
King of Snake is a 1987 Taiwanese Kaiju movie directed by Yu-Lung Hsu, one that rides on the giant monster craze in the 1980s... but like what the title implies, with a giant snake monster instead of Godzilla.
And it's a kid's film. Huh?
In a high-tech Genetics Research Laboratory somewhere in Asia, a terrorist syndicate employed by feared triad leader Mr. Chung launches a raid for the lab's research, specifically after a rare substance called the R-19; one that induces rapid growth and cellular enlargement on living organisms, though due to biological limitations, is only effective when applied on reptiles and amphibians. As a shootout occurs between Chung's Mooks and the facility's security, the staff attempts an evacuation only to lose a high-tech glass aquarium meant for administering R-19 as it drops into a river.
Meanwhile in a rural town, a lonely, friendless little girl named Ting-ting, ridiculed by her classmates for losing a race, took a stroll near some streams and unexpectedly fishes out a tiny river snake, whom she names Mosler/Moser (it depends on the subs) and decides to adopt. When Ting-ting finds the missing R-19 aquarium and decides to use it as an improvised terrarium for Mosler, the aquarium's mechanism prematurely activates with Mosler in it.
It doesn't take long for Mosler to break free. And grow in size. And grow and grow. While Mr. Chung's syndicate is still after the R-19, who realized Ting-ting holds the last piece of equipment they need...
A year later in 1987, Godfrey Ho managed to obtain rights to the film and re-edited the whole thing into a new movie altogether, titled Thunder of Gigantic Serpent. Its plot is more or less the same as the original, but with a new character named Ted Fast (played by Pierre Kirby) in a major supporting role absent in the original.
King of Snake contain examples of:
- All Animals Are Dogs: ...including a snake. Pre-mutation Mosler is friendly enough to be handled by Ting-ting, and even after the R-19 turns it into a large beast, it still eats from Ting-ting's hand besides allowing its owner to ride on its head. Of course, stray snakes post-adoption (and most reptiles in general) are nowhere as friendly.
- American Kirby Is Hardcore: Mosler in the film is a benevolent beast; the property destruction and damages it causes is entirely by accident when it attempts locating its kidnapped owner. But you probably couldn't tell that from its international release poster, which re-titles the film "Thunder of Gigantic Serpent
" and turns the snake into a rampaging monster deliberately wiping out fleets of jets. The poster also somehow gives the monster fire-breathing abilities absent in the actual film. - Artistic License – Animal Care: Ting-ting adopts Mosler with the best intention, but the glass aquarium she uses as a terrarium is absolutely unsuitable for actual pet snakes, considering that it's empty and doesn't contain materials required to simulate an appropriate habitat (sand, water, etc.). She also feeds post-mutation Mosler tomatoes, even though snakes are obligate carnivores who can't survive on fruits.
- Big Dam Plot: Mosler at one point unintentionally smashes through a dam, which leads to a catastrophic flood and putting the country on red alert over a rampaging serpentine monster.
- A Boy and His X: A girl and her obedient pet snake, until the latter was exposed to experimental diffractor rays and starts growing in size...
- Cheerful Child: Ting-ting is constantly in a happy mood, despite her friendless background. However she ends the film sobbing her eyes out, after witnessing Mosler's death and refusing to leave Mosler's side.
- Climbing Climax: Mosler coils itself up a skyscraper called Starlight Building in an attempt to reach Ting-ting who's being held captive by Mr. Chung on the penthouse, even as it's attacked by jets from the sides.
- Crowd Panic: Expected for a Kaiju film, the last hour or so depicting Mosler at its largest is really chaotic with loads and loads of civilians reacting in horror at a rampaging serpentine monster. From inhabitants of a town downstream a broken dam trying to flee a Giant Wall of Watery Doom, to citizens in the capital city when Mosler's search for Ting-ting reaches the urban area.
- Expy: It seems like Mr. Chung is the film's attempts to make its own version of Clark Nelson from Mothra. It can't be a coincidence that Mosler and Mothra sounds similar. They both get pumped full of lead as their comeuppance, too.
- Gendered Insult: After Ting-ting lost a race to some neighborhood boys and protests the results, the boys claimed she lost because "she's a girl".
- Death of a Thousand Cuts: Like every giant movie monster, Mosler needs to be put down by the film's conclusion, even if it is a benevolent creature. After getting blasted by missiles, cannons and artillery, the Air Force eventually blows up the entirety of the Starlight Tower which Mosler is coiled around, finally taking down Mosler for good.
- The Great Serpent: The very premise of the film; Mosler went from being a child's pet to a rampaging, fifty-foot serpentine monster as a result of the R-19, and inevitably goes on a rampage.
- Harmful to Minors: An instance that's probably forced, but when Inspector Shao infiltrates Starlight Tower to rescue Ting-ting and reaches a standoff against Mr. Chung, Shao had no choice but to blast Chung through the guts via machine-gun, right in front of Ting-ting, to save her. Ting-ting is visibly frightened in the process, even though Mr. Chung did threaten to kill her multiple times.
- Humans Are the Real Monsters: The rampaging Mosler, at its worst, is a Non-Malicious Monster desperately seeking its missing owner Ting-ting whom it had developed a bond with. As per the norm of monster films, the human villain Mr. Chung serves as the Big Bad, since his attempts at stealing the R-19 is what kickstarts the plot and he's perfectly willing to hurt Ting-ting to extract the R-19's secrets.
- Kid with the Leash: The villains' attempts to abduct Ting-ting hits a snag because of her serpent protector. When Mosler comes to her rescue, it even obeys her commands to attack.Ting-ting: Mosler, the bad guys are over there!
[cue a bunch of Mooks having a Mass "Oh, Crap!" and fleeing] - Make My Monster Grow: The R-19 container can release diffractor rays capable of enlarging reptiles and amphibians, demonstrated in a test scene where it turns a regular frog giant-sized within seconds of exposure. After it was lost in the countryside, Ting-ting uses it as a terrarium for her new pet snake Mosler... well, this is a Kaiju flick.
- Non-Malicious Monster: Mosler's rampage that destroys most of the capital city is caused by the creature's attempts to locate its beloved owner, Ting-ting, who's abducted by the villains and held captive on a skyscraper's tip. After the villains are killed with Mr. Chung pumped full of lead, Ting-ting managed to rendezvous with Mosler... in time to see it blown to bits by the air force, with Mosler's demise treated in a sympathetic light despite the property destruction it caused.
- Secret Pet Plot: Ting-ting adopts a snake she randomly fishes out a river, naming it Mosler but doesn't inform her parents about it. She spends most of the film's first half keeping Mosler a secret, leading to some sitcom-like antics where the snake repeatedly escapes and freaks out her parents.
- Tomboy with a Girly Streak: Ting-ting is definitely One of the Boys, insisting on challenging the boys from her class in a race, isn't afraid to play rough and considers a river snake an adorable pet, but she has plenty of dolls and stuffed toys in her bedroom and her bed is adorned with pink blankets.
- Would Hurt a Child: When Chung finds out Ting-ting knew about the R-19, he immediately orders his Mooks to kidnap her and bring Ting-ting to his penthouse office, besides repeatedly slapping and manhandling her when he's pissed off besides holding Ting-ting at gunpoint. As Mosler inevitably reaches the Starlight Building's penthouse, Chung is all too willing to throw Ting-ting off the top as an act of spite.Chung: [taunting Ting-ting] Shout. Go ahead and call for help. It won't do you any good.
