Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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35 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
R rated horror? Count me in, September 19, 2005
Its kind of a sad state horror films are in right now. What angers me the most about the PG-13 horror films we've been seeing recently is that they were originally supposed to be R. For instance, all of the "unrated" movies coming to DVD (see Grudge, Ring 2, Dark Water, Darkness...the list can go on and on), they were cut down from an R rating to achieve that PG-13 group. Whenever I bring this up I get yelled at (mostly by those unable to see R rated movies) because they think PG-13 horror films are the end all of horror. What they are missing is that in the past most, if not all, horror films were rated R and it just feels like a dumbing down when you can't go anywhere to find an R rated horror film but lo and behold PG-13s abound.
I apologize for the digression but it does serve a purpose for this review. The reason I give Venom a 4 star rating as opposed to the 3 or 3.5 it probably deserves is based on the timing. I saw this movie this last weekend because my friend suggested (after a horrific screening of The Exorcism of Emily Rose the weekend prior) we see something R rated.
We saw Venom and we both enjoyed it. Its a throwback to the movies we watched growing up like Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street and Halloween. You know the movie, the unstoppable killing machine that doesn't seem too anxious in killing you and settles for simply trudging slowly toward you. Slow, but unstoppable, and always seems to show up when the protagonists least expect it. Bullets don't do anything, fire gets shrugged off and yet the killer comes onward killing everyone around the protagonist until he or she (she in this case) can't take it anymore and fights back.
In this case, the movie bases itself around the idea of this Haitian custom (don't know the veracity of this; hollywood or true?) where people will suck out the evil of murderers etc with snakes so that their soul can go into the afterlife. In this case, take one "town freak" throw in an accident and an encounter with about 6 or so of these snakes that contain these evil souls and you have the makings of the town freak becoming a murderer. Pretty standard stuff and seems almost laughable. But it is a horror film and you have to make concessions when you see one. What follows is plenty of death scenes, people getting offed in some memorable ways and some genuinely startling scenes.
Overall, Venom truly is an average horror flick. I don't want to give people the wrong impression. This isn't the best horror film I've ever seen. It probably doesn't deserve a 4, but if you can dispel your disbelief, it is pretty decent. But this one is unapologetically R rated and filled with some gore, language and scares. It comes across as feeling like I Know What You Did Last Summer mixed with stylized voodoo with the villain looking like The Swamp Thing. It does provide some nice jumps, a few scares and, if you are afraid of snakes, some neat scary snake moments. I jumped, my friend screamed and best of all? No loud and noisy pre-teens (no offense to the non-noisy pre-teens, I do make a distinction) ruining the movie. And that, in and of itself, warrants a 4 star.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Mr. Jangles, March 5, 2006
This is yet another horror film that had me fooled thanks to the previews. When I saw the previews, it appeared that this was a truly disturbing film that was sure to creep you out and leave you unsettled. When I saw the film, however, it turned out to be another teen horror flick.
Granted, this movie was quite a bit more entertaining and frightening than some others I'd seen recently (Cry Wolf, Dark Water, etc.). The swamp setting did lend the movie an added sense of darkness and dread, further darkening the aura of a backwoods town in the middle of nowhere. Ray, as "Mr. Jangles", was a pretty menacing figure and the incorporation of voodoo into the story also helped to make it a bit more interesting and mysterious. So, the movie had a good setting, tone and villian - ultimately, not too bad.
I'd say it's worth a viewing.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Movie.....Not Sure Why Some Don't Like It, July 6, 2006
I have no clue why this film didn't do any better than it did. It really is a very good movie and contrary to popular belief, it actually does manage to generate some supsense. I mean, true, we don't have any big-name faces in the cast, but who needs those anyway? The cast works fine, and most of them are able to act fairly decent. The only part where this movie falls short, is the last 3-4 minutes or so, when the lead female character finally kills Ray Sawyer. That whole sequence just seemed out of place. The colors were over-saturated, and it was entirely too bright in contrast with the rest of the film. Obviously, this small screw-up is not enough to make the movie bad, which is why the film deserves 5 stars and not 3. This is definitely worth a look!
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