Serpent’s Lair (1995) Movie Review
Written by: ML
Edited by: Grave Reviews Staff
Film Information
Director: Jeffrey Reiner
Producers: Marc Rosenberg
Writers: Vlad Paunescu
Date Released: October 19, 1995
Cast:
Jeff Fahey as Tom Bennett
Lisa Barbuscia as Lillith
Heather Medway as Alex Bennett
Anthony Palermo as Mario
Kathleen Noone as Betty
Taylor Nichols as Paul Douglas
Patrick Bauchau as Sam
Rating = 1/5 Graves
***May contain some spoilers***
Synopsis
The story is about a husband and wife who moved into a house left by a man who committed suicide in a weird room. As they made themselves comfortable, a black cat disturbed their peace and intends to hurt the wife. As soon as the wife had an accident, the cat transforms into a seductive woman posing as the previous owner’s sister wanting to stay in the house and check on his things. This woman was a succubus and works with the couple’s neighbor who was revealed to be the serpent that tricked Eve. They work with demons to drain the husband and eventually kill him. It is up to the husband to have a strong willpower to overcome the sexual appetite of the succubus before he gets completely drained.
Gore Factor
There were not much blood and gore in this movie since it’s purely demonic seduction and psychological horror. The only times they showed blood was when the cat tripped the woman on the stairs, the neighbor died, and the professor had an accident.
The Grave Review – Serpent’s Lair
This movie focused more on the seduction and sexual affair of Tom and Lilith. It failed to explore on the demonic side which was more “horror” in nature.
The entire movie was a drag, especially since it was only about the sex scenes and less about the history of the succubus. The movie only got interesting at the very last part where Tom got crazy and learned about Lilith and Sam’s true nature. It would have been better if the revelation and backstory were discussed thoroughly to make it more terrifying.
Even the burning effect that killed Lilith was not believable enough and it was too quick. It would have been better if Lilith suffered a little longer. They also failed to put more details into the previous owner’s experience with the succubus and the words on the wall. There was a part towards the end where Tom was seeing demons and cats all around him which marked the start of the horrifying turn of events. The scene where there were candles and creepy people in the room was almost scary if it went on a little longer.
If there was a good thing about this movie, it was the effective casting. Lisa B. was a perfect temptress and Jeff Fahey as the weak husband who easily gave in to sexual desires. They were so good at being sex addicts that the movie did not feel like horror at all but rather a psychological thriller.
Also, the ending was not actually an ending since Sam was not killed. The serpent can still have its lair and can create another succubus to attack Tom. It might be the cats in their new home or it could also be from the hallucination caused by his trauma.
Overall, this movie is just fine if you are looking for movies about succubus and demons.
For the foregoing reasons, Grave Reviews gives Serpent’s Lair (1995) one grave out of five graves.
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