Serpent's Lair

SERPENT'S LAIR is ostensibly a horror movie on paper (with shades of ROSEMARY'S BABY in the set-up) but it plays out as one of those late night softcore thrillers of the kind that Shannon Tweed made a career of starring in during the 1990s. This one has Jeff Fahey, one of the more underrated stars of the era, playing one half of a couple who buy a new apartment only to find it haunted by a succubus with designs on the hubby. All of this leads to the usual gamut of softcore fumblings and nude sequences, which quickly become tiresome to all but the hungriest of erotic film fans. Fahey does his best, but I found this one tiresome before long.

Tom (prolific actor Jeff Fahey) and wife Alex (Heather Medway) move into an apartment, its previous occupant was a guy called Steve who was into demonology and committed ritual suicide there. They adopt a female black cat which shows affection towards Tom but it quite nasty to Alex. Whilst she is in hospital (the cat caused her to have an accident) Steve's sexy sister Lilith (there's a clue in the name!) turns up at the apartment to pick up his stuff but soon casts a spell over Tom (cue "Omen" style music). From now on Lilith (model/singer/actress Lisa B) and cheating Tom engage in a lot of noisy passionate sex, there's a bit of topless nudity and bare bums but nothing to get too excited about. This erotic supernatural horror/thriller is set in an unnamed American city though it was filmed in Romania, much of the architecture is obviously European as are the motor vehicles (mainly East European makes at that). I thought that the various tenants gave the movie, coupled with the occult angle, a touch of "Rosemary's Baby." The film's title may be derived from an impressive serpent water feature in the courtyard. This was my second viewing and despite a few flaws I found it engaging , well paced and enjoyable. Certainly worth a watch.

Here we have one of those nice young couples who have found the apartment they've been searching for, only it has a sinister past. But heck, they say, so what if a guy killed himself and wrote some strange words on the wall. We'll just throw a mirror over that. But there are also a few amenities they didn't count on, like a multitude of vaguely menacing cats. Plus the apartment comes equipped with its own sexy succubus--not what every wife would want for her husband.

There is more sex than scares in this movie, though neither will have you on the edge of your seat. But things do pick up a little toward the end. Jeff Fahey, B-movie vet, stars as the husband and Lisa B (didn't she used to play for Prince?) is the bedeviling demon lady. Taylor Nichols ('Metropolitan' and 'Barcelona') also has a small role.

Definitely a fun little erotic creepy movie!! One of those mid 90s erotic thrillers.

In SERPENT'S LAIR, Tom Bennett (Jeff Fahey) and his wife, Alex (Heather Medway) move right in to their dream apartment This, in spite of having seen the burn marks and a message on the wall -written in red!- left by the former occupant.

Weirdness starts right away, accompanied by weird music that lets us know that it's only going to get weirder! There's even a neighbor who's, you guessed it, a weirdo! Hell, even their new cat seems to act... weirdly.

Meanwhile, Tom's dreams turn into soft core cheeeze, and a cat-caused "accident" puts poor Alex in the hospital.

Enter Lilith (Lisa Barbuscia), a sizzling hot woman who claims to be the former tenant's sister. Lilith winds up alone with Tom for the evening, and it's not long before he forgets that he's married to what's-her-name. For some reason, more cats materialize, and further "accidents" occur.

For her part, Lilith isn't one for small talk. She's also very persistent. Tom doesn't know what he's up against, since Lilith isn't what she appears to be. Will Tom ever snap out of his Lilith-induced coma?

More cats appear.

A movie like this is all about building sexual tension, with the consummation thereof leading to total destruction. Lilith being insatiable and unstoppable certainly brings things to a lusty boil! For the most part, Tom is just a goggle-eyed rube with weak knees.

QUESTIONS: #1- Will Alex get out of the hospital before Lilith reduces Tom to a smiling sack of dust? #2- Will the cats ever stop multiplying? #3- How will Tom and Alex afford the food and litterboxes for their growing feline multitude?

BEST SCENE: When Lilith "surprises" Tom at work, and an office chair becomes a recreational instrument! This scene proves to be as ludicrous as it is sensual!

Let nothing stop you from witnessing the final, fiery, demon-cleansing showdown!...