayor Grady Thorpe (Jack Gordon) to let the townsfolk be aware of what is happening but he says no and a successful businessman named Matt Perry (Bob Hannah) who has a new business opening starts to call the shots. This film was directed by Bob Claver who is a very respectable television director but this is the only theatrical film that he directed. As I started to watch this film I started to think that this was made for television but I double checked and it was released in theaters. The whole look of the film has T.V. movie of the week written all over it. No style to the filmmaking at all and in certain scenes as it looks to fade out I kept expecting a commercial to come on. This was trying to capitalize on the successes of films like "Jaws", "Orca", "Food of the Gods" and even "Grizzly" but those at least had an enemy that truly spooked viewers but this fails on that level. I had to laugh at the actor who was obviously separated by glass from the cobra, the glass was dirty. You couldn't miss it. For you trivia buffs out there Christina Applegate makes her film debut here and actress Nancy Priddy who plays her mother is actually her real mother! Silly and unscary film tries to capitalize on the success of this genre but fails on all levels.