Customer Reviews

Venom

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

 

 

Do not get fooled by the horrenduos DVD cover art that has nothing to do with the movie. The movie has a black mamba and the cover shows a rattlesnake!! and it is horrible!!! But the movie is one hell of a ride! Late great actors Reed and Kinski bring some very cool and violent stuff to the screen. They kidnap a rich kid and everything goes "Violently" wrong, they get trapped in a house and ask for a ransom without knowing that a deadly black mamba is loose between their feet....that's when all hell breaks loose! Venom is a very entertaining Low budget film with some great visuals, amazing score and some very chilling atmospheres. The fact that they used real black mamba snakes in the film makes the viewing even more creepier- A very entertaining film with a great and violent ending...give it a try!

The movie "Venom" is not so much a scary monster movie as it is an intelligent and involving thriller. In fact the black mamba (reportedly the worlds deadliest snake) has very little screen time and serves merely as a device to move along the plot and raise the tension level of a household held hostage by ciminals and under siege by police.
The plot concerns a small band of criminals (a chauffeur played by Oliver Reed, a sexy maid played by the amazing Susan George and a slick professional killer played by Klaus Kinski) and their plot to kidnap and hold for ransom a young boy in London.
Complicating matters is the aforementioned snake. In a mixed up delivery the boy gets a black mamba instead of the tame, non-poisonous reptile he had ordered. Further complicating matters for these crooks is the botched attempt at snatching the boy that leads to them being surrounded by the local police (led by the excellent Nicol Williamson).
This is a nice DVD by Blue Underground and included is a very informative and entertaining audio commentary by director Piers Haggard. We learn some of the background to the departure of the first director (Tobe Hooper) and also some tidbits on the production (apparently Reed and Kinski hated each other and were constantly at each others throats). Haggard also makes some curious comments (including an admiration on the physical attributes of George) but overall its one of the better directors commentaries I have listened to,
This movie failed to make an audience when it was released almost a quarter-century ago, largely because of a poor marketing campaign (another subject Haggard discusses) that inaccurately tagged the movie as a scary monster movie and not the intelligent thriller that it is.
Definitely worth a spin.

Oliver Reed and Klaus Kinski in the same film! What were they thinking? Kinski's mercurial temperament, of course, has attained the heights of legend. His collaborations with German filmmaker Werner Herzog in such pictures as "Fitzcarraldo," "Cobra Verde," and "Nosferatu" were brilliant examples of the power of his talent, but were also notable for the behind the scenes hostility between director and actor. Herzog even made a documentary about his stormy relationship with Kinski, "My Best Fiend," in which he acknowledged the physical and emotional violence between the two men. Incredibly, even talk of a murder plot was not out of the question in this relationship. Other directors have essentially confirmed the horrific experience of working with Klaus Kinski. Oliver Reed's bad behavior apparently knew no bounds, either. Fabio Testi, his co-star in "Revolver," described how Reed once ate broken light bulbs during a bender to prove his "superiority." The director of that same picture claimed he had to film all of Reed's scenes in the morning before too many bottles of sauce turned the performer into a lumbering brute. Nice. Nonetheless, someone sat down and thought the idea of putting these two guys in the same movie was a good idea. I hope the director received appropriate compensation for his pain.

"Venom" takes place in England and involves a young boy, his grandfather, a black mamba snake, and a ransom plot. When the wealthy parents of this child go out of town, leaving him in the charge of his grandfather Howard Anderson (Sterling Hayden), the chauffer Dave (Reed) and the maid Louise (Susan George) hatch a grand plot. If they can kidnap this kid and shunt him off to some isolated location, the parents will shell out big bucks for his return. Since the kid has a bunch of health problems, primarily a serious case of asthma, his mother and father can hardly refuse to deal with the kidnappers. To help facilitate the plan, Louise contacts a career criminal named Jacmal (Kinski) to fly into England and direct the operation. Right from the start Dave expresses misgivings about bringing this man into the picture. Dave and Louise share an intense physical relationship, and the chauffer worries that Jacmal has designs on his woman. Better he should worry about the package the kid brought home. This sickly little scion loves animals, just like his famous documentary making grandfather, and he keeps a bunch of them in cages and tanks in his room. When he went to pick up a harmless snake for his collection, he inadvertently claimed a box containing the aforementioned black mamba. Disaster is sure to follow.

Jacmal arrives at the townhouse to take the kid away at roughly the same time a police officer shows up at the house investigating a call from Dr. Marian Stowe (Sarah Miles) about the missing poisonous snake. Dave panics and empties a shotgun into the cop's chest. Before the officer expires outside the townhouse, he manages to summon more officers to the scene. Inside the house all is pandemonium as the black mamba escapes from its prison and bites Louise. Seeing Susan George turn into a bloated, graying, frothing at the mouth snakebite victim is, I must say, a treasure that all should see at least once in their life. Unfortunately, "Venom" goes downhill rapidly from this point on. The rest of the film turns into a "tense" standoff as the cops try to talk the kidnappers into letting Anderson and the kid go while those inside the house attempt to locate the black mamba. Jacmal impresses Howard Anderson into service as head snake catcher, a role seemingly suited to a man whose life consists of heading out into the dark places of the world to photograph dangerous beasties. At one point in the proceedings Jacmal manages to capture the prissy Dr. Stowe as an additional bargaining chip, sending out her finger as proof that he means business. The film wraps up in a predictable and generally unexciting way.

"Venom" is largely unexciting, slow, and forgettable. If not for the cast, this film surely would sink into total oblivion. Klaus Kinski, whose later career saw him playing aloof and ironic criminals, plays an aloof and ironic criminal here. He doesn't step into the movie until well after it starts, but his presence does help move the process over the numerous speed bumps the script insists on placing in the way. His final scene in the film is, frankly, quite amusing. Susan George never looked better, but she disappears from the scene so quickly thanks to the mamba that we barely have time to lament her passing. Oliver Reed does in "Venom" what Oliver Reed does in every film I've seen him in: rant, rave, and stomp around threatening people. The dual stresses of the police outside and the snake inside reduce his character Dave to a tousled, sweaty wreck of a man you just know will meet a painful demise at some point in the film. Then there is Sterling Hayden, the venerable figure of stage and screen who looks like he's ready to take a Valium after spending a few weeks caught in the throes of a Kinski/Reed association. Sadly, the script doesn't ask his character to do much except comfort the kid and wander around darkened rooms looking for the snake.

Thanks to Blue Underground, the DVD version of "Venom" contains several supplements. The commentary track with director Piers Haggard reveals many interesting anecdotes about working with Kinski and Reed, as well as describing the exit of original director Tobe Hooper. A trailer, stills, television and radio spots, and cast biographies round out the disc. The picture quality is excellent. A movie that could have been better with a quicker pace and more snake attacks, "Venom" is still worth watching for the recognizable faces in the cast.

'The kidnap that became a murder that became a siege that became a death trap!' screamed the trailer trying to pull in the audience to Venom back in 1981. "What's on telly?" yawned the resolutely stay-at-home audiences, making the right choice. Pity poor Piers Haggard, taking over at short notice after a warring cast most sane directors would run a mile from (Klaus Kinski, Oliver Reed, Nicol Williamson, Sarah Miles) had reputedly already driven away original director Tobe Hooper: no wonder he described the film's deadly Black Mamba as the nicest member of the cast. It's one of those oddball international co-production packages with a particularly eclectic cast - Sterling Hayden, Susan George, Edward Hardwicke, Hugh Lloyd, Maurice Colbourne and Michael Gough are in there as well - and a high-concept - a kidnapping that goes wrong when the kidnappers find themselves under siege from the police and stalked by their wealthy young victim's Black Mamba that's on the loose in the house - that isn't particularly good but sounds just silly enough to be enjoyable. Unfortunately in this case it isn't. It may be the deadliest, fastest and most aggressive snake in the world, but it has so little to do in the film that you suspect it kills its prey by boring them to death. Instead of building up suspense or throwing in plenty of moments where the filmmakers go "BOO!!!" at the audience, there's an awful lot of talk, little of it interesting, even more standing around and not much bite.

There's certainly some silliness on display, particularly in the performances: Sterling Hayden spends much of his last film playing his role like Ernest Hemingway imitating a playful gorilla while Nicol Williamson seemingly imitates his Robin and Marion co-star Sean Connery as the cop who spends almost as much of the film waiting for something to happen as the audience does. No-one behaves particularly sensibly, but then this is the kind of film where people don't turn all the lights on when looking for a deadly snake in a darkened room and where a key plot point turns around a major toxicology institute getting its deadly snakes from Rita Webb's rundown pet shop that gets its labels mixed up. Yet aside from the odd line like Kinski's immortal "Zee znayke izz looze!" or Oliver Reed finding himself with an unwanted extra trouser snake, laughs are as few and far between as scenes with the serpent. Judging from Haggard's comments about the nest of human vipers he had to deal with on his audio commentary on the US DVD, they might just have been better off making a film about the making of the film. It would have been a lot more dramatic and, from his accounts of the feud between Kinski and Reed or of the temperamental German star playing the rough stuff uncomfortably for real, a lot more violent. It's an achievement that the film actually got finished at all, just not a particularly worthwhile one.

Blue Underground's widescreen DVD also includes trailers, TV spots and stills and poster gallery.

VENOM is a tense horror / thriller starring Oliver Reed (the family chauffeur) and Klaus Kinski (a german underworld figure) as crooks who decide to kidnap the 10yo son of a wealthy woman. Unbeknownst to them, the boy has brought home the wrong snake from the pet shop. Instead of a harmless serpent, he's now in possession of a black mamba, the deadliest, most aggressive snake in the world! This is bad news, as it quickly escapes it's box and bites the maid (an accomplice) in the face. She dies in minutes, leaving the two would-be kidnappers, the kid, and his grandfather trapped in the house with their scaly friend (they can't go outside, since Reed's character shot a cop on the front stoop). Just where is that bloody snake? Who will it strike next? Can the police get these guys before they kill the hostages? Will anyone survive? Prepare to squirm! Highly recommended...

Kidnappers hold boy and family hostage in their English townhouse. A foolproof plan has been set up. But there's just one little catch! A venonmous Black Mamba is running loose in the house and is not in the best mood. Makes for some tense moments and a gripping finale. Definitely worth a watch.

Even though this film is called "Venom" and features a snake, this is no "creature feature." Two English domestics (Oliver Reed and Susan George), along with an international criminal (Klaus Kinski), conspire to kidnap their wealthy employers' ten-year-old son. The plan goes awry after the boy mistakenly receives a highly aggressive, super-poisonous black mamba (originally intended for a research facility), which kills one of the conspirators and transforms the attempted kidnapping into a tense armed standoff. A box-office flop in its day, American audiences were probably turned off by the film's stodgy English production values and -- thanks to a misleading advertising campaign -- probably felt duped once they realized it wasn't a killer snake movie. Still, a strong script and Kinski and Reed's explosive performances make this a powerful thriller. Highly recommended.

Three and a half stars out of five.

I liked this movie as a kid, and I still like to put it on from time to time. It's creepy with some very intense scenes that keep you on the edge of your chair. The characters are interesting. Great story. If you're a fan of the older thrillers and don't mind when they're dated, I recommend this movie.

Piers Haggard, the director of Venom, has been around the block for a while. He knows what he's doing behind the camera. He was in charge of many of the now famous Hammer Studios horror films from the 70's and earlier. What made those movies so darned engaging was how well he crafted the scenes and built suspense through the use of very realistic settings.

Haggard does the same with Venom.

I'll just go ahead and admit it: I don't like snakes. Venomous or nonvenomous, I just don't like them. So when I took a date to see this film in 1982, I was expecting a snake movie...and frankly, it's just not a snake movie. Yes, there's a snake. Yes, it does play a major part in the movie, but more as a device rather than as a centerpiece. Think of the snake in this film as the shark in Jaws (in fact, the two films have much in common). In Jaws, the creepiest and scariest scenes were not those where the attacks occurred, but the dialog and character reactions. The same can be said here.

Some of the finest character actors are on display in this film: Nichol Williamson, Oliver Reed, Klaus Kinski (one of the creepiest actors to ever be filmed), Sterling Hayden and Sarah Miles. They do not go slumming either. They are all delivering on their performances.

While similar to Jaws in many ways, Venom is also similar to Hitchcock's Psycho. How? Hitchcock led us to believe we were watching a film about a bank clerk embezzling funds and then turned the tables on us. Haggard leads us to believe we're watching a film about a kidnapping and then turns the tables on us. Is the premise a bit farfetched? Yes. Is it a bit dated? Yes. Do either of those diminish from the overall product and the audience enjoyment of a very well crafted thriller? No.

In London, young Phillip's nanny (Susan George) and the family chaffeur (Oliver Reed) are in cahoots to kidnap Phillip and force his wealthy expat parents to pay them ransom for his return. Their plan goes awry when Phillip sneaks out via taxi to a pet store to pick up an "animal" he ordered - another to add to his small menagerie. Unbeknownst to Phillip or the pet shop owner, the crates holding the animal Phillip ordered (a nonvenomous African garden snake) and a snake destined for a toxicology laboratory (an African Black Mamba) were inadvertantly switched. Phillip gets the mamba and the lab gets the garden snake which "isn't biting anything," according to an assistant.

By the time the lab can track down where the mamba ended up, the kidnapping is underway, the snake is loose in Phillip's house and all hell is breaking loose. Police are dispatched to warn the family of the snake switch, only to be gunned down by the kidnappers who still don't know what they're dealing with.

The snake isn't so much the protagonist as it is the unlying dread that keeps you on pins and needles as the kidnappers begin to fight amongst themselves as they also try to control Phillip and his aged, African explorer grandfather.

I won't reveal any more about the plot, except to say that while you may have seen many movies with similar plot lines and stories, this one is one you shouldn't miss. It's well crafted, acted and stands up well to time.

...and if you're like me and don't like snakes, it will give you the heebie jeebies!

Me and my family enjoyed watching this togeather,but it made us jump and scream so that was funny.