The Flying Serpent
February. 01,1946 NRA demented archaeologist discovers a living, breathing serpent creature known to the Aztecs as Quetzalcoatl and accidentally kills his wife by giving her one of the beast's feathers, causing the creature to track her down and slaughter her. Using this knowledge he exacts revenge upon his enemies by placing one of the feathers on his intended victim and letting the beast loose to wreak havoc.
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I recall seeing this on television when the tube only showed depreciated B feature movies, and the only late at night, as if the stations were ashamed of their offerings. And in fact now, when I'm considerably more than ten years old, I don't find it nearly as enjoyable as I did then.There doesn't seem to have been much more than minimal effort put into any of the elements. Script, acting, direction, production design -- they're all abominable. Oh, Quetzalcoatl was a genuine Aztec figure all right, along with a dozen other gods in the pantheon that are rarely mentioned in fiction because they're not so threatening. The Aztec language has fed some words, however much filtered, into English besides the name of Quetzalcoatl. "Tomato", for instance, comes from Aztecan "tomatl." And "axolotl", a kind of giant salamander, is an Aztecan word too. (I'm throwing that in for addicts of the Times crossword puzzle.) Not to call names, though, because name calling leads nowhere. Here's a real example of what I mean. George Zucco is the resident batty archaeologist living in a small Southwestern town with his step daughter, Hope Kramer. You may be surprised to know that Montezuma buried millions of dollars in treasure in New Mexico before "moving south." They got the direction wrong. Cultural influences and presumably people moved from south to north.Well, that's not the example I wanted to give. Here's the example of little effort that I wanted to give. Zucco is sitting on top of this mountain of hidden jewels, uninterested in the money, satisfied with the knowledge that it belongs to him. As he tells his daughter, "It's mine, do you hear me? All MINE." But the legend of the treasure brings strangers who start poking around. Zucco's response is to plant one of Quetzalcoatl's feathers on the poker, let loose the Flying Serpent itself, and have the victim's throat torn out by the monster.Wait. I haven't got to that example yet. Here's that example. The first guy to get his throat torn out by Quetzalcoatl for nosing around is a bird specialist who is intrigued by one of the Flying Serpent's unusual feathers. And I could SWEAR that the character refers to himself as an "orthinologist." I am CERTAIN that he alludes to "the Rosita Stone." No, I'm afraid they didn't work very hard on the story or on the film. A sharp radio reporter and his comic side-kick assistant descend on the small town and they start poking around, a habit which, as we have seen, is a ketchy business. The New York radio station that Ralph Lewis comes from is "XOR". Now, there was, and is, a WOR in New York. But if there is an XOR anywhere, it has to be in Mexico because the allotted call signs for commercial radio stations in the US are either "W" or "K", while "X" is confined to Mexico.George Zucco's attempt to kill his daughter is foiled by the reporter and Zucco is hoist by his own petard. The entire movie is a petard.
THE FLYING SERPENT is a mystery/ thriller, about the ancient feathered serpent, the Aztec God.A shrewd archaeologist has found Montezuma's treasuregold, diamonds and emeralds . To protect itfrom inopportune people, from treasure seekers, from whoever might disturb himhe uses a curious monster, an ancient beast, a ferocious reptilebird. The murders beginfirst an ornithologist, then a policeman, then others .The mean archaeologist has a fair stepdaughter; this girls uses to think, and she puts together a couple of things.The mysterious, horrible murders are investigated by a young writer of radiobroadcasts.We never find out whence the feathered serpent came.
The diabolical Professor Andrew Forbes(George Zucco)holds possession over an ancient Aztec feathered flying serpent, Quetzacoatal, and Montezuma's treasure it was assigned to protect, imprisoning the beast in a cell within a hidden cavernous lair. Forbes plucks a feather from the serpent, using it to lure the beast towards victims. Anyone who threatens to expose his secret(..possession of the treasure and the serpent)are targeted. The serpent is a half-bird/half-reptile which feeds on blood..it severs the jugular vein of victims, draining their bodies of blood. A popular mystery writer, Richard Thorpe(Ralph Lewis), is hired by a radio station to solve the mysterious case of a murdered ornithologist who posed a threat towards discovering Forbes' secret. Forbes learned about how his bird follows the "scent" of his removed feathers when Quetzalcoatal murdered his wife. His step-daughter, Mary(the cute Hope Kramer)begins to question pop's odd behavior and temperament possibly endangering herself. It doesn't help that Mary and Richard begin a courtship as he sets his sights on catching her step-dad in his fiendish acts. After a successful series of murders, it's only a matter of time before Forbes leaves a trail Richard will sniff out.Poverty row no-budgeter benefits from Zucco's sinister villain..he's quite hissable. I was hoping for stop-motion effects being a fan, but the Quetzalcoatal is mostly an embarrassing puppet. The film itself is rather talky, unatmospheric and feels a lot longer than it is. Probably for Zucco completists more than the average horror fan unless you like these little schlocky B-movies with failed attempts at slap-sticky physical humor. It'd probably help if the monstrous bird didn't look so damn silly and unconvincing(..although this might appeal to fans of cheese).
George Zucco's archaeologist character has a major problem at the beginning of the 1946 cheapie "The Flying Serpent." He had recently discovered Montezuma's treasure horde in an Aztec cave in New Mexico, and now fears that the locals might start to get snoopy. Good thing he's also found Quetzalcoatl, the legendary Aztec serpent/bird god, and has learned that the creature will track down and kill whoever is in unwitting possession of one of its feathers. Thus, pretty soon, Zucco is planting Q plumage left and right, sitting back and enjoying the carnage... Anyway, this 57-minute film is minimally fun, and Zucco is always interesting to watch, but the picture is unfortunately done in by supercheap production values, a tediously talkative screenplay, occasional goofball humor, and the simple fact that we never get a solid, steady look at Quetzalcoatl itself. Worse, the film's resolution is asinine and inane, with Zucco behaving uncharacteristically stupid and contrary to common sense. Matters aren't helped by the badly damaged film print offered to us on the Image DVD that I just watched, with problematic sound, to boot. Many other viewers have noted the similarity between this picture and another PRC effort, "The Devil Bat," a Bela Lugosi vehicle released five years earlier. In that film, Bela had lured his flying killer to the intended victim by using a special shaving lotion; here, those darn feathers have been substituted. Bottom line: I would have to say that "The Flying Serpent" is a movie for George Zucco completists only, if such an animal exists. Other viewers who are interested in a film featuring the feathered serpent god alive and well in the 20th century would probably be better advised to seek out Larry Cohen's 1982 film "Q."