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I believe Venom was possibly the first ever 15 certificate VHS I bought for myself, many moons ago now and I always remembered thinking it was OK, a reasonably solid if unremarkable film. I dug out my copy last night to give it another ago and it made quite a bit more of an impression, perhaps due to my considerably increased appreciation of cinema. Though undoubtedly flawed, this film has a fine cast, some striking moments and a memorably daffy plot. The story sees kidnappers attempting to ransom a spoiled young boy, but getting into somewhat of a fix when he sneaks out and gets the snake he has ordered from a pet shop. Unfortunately the harmless African house snake has been swapped with a deadly black mamba and things go a bit pear shaped. Clearly this is all absurd, but the fun comes from seeing the entire cast playing with gusto, committed to the film despite its silliness. Though I never felt much sympathy for the boy, played by Lance Holcombe, he is at least marginally less irritating than he might have been and does not get in the way of the rest of the cast. As his bold, safari expert grandfather Sterling Hayden performs with a sort of shrewdly heroic style. Susan George is typically cold yet alluring as the treacherous maid and Sarah Miles is pleasantly eccentric as a snake expert. Best of all though, Oliver Reed plays on edge throughout, scowling and brutish, whilst Klaus Kinski is a whole lot of fun to watch as the criminal mastermind, arrogant, controlling and reigning over every scene he's in. Plus, to stop things getting to overwrought, Nicol Williamson does good work as the policeman in charge of the whole mess, giving a touch of deadpan humour mixed with a very British style of authority and commitment to the job. Most of the fun of the film comes from watching all these acting turns, steaming along and colliding with each other, producing many sparks and at the least providing interest. The snake sadly has less to do than expected, though it does provide some suitably nerve wracking attacks. The first one is a bit hokey, but generally the use of a real snake at times means that the snake based scenes do come across very nicely. There's no gore, but there are a few good shocks and decent overall tension. In all, though no great classic, this is a wacky and entertaining affair that should be fun for fans of the cast or of eccentric thrillers in general. It perhaps could have been tauter and I suspect had Tobe Hooper stayed on to make this instead of being replaced by Piers Haggard the film might have been edgier with a bit more nasty satisfaction, but its still a good ride while it lasts.
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