eatfirst I've just had the pleasure of re-acquainting myself with this forgotten gem of early '80s British horror which scared me half to death as a little kid."High concept" years before the term was invented, the plot ostensibly hangs on a series of belief-stretching co-incidences which result in a hostage siege taking place in a posh London home, with the police camped outside and a deadly (as we are repeatedly reminded) black mamba snake loose in the heating ducts.Made many years before CGI came along and gave us bloated nonsense like Anaconda and Snakes on a Plane the film-makers had to be fairly economical with their beastie's screen time. Going down the Jaws route , Venom makes highly effective use of POV camera shots, shadowy lighting and an unsettling score (an early work from the much missed composer Michael Kamen; and no, I have not forgotten that he was also responsible for that Bryan Adams monstrosity) to suggest the snakes' presence. When the creature is fully revealed it is more often than not the exceedingly dangerous real thing; borrowed from London Zoo, and provoked into getting the hump in the direction of the nearest camera by their, at the time, resident reptile expert Michael Ball (who gets both an un-credited cameo in the film, and himself played by a cranky Michael Gough in to the bargain).However, all of these slithery shenanigans are a mere aside to the real terror on show here. The casting of the infamously intense and insane Klaus Kinski opposite the famously drunk and antagonistic Oliver Reed. By all reports these two hated each other on sight and spent the whole shoot at war with each other, with Reed referring to Kinski as a Nazi at every possible opportunity. However, what must have a nightmare situation for director Piers Haggard (parachuted in after Tobe Hooper walked with shooting already under way) as they share virtually every scene together, paid off in dividends as the warring actors enthusiastically pour every ounce of their scenery-chewing one-oneupmanship onto the screen. Stir into this mix a few more well-renowned "difficult" actors: Nicol Williamson (The famously OTT Merlin from Excalibur) getting his Sweeney on, Sarah Miles, and Sterling Hayden among them; and what results is a glorious bombast of angry intense thesping, that grabs this would-b-movie by the balls and drags it into "forgotten classic" territory. A daft, wonderful, guilty pleasure. Seek it out.

merklekranz Menacing, but not in an over the top psychotic way, Klaus Kinski delivers a very believable performance. He is more calculating than usual, and has no problem outsmarting the British police, who seem more interested in drinking coffee than anything else. What ever happened to tea? Klaus easily steals this movie from the remaining likable cast. The snake has it's own point of view, which works quite effectively. The story plays out with a couple tense moments,and at least one major surprise, that is unfortunately revealed in the trailer, so I recommend skipping watching the extra's until after the feature. Overall, one of Kinski's best, and he has ample screen time, for you to enjoy this wonderful actor. - MERK

lost-in-limbo While, the lady of the house is heading to Rome to be with her husband, her asthmatic son stays home with his housekeeper and grandfather. We learn that the housekeeper and the family driver have organised a plan along with a Russian criminal to kidnap the boy, but things go awry. The boy's harmless pet snake is accidentally switched at the pet shop with a vicious black mamba. The snake actually escapes during the kidnap attempt and not to soon the police arrive to surround the house after one of their officers was shot dead by the kidnappers. Now the group are trapped inside with the deadly reptile on the loose, while the police force are waiting on the outside.At best "Venom" is an mediocre siege movie with an ambitiously, venomous twist. Though, what really gave the film the added hoick was that there was an excellent A-cast basically giving their all in a simple minded B-grade feature. With the likes of Klaus Kinski, Oliver Reed and Nicol Williamson. I found it hard not to be entertained even if not much wasn't going on. Those three actors equally hold such a great screen presence. But with a title like "Venom" you'll be expecting some glorious snake action and it does deliver, but not as frequently as it should. When it did finally pop up it would rack up the excitement levels with some memorable (if sometimes slightly risible) attacks and a gratuitously, over-exaggerated (but fitting) climax. But it's Klaus Kinski's coldly, stern performance as the international terrorist Jacques that's far more unsettling. Those glazed eyes were just piercing! Oliver Reed on the other hand hams it up as the worrying family driver and Nicol Williamson is cracking as the officer in charge Cmdr. William Bulloch. The support roles by the likes of Sterling Hayden, Susan George and Sarah Miles are just as sensationally good. But it was the rapport clash of egos between Kinski and Reed that kept me glued, well other than the nasty surprises that awaited them. Director Piers Haggard, who took over from Tobe Hooper did a fine job for such a sudden inclusion. He's able to moderately construct some tight suspense from the bleak, claustrophobic confinement even if the story's structure follows a predictable pattern and sometimes the tautness falls away in patches with the constant cutting between the cops, kidnappers and snake. But what was unpredictable was the spontaneously, furious snake attacks that were chucked in for good measure. You just didn't know where the snake would show up next and when it does it's done so in an surprisingly, effective manner. Implemented into the picture are some creative camera shots, such as snake vision and the forceful score basically telegraphs the action and suspense impeccably well with its energy. Maybe the production does have that TV feel about it, but that doesn't hurt the film. The two genres behind this story (siege and creature on loose) might not be nothing new, but I found the uneven mixture of the two an entertaining experiment. Maybe it's not completely successful in combining them, but simply it's a decent time-waster.A modest plot is brought to life by a well ensemble cast, a deadly snake and some tautly controlled direction. It's nothing totally special, but its better than average compared with most films of its ilk.

Edward_de_Vere By all accounts this is basically a formulaic kidnapping flick that would be standard B-movie fare. Having a poisonous snake thrown into the mix only adds to the B-movie feel.However, it is saved by its A-cast. Klaus Kinski, Oliver Reed, and Nicol Williamson all chew the scenery as only they can (though one has to pity the director, who had to work with the 3 most ornery actors alive at the time). The only disappointment was that Sterling Hayden didn't get more material to work with for what would be his last movie.The other highlight is the fact that they used a real and professionally handled black mamba in most of the scenes. In most movies of this type, they would just throw in a harmless rat snake or something and hope that nobody would notice the difference.