Customer Reviews

Silent Venom

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Silent Venom: DVD Review

Grade: B-

Alright--so the plot isn't that original. Ever since Snakes on a Plane (Widescreen New Line Platinum Series), there have been numerous rip-offs, from Snakes on a Train, to this movie, Silent Venom. The title should be Snakes On A Submarine though--that's all the plot really is.

Luke Perry (90210) plays a retiring submarine captain. For his last mission, he must take a decommissioned submarine to Okinawa, Japan. But on the way he has to pick up some scientists on a island, along with their cargo. And it's not very long before some dumb crew member gets curious, and opens up the cargo...Letting 20 highly venomous snakes loose. And then later in the movie, 2 giant genetically engineered snakes get loose too.

Sounds like a typical Sci-Fi channel movie. (I'm surprised--it actually isn't.) Silent Venom has it's fair share of cool scenes, but I just wish the giant snakes would be in the spotlight more. (They're probably not because of budgetary reasons....) Even though the giant snakes are just CGI (really bad CGI), they still look laughingly cool. Alas, they are seen only in the first minutes of the movie, and the last part of the movie. For the rest of the movie, it's just regular snakes loose on board.

I did like the way they didn't make the regular snakes CGI though. Although it looks rather bad when the giant CGI snakes and regular snakes are together, it makes the movie more believable. (Vipers should have used real snakes too...) The only other problem with this movie is something other people have mentioned before--the actors are all to serious. For a movie called "Silent Venom" (I didn't know it made noise before?), the actors need to loosen up. They all look like they just want to collect their money and get out of there. The only one who even looked remotely believable has to be Tom Berenger, who plays an Army Lieutenant. All the others should just realize that this is a campy B-movie, made to be fun. Seriously, I don't think a giant snake movie is ever going to be scary anymore.

Still, Silent Venom manages to be more than just decent. Although it does lag in the middle, the fake giant snake action is enjoyable to watch. The actors though, aren't.

Remember Snakes on a Plane? It duped mainstream news outlets into believing Internet hype about the movie. And everywhere, producers of low-budget schlock were kicking themselves for not thinking of it first. So they thought of it second. And this is how, three years after Snakes on a Plane, we have Silent Venom.

I have an amazingly high tolerance for bad movies. But my one weakness is animal attack films. I prefer monsters. I've given RHI Entertainment's movies the benefit of the doubt if only because I can't tell the difference between their monster and animals-amok films. So my rule is only one stupid animal attack movie of a particular type a year. I watched Silent Venom because it was titled Sea Snakes and featured giant snakes. Giant snakes I like. Mutant snakes that look an awful lot like normal snakes only are more aggressive? That's what RHI's Vipers is for.

For the first few minutes Silent Venom teases that it's about two giant snakes. But it's not. It's about regular snakes. On a submarine. With Luke Perry. And Krista Allen. And a lot of stupid sailors.

The name change means a lot. If I knew this movie was named Silent Venom I would never have watched it, because I'm not particularly interested in quiet snakes. But a movie called Sea Snakes? I expected a snake that lives in the sea. A giant snake that lives in the sea that eats submarines.

Instead, I got submarines with Lt. Comdr. James O'Neill (Perry) at the helm warning everyone not to use a gun because it might puncture the hull. He plays a cat-and-mouse game with a Chinese sub (that we never see). And, despite his warning, he shoots a lot of snakes.

About midway through Silent Venom director Fred Olen Ray just gives up. Snakes magically begin appearing around Dr. Swanson's (Krista Allen) neck, O'Neill starts shooting the snakes with abandon, and somewhere in the background giant snake puppets try to remind us they're still scary.

I kept hoping that maybe, just maybe, an even bigger snake would show up and eat the Chinese sub. But alas, no. Be it Sea Snakes or Silent Venom, this movie was sunk from the start.

Silent Venom: 2 out of 10: One of the major plot points of Tim Burton's fine 1989 Batman rendition was the Joker poisoning Gotham's household products. You see, if you used a certain combination of products, a rigor-mortis like smile would appear upon your face.

I am bringing up the Joker's nefarious scheme for two reasons.

A: To avoid talking about Silent Venom; this film is a horrible example of the 'Giant CGI Snake Monster' genre. A genre itself, which is travelling into the abyss at a remarkable rate of speed; all the while new Giant CGI Snake Monster' movie releases seem to be increasing exponentionally.

B: I was hoping for a rational explanation of what is wrong with actor Krista Allen. Now Krista is still popular among a legion of Sci-Fi and B movie fans. Whether that is due to her competent performance as Tully in Feast, or perhaps young lads overhearing his Grandfather's discussion of her charms in Emmanuelle 3-7 The Space Years; (It was the early nineties, a different time. Men wore pants shaped like parachutes and won Middle East Wars in a matter of weeks. )

Krista Allen did something to herself. Facing forty in a year or two, she either pumped up the lips or raised the face or something. Whatever it was, it went wrong, very wrong

She is smiling now. No really, it is now her only emotion. No matter what the scene she has, that silly grin is plastered on her face. She could be reciting the end to Steel Magnolias and she would still be standing there, grinning like a loon.

In addition, Kristy Allen does not show her tits. Normally I would not mention this; but she is a former Emmanuel, and boldly announced during the film that she is going to take a shower, only to never follow up with an actual shower scene. In addition, and let us face this sad truth, with that one facial expression and limited acting skills to begin with; tits are pretty much her last remaining asset.

So how is the rest of the film? The oversized CGI snakes and the puppet snakes are somewhat cute in a Puff the Magic Dragon kind of way. However, they have limited screen time. The real snakes would be scary to find in ones bathtub, but lose some of their fear factor while on screen. The plot with a US submarine in Chinese waters filled with magic snakes is well' forgettable. They are no other actors of note; except for Luke Perry who acts as if he is late on a car payment and clearly wishes he were anywhere else; Tom Berenger who looks like he gained 300 pounds; and John L. Curtis who plays the XO and seems to be in a different and much better film.

I was surprised at what a fun little movie "Silent Venom" was!

"Silent Venom" stars Luke Perry as a disgraced submarine commander taking a decommissioned US Submarine to Taiwan. While in route, the submarine is ordered to pick up two scientists who've been studying snakes on a remote tropical island before they, and their research, can be taken by Chinese forces conducting war games in the area.

The sub manages to rescue the scientists and their research just as the Chinese navy arrives. Unfortunately, one of the scientists has smuggled dozens of deadly snakes onto the unarmed sub. Now the skeleton crew finds themselves hunted by a hostile military force above, and trapped below with some of the world's deadliest snakes.

What I really enjoyed about "Silent Venom" was the use of real snakes throughout most of the film. I only wish director Fred Olen Ray had stuck with the genuine article all the way through the film. I would have given "Silent Venom" at least 4 stars. Unfortunately the climax doesn't really pay off due to poor CGI special effects.

Still, if you are a fan of creepy-crawlie creature featurs, you should give "Silent Venom" a bite.

this movie is good it has
gore,creature violence,guns.
and the most important thing
a good ending.so do only good
reviews please.

From the good folks at SyFy, comes Silent Venom (2008 aka Sea Snakes) a pretty pedestrian tale about snakes getting loose on a submarine. Aside from a couple of giant CGI serpents, the special effects are rather limited, as is the appeal of this rather silly little adventure.

Luke Perry is Lieutenant Commander James O'Neil, commander of the USS Santa Mira, a navy sub sent on a rescue mission to retrieve a pair of scientists from a remote island in the east China Sea. Dr. Andrea Swanson (Krista Allen) and Jake Goldwin (Louis Mandylor) are conducting research on snakes for the Pentagon. The scientists and their research are taken aboard the sub, where the snakes promptly get loose, terrorizing the crew. Further complicating things is the presence of the Chinese navy, who don't appreciate Americans in the area.

There are a few minor thrills, but this is a pretty routine outing that you can catch on SyFy if you are really interested in seeing Krista Allen (Feast) with a number of reptiles draped around her neck, and Tom Berenger (Sniper) playing crusty old admiral.

No bimbos, buffoons, or half-bare boobs. No trash-talking teens or bellows of "Take that, bitch!" No sick gags, splashes of gore, or sexual gratuity. Just slithericious, snaky suspense, marred slightly by two oversized CGI serpents.
The performances are low-key and credible, with a nicely controlled tad of intra-command conflict and sexual tension. Mistitled Sea Snakes for the SyFy channel--instead of the more accurate (and likely) Snakes on a Sub--the movie should sufficiently titillate fans of traditional flicks that rely upon instinctive simian aversion to the serpentine instead of stock cartoonish characters and supersonic action.

Yes the CGI snakes look awful but everything else in this film is right on target. Luke Perry leads an excellent cast and they all do a respectable job in their roles. The script, while presenting a rather unlikely scenario, is not a complete insult. The directing and editing are fine and the film features a very old school music score. Perry is the best thing in the film and gets to show off a comedic side with his character (but it never goes over the top). There are a few genuinely tense scenes. If you can forgive the rotten CGI giant snakes, the rest of the film is fine. By the way, most of the snakes in the film are real, only the pair of giant snakes are CGI and the real snakes look pretty threatening. In one scene Luke Perry has to remove a bunch of them from Krista Allen and that sequence was pretty squirm inducing. All in all this was a movie that was far better than it had any right to be. I enjoyed it very much.

No cussing, has mutant snakes but not real scary, has some good acting from newcomers.

Luke Perry destroyed this film. Who in the heck cast him in this role? Did a relative do him a favor, or destroy his acting career? He is an abomination to sci-fi flicks. This guy is totally mis-cast in a film that had promise. Don't take it personal Luke, but your calling is not acting. Maybe you should be a professional massager or a dream weaver consultant. There is no venom in your acting. Only silence. Please change careers. Avoid this film. I bought it for $3...and I still feel I was completely robbed. I took a nap midstream during this abomination and fake horror thriller...and guess what? I DIDN'T MISS A THING. Snakes in a submarine??? Let's submerge the writer and director so they never surface again. Horrendous. The snakes are as real as those things you get in a 25-cent bubble gum machine. The acting slithers with incompetency. SILENT venom is a "SILENT" film...or should be. I had more bite from my ex-wife (and venom, too). A total disaster. It could have been made into a 30-minute short film...and STILL would have failed. Whoever concocted this piece of snake &^%*$, should slither on down the road and beg for a job at a fast-food store...maybe der weinersnakesell???