An enormous king cobra escapes during transport, blooding a path of fear as it kills two railroad workers and winds its way toward a quiet Alabama town. That night, Father Tom Farrow Fritz Weaver, the town's Catholic priest, is warned by librarian Evelyn Downs Diana Douglas that an ancient enemy has come to claim his soul. The tension in the air grows as the cobra’s shadow seems to loom over every quiet street and storefront.
The following day, two tree loggers are attacked by a rattlesnake, and Dr. Maggie Sheridan Gretchen Corbett calls in herpetologist Dr. Paul Hendricks Jon Korkes after discovering a body with unusual puncture wounds. The town’s fear deepens as more signs point to something supernatural rather than merely a natural menace. Maggie’s work brings her into contact with the Cobra’s deadly reach, and a deadly encounter unfolds when Maggie confronts a rattlesnake in her home, a confrontation that Paul tragically ends by killing the creature. He stays overnight to comfort her, as the sense of dread tightens its grip on the community.
After Evelyn’s death, Farrow learns from his uncle, the Monsignore Norman Lloyd, that his family bears a cursed bloodline marked by violent deaths and strange occurrences every third generation. The Monsignore warns that if Satan has indeed arrived in the form of a snake, unnatural events will follow, casting a pall over the town’s daily life. The looming question becomes whether the town can outlast this terrifying omen.
As the attacks mount, the Monsignore reveals that a family member once defeated a serpent, offering a flicker of hope amid despair. The Cobra strikes again, attacking Farrow, who manages to fend it off with a cross, but the Monsignore dies in the struggle, a heavy loss that deepens the sense of imminent catastrophe. A town meeting follows, where Mayor Grady Thorpe Jack Gordon dismisses the threats and pushes to press ahead with a dog race, a decision that pushes Maggie and Paul toward a more active, perilous investigation.
Maggie faces a mugger, and together with Paul she escapes another attack by the Cobra. Paul digs into the Cobra’s lair and is knocked out in a struggle that underscores the creature’s chilling intelligence. In the chaos that follows, the mayor ultimately calls off the dog race after a string of dangerous events, including a child being attacked, underscoring the seriousness of the threat.
Hope flickers when Maggie finds Paul again, only to be captured by the Cobra in a tense, brutal moment. In the climax, Farrow bravely steps into danger inside the caves, offering himself in place of Maggie. He prays, and the cross he bears glows with a sacred light, guiding a final act of destruction as the Cobra is engulfed in fire. Farrow, Paul, and Maggie escape the caves alive, leaving the town to reckon with the cost of their survival and the fragile line between faith, folklore, and fear.
