Venom (1971)

User Rating:

4.5/10   

Director:

Peter Sykes

Writers:

Derek Ford (screenplay)
Donald Ford (screenplay)

Release Date:

February 1975 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

The only thing Paul Creville wanted was a quiet and peaceful time - instead all he found was...VENOM!

Plot:

A Nazi scientist and a woman known as a "spider goddess" attempt to develop a nerve gas made from spider venom. |

Plot Keywords:

Spider | Female Nudity | Actual Animal Killed | Independent Film

Cast

Simon Brent	...	Paul Greville
Neda Arneric	...	Anna
Sheila Allen	...	Ellen
Derek Newar	...	Johann
Terence Soall	...	Lutgermann
Gerard Heinz	...	Huber
Gertan Klauber	...	Kurt
Sean Gerrad	...	Rudi
Bette Vivian	...	Frau Kessler
Ray Barron	...	Young Man
George Fisher	...	Gang member
Nosher Powell	...	Gang member

Also Known As:

Spider's Venom (USA) (video title)
The Legend of Spider Forest (USA)

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Twickenham Film Studios, St Margarets, Twickenham, Middlesex, England, UK

Company:

Action Plus Productions Ltd.

VENOM (Peter Sykes, 1971) ***

To begin with, I first became aware of this film through the biographical notes on director Sykes residing among the supplements included on the Anchor Bay Special Edition DVD of Hammer's superior latter-day outing DEMONS OF THE MIND (1972).

Despite its obvious low-budget, this obscure but stylish thriller with fantasy and erotic overtones is an impressive and assured piece of work in its own right – starting out as it does in black-and-white with the first attack of the "Spider Girl" (played by a Serbian actress with the awkward-sounding name of Neda Americ but whose looks are decidedly stunning) after some full-frontal nudity by way of watery lovemaking! The male protagonist (Simon Brent), then, is a sturdy and compelling character; also notable in the cast are the vicious mature-looking woman (Sheila Allen) who forcefully seduces the hero in a steamy but short-lived sequence, her wily first citizen father (Gerard Heinz), and her ill-tempered blond boyfriend (Derek Newar) – who's incongruously whipped at one point by his own cohorts!

Various unexpected twists come to light during the lively climax which sees the emergence of a cross-dressing ex-Nazi – who turns out to be the father of the Spider Girl and is intent on resurrecting the Party in his remote countryside village through the sale of art treasures retrieved in World War II and which lay hidden in a local church ever since! This is a very rare item indeed: I acquired it in a full-frame edition (with forced Finnish subtitles to boot), which format renders the compositions overly claustrophobic at times!