There’s not a single job in the world that women could not do just as effectively as men, even murdering people. In Sigurd Culhane’s Green Cobra, we get to see the lethal assassin at work, all for a documentary for her assassins’ school.
Green Cobra opens with two Russian goons, dragging a man in a chair (Patrick Tamisiea) wrapped in cellophane across the floor of an abandoned warehouse. He’s there because he made out with the mob boss’ fiancé on the day of his wedding. In turn, the boss has special plans for the man’s demise, and it comes in the form of the Green Cobra!!!
In comes a mysterious woman, known as Green Cobra (Colleen Foy). As she prepares her tools, she’s on a headset with her friend talking about all the toxic people in her life. We soon cut to Green Cobra sitting for a talking head interview with a documentary crew about “Tony’s”—the school where she learned to torture.
“…the boss has special plans for the man’s demise, and it comes in the form of the Green Cobra!!!”
As a short film, Green Cobra is a lot of fun. It’s not exactly the funniest short you’ll ever watch, and the excessive amounts of jump-cuts are annoying, but there is a lot to love in this thirteen-minute film.
Colleen Foy as Green Cobra herself is perfect as the film’s lead. Her constant stream of consciousness is hard to follow at the start but then locks it in once you know it’s a documentary. She goes on about the benefits of freelance murder, like setting your own hours and racking up generous reviews. Her choice of torture is a unique twist on the genre. Patrick Tamisiea is also good as the victim, selling every punch, stab, and gunshot. It’s easy just to sell his torture as a comedy bit, but he plays it seriously.
Both the violence and gore are good, and a lot of the off-screen cringey moments are left up to our imagination. I also love the visual style with dark green lighting with a wonderful murder-room set design. It all looks creepy and really a horrible place to die.
