Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Archaeologist George Zucco has discovered an ancient Aztec treasure along with the mythical bird that guards it. He's mad, quite mad….He keeps the treasure hidden in a cave and visits it secretly.Back in town, his step-daughter has noticed that he's been acting strangely—disappearing for days on end, talking about some great imminent discovery. She shares her concern with an ornithologist friend….who soon thereafter is found savagely murdered, his throat cut and all of the blood drained from his body. What is up? Did the ornithologist's death have anything to do with the mysterious feather that Zucco had dropped at his house? Cut to New York: a radio station is sending (handsome young) mystery writer Dick Thorpe to New Mexico to investigate the strange crime and to broadcast daily reports from the field. As the plot thickens and bodies begin to pile up, Dick's daily remote broadcasts get better and better: "Ladies and gentlemen, there's been a murder at the studio. Professor Louis Havener was struck down by the feathered serpent as he stood at the window examining the feather we had just found....We'll be back on the air again tomorrow morning at the same time." The radio writer and the step-daughter (Ralph Lewis and Hope Kramer – not household names for me, I'm afraid) eventually team up on the investigation; however, while the young couple are ostensibly the protagonists in the story, it is unquestionably Zucco who has the meaty role in the picture.For example, why does he keep the treasure hidden? "Because it's mine. Mine, do you hear? All mine. I'm the richest man in the world!" Oh, the bird is good, too. Special flying effects combined with a dramatic music score actually combine well enough to make the attack scenes just a bit spooky.It's very silly, really not very good…but great fun nevertheless.

George Zucco who occasionally appeared in some A films, spent most of his career in B films and even lesser C to Z films lending his British accent and stage training to some god awful messes. Zucco should get an award from somebody for actually trying to give a convincing performance in a film he had to know was terrible. He was a professional if nothing else.The Flying Serpent is a missing link between a bird and reptile, it's got colorful flamingo like plumage on a big lizard body and wings. It's also got a taste for blood and woe betide anyone who grabs one of his feathers for a souvenir. It also likes blood of all kinds and the ancient Aztecs worshiped this guy and called him Quetzacoatl. There were more of them I presume back then.Zucco's caught one of the survivors and never mind it's murdered his wife which may have unhinged him. Zucco is an archaeologist who has discovered Montezuma's treasure and uses the creature to guard it. But a series of murders have brought a nationally syndicated radio mystery show to the New Mexico location of the crime.Of course Zucco keeps on planting feathers on victims even after the radio show relocates to New Mexico for broadcasts. But remember he's a mad scientist. And when his stepdaughter Hope Kramer starts falling for the radio show broadcaster Ralph Lewis that puts Zucco over the edge totally.Given all of what I told you, the climax of The Flying Serpent is unbelievably stupid. But I guess you needed a dumb finish for a dumb movie.On a camp level this awful film is a real hoot.

One of my favorite Poverty Row movies. Yes, it's cheap. Yes it's corny. No, it's not a milestone in film achievement. What it is, though, is a camp classic featuring the always awesome George Zucco as an insane archaeologist using the Aztec bird-god Quetzalcoatl to kill his enemies. If that simple description doesn't pique your interest, then this isn't the movie for you. Of course the special effects are limited. It was a PRC movie shot on a shoestring budget. But if you can look past its limitations you will see that it's a good solid hour of fun. Recommended for all fans of George Zucco or 1940s horror movies in general.

This cheapie PRC production is pretty much a re-working of the same studio's 1941 THE DEVIL BAT, only it's got George Zucco and a killer bird instead of Bela Lugosi and his lethal monster bat. Zucco is a professor who's discovered Montezuma's treasure and aims to protect it for himself by unleashing the mythological half-reptile "Quetzalcoatl" (it's funny hearing Zucco personally addressing his flying feathered serpent as such) to dispatch his enemies. Unfortunately, this is nowhere near as much fun as its predecessor. Still, there are some pretty neat attack scenes of the soaring creature flapping through the air to latch onto its victims' throats. *1/2 out of ****