Adeel Hail
Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.
Aiden Melton
The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.
Dana
An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.
casablancavic
Bad story, bad actors, bad soundtrack. Not much good about this - except the poor snake which had to endure typecasting of being a bad snake for the rest of it's film career.The snake was the only character that held any interest, but it wasn't in the movie long enough to be given top billing.Anybody else in this POS made horrible decisions to remain in the movie once they received notice of it.What has to be some of the stupidest police ever with absolutely no negotiating skills or sharpshooting skills and horrible police procedure.If the box cover enticed you like it did me...then you already lost. They won, you lost. Don't! Don't let them get you. It's not worth your time - even the final poorly developed shootout or what was of it was so poorly executed.The only good part about this entire thing is the credits rolling at the end to signify that the entire thing is over. Good!
CineNutty
The producer made a special credit for David Ball:"The Producers wish to extend their thanks to David Ball, overseer of reptiles at London Zoo, without whose skill and courage in the handling of the deadly Black Mamba, this film could not have been made."All of which is more important than all the CGI stuff done these days. Moreover, the tension between Klaus Kinski and Oliver Reed who did not like each other added to their roles in my opinion. If you have the DVD with the Director's commentary, by all means listen to the commentary. You will learn more about how "movie making" is the most difficult collaborative art form there is. Often times, the director has to keep the peace just to get the job done. You will be on the edge of your seats if you have never seen this flick. I gave this a high rating because it was a well executed film. Bad guys 0; Mamba 3 :-}
ferbs54
A movie about a kidnapping? Cool. A movie about a kidnapping that degenerates into a hostage crisis? Even better! But howzabout a movie about the kidnapping of a seriously asthmatic kid, that turns into a hostage crisis, while the victims and criminals besieged by the law in a London town house are threatened by an escaped black mamba snake, the world's swiftest and most deadly? What could be better than that? Well, as the 1982 British thriller "Venom" demonstrates, perhaps an all-star group of performers to put this fun-sounding conceit over! Thus, we have an absolutely sterling cast here, consisting, in part, of, uh, Sterling Hayden as the asthmatic boy's supercool grandfather, Klaus Kinski and Oliver Reed as the kidnappers (a terrific pair of bad guys, with Oliver's ultimate fate in the film giving new meaning to the old expression "trouser snake"), Sarah Miles as a toxicologist, Nicol Williamson as the police commander in charge of the crisis, and Michael Gough (wasted in a teensy role) as a snake expert. The picture has been directed for maximum suspense by Piers Haggard, with much of that suspense naturally arising from the fact that the viewer can never predict where or when that deadly mamba will raise its ugly head. Any opened drawer, cabinet or door in the picture can serve as a most lethal jack-in-the-box of sorts, and this knowledge keeps us primed and nervous throughout. With the exception of that final ambiguous shot of a snake in the town house's ductwork (I still can't figure out the meaning of that!), I found this film to be thoroughly satisfying and entertaining. And the further good news is that the picture has been given a great-looking treatment by the always dependable folks at Blue Underground. Thanks again, guys!
The_Void
The title and tagline allude to a film about a killer snake along the same lines as Jaws; but in fact, that's not what Venom is at all. Rather, the plot revolves around a kidnapping gone wrong - the snake is just thrown in there (probably to cash in on the success of Jaws) for the sake of it and isn't really relevant to the central plot line. As you can imagine, the result is an entirely messy piece of eighties schlock, though that isn't necessarily a bad thing. The snake that the title refers to is a deadly Black Mamba, though like I say...it's not really all that important! As mentioned, the central plot focuses on a kidnapping. Some terrorists hatch a plan to kidnap a young boy - who happens to be the son of a wealthy couple. However, the plan backfires when, while attempting to make their escape, one of the men shoots a police officer on the doorstep. Now trapped in a house surrounded by police officers, the situation deteriorates further when it turns out that the harmless snake that the boy picked up from the pet shop the same morning turns out to be a Black Mamba! I didn't know anything about this film before going into it, so it came as a nice surprise when I found out that the film features performances from two cult legends - Klaus Kinski and Oliver Reed! Neither man is at their best, but both give entertaining and memorable performances in their respective roles. As well as these two, we've also got performances from the likes of Sterling Hayden, Nicol Williamson and trash flick legend, Michael Gough! The way the plot flows is interesting in that it's basically your average hostage situation, with the deadly snake popping up every few minutes. The snake does get to star in most of the film's most memorable sequences, and seeing it pick off various members of the cast is entertaining. It's clear that this film wasn't meant to be taken too seriously, and it does its job in that it makes for a fun watch. It all boils down to a ridiculously over the top climax that suits the film well. It has to be said that this is rather predictable stuff and I can't see it being enjoyed by all; but Venom is decent enough for a single viewing and I just about recommend it.
