Black Cobra Woman
Black Cobra Woman (Italian: Eva nera) is a 1976 Italian exploitation movie written and directed by Joe D'Amato. The film starred Jack Palance and Laura Gemser. Plot. Eva (Laura Gemser) arrives in Hong Kong to perform at a nightclub doing snake dancing. In the audience is Judas (Jack Palance) and his businessman brother Julius (Gabriele Tinti). Judas takes Eva out to lunch and offers to take her home to see his snake collection, which she declines. After returning home, she decides to move in with Judas when she receives money and gifts from him. Eva than meets  a woman named Candy (Ely Galleani) to whom she is sexually attracted, and Jerry, a girlfriend of Julius's who introduces her to a lesbian club. On returning from the club, Eva finds that Candy has been killed by a black mamba snake from Judas's collection. This murder is staged by Julius, who resents Candy's attraction to Eva. Eva later invites Jerry to Judas' home. Julius however is watching from the house and sees them have sex, and he places a black mamba snake in their bedroom. Jerry is bitten and dies. Julius then suggests that Eva take  a trip with him to the island where he was born. Eva enlists two locals to despatch Julius with another serpent, which leads to Judas losing his interest in Eva after finding out what has transpired. Eva is killed while dancing with the black mamba snake. Reception. In a contemporary review, the "Monthly Film Bulletin" described the film as "sex movie-cum-travelogue that settles for the usual dull romps. Its single unusual sequence is one which Eva and Jerry cook and eat a snake which has been skinned alive." In retrospective reviews, AllMovie described the film as "unexpectedly high  on style" noting cinematography that had the "glossiness worthy of an Emmanuelle film" but that the film was also "depressingly low on substance", noting the plot which "has a few surprises to offer (the villain's comeuppance must be seen to be believed) but the threadbare script fails to use its novel plot devices to their full potential and never builds interesting or believable characters." The review also noted D'Amato's direction, which was described as "lacklustre" and "never establishes a comfortable pace and pads the film with momentum-killing travelogue footage of Hong Kong."