What happens when you cross an African King Cobra with an Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake? You get one extremely large and ill-tempered reptile, and he's on the loose in the horror opus King Cobra. Dr. Irwin Burns (Joseph Ruskin) is developing an experimental drug that will increase aggression in humans and animals, so he breeds the perfect animal to test it on -- "Seth," a cobra/rattlesnake mix that's more intelligent than the average snake, much larger (30 feet long) and a good bit more dangerous. When an explosion destroys Burns' lab, Seth slithers off to freedom, and two years later he pops up in the small town of Fillmore. When several citizens are attacked by a large snake with unusually potent venom, local doctor Brad Kagen (Scott Brandon) and Police Chief Jo Biddle (Kasey Fallo) (who happen to be romantically involved) urge the mayor (Hoyt Axton) to cancel the city's annual beer festival. The festival brings in too many tourist dollars for the mayor to consider shutting it down, so Brad and Jo have to quickly capture the mutant snake before it can kill again. Fortunately, they have the help of Nick Hashimoto (Pat Morita), a snake expert who's been bitten so many times he has venom antibodies in his blood. King Cobra features special effects by the Chiodo Brothers, who previously created creatures for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Killer Klowns From Outer Space, and boasts a cameo appearance by Erik Estrada as a flamboyantly gay beer marketing expert.
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide