Venom (1981)

Director:

Piers Haggard
(more)

Writers:

Robert Carrington (screenplay)
Alan Scholefield (novel)

Release Date:

29 January 1982 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

The mystery of "The Birds", The danger of "Psycho", The evil of "The Omen", The terror of "Jaws", Now, the ultimate in suspense.

Plot:

International terrorists attempt to kidnap a wealthy couples child. Their plan comes unstuck when, a...

Plot Keywords:

Snake | Hostage | Mamba | Kidnapper | Belgravia London

Cast

Klaus Kinski	...	Jacques Müller
Oliver Reed	...	Dave Averconnelly
Nicol Williamson	...	Cmdr. William Bulloch
Sarah Miles	...	Dr. Marion Stowe
Sterling Hayden	...	Howard Anderson
Cornelia Sharpe	...	Ruth Hopkins
Lance Holcomb	...	Philip Hopkins
Susan George	...	Louise Andrews
Mike Gwilym	...	Det. Constable Dan Spencer
Paul Williamson	...	Det. Sgt. Glazer
Michael Gough	...	David Ball
Hugh Lloyd	...	Taxi Driver
Rita Webb	...	Mrs. Loewenthal
Edward Hardwicke	...	Lord Dunning
John Forbes-Robertson	...	Sgt. Nash
Ian Brimble	...	Constable in Police Station
Peter Porteous	...	Hodges
Maurice Colbourne	...	Sampson
Nicholas Donnelly	...	Superintendant
Cyril Conway	...	Man in #17
Sally Lahee	...	Woman in #17
David Sterne	...	Driver
Charles Cork	...	Driver's mate
Howard Bell	...	Constable
Alan Ford	...	Peters
Norman Mann	...	Williams
Tony Meyer	...	Martin
Michael Watkins	...	Rogers
Gerard Ryder	...	Smith
Moti Makan	...	Mr. Mukerjee
Katherine Wilkinson	...	Susan Stowe
Eric Richard	...	Airline Clerk
Arnold Diamond	...	Head Waiter
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Pat Gorman	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Eric Kent	...	Workman (uncredited)

Directed by
Piers Haggard
Tobe Hooper		(replaced) (uncredited)

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Robert Carrington		screenplay
Alan Scholefield		novel

Produced by
Harry Benn	....	associate producer
Martin Bregman	....	producer
Richard R. St. Johns	....	executive producer
Louis A. Stroller	....	senior executive producer

Original Music by
Michael Kamen

Cinematography by
Gilbert Taylor

Film Editing by
Michael Bradsell

Casting by
Maude Spector

Art Direction by
Tony Curtis

Set Decoration by
Tessa Davies

Makeup Department
Nick Dudman	....	makeup artist
Meinir Jones Brock	....	hair stylist (as Meinir Brock)
Basil Newall	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Ron Fry	....	production manager
John W. Hyde	....	executive in charge of production

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Michael Bradsell	....	second unit director
Nick Daubeny	....	second assistant director
Dominic Fulford	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Gari Bacon	....	props
Fred Carter	....	assistant art director
Dennis Maddison	....	property buyer
Bill Waldron	....	construction manager
Terry Wells	....	property master

Sound Department
Keith Batten	....	boom operator
Roy Birchley	....	assistant sound editor
Rene Borisewitz	....	sound recordist
Simon Kaye	....	sound recordist
Archie Ludski	....	sound editor
Bill Rowe	....	dubbing mixer

Special Effects by
Richard W. Dean	....	special effects (as Richard Dean)
Steve Hamilton	....	special effects technician
Alan Whibley	....	special effects

Stunts
Roy Scammell	....	stunt coordinator
Roy Scammell	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Neil Binney	....	camera operator: second unit
Kevin Brookner	....	assistant camera
Denys N. Coop	....	additional photographer (as Denys Coop)
Clive Coote	....	still photographer
Frank Heeney	....	gaffer
Dick Lee	....	camera grip
Bill Pochetty	....	best boy
Malcolm Vinson	....	camera operator
Frank Watts	....	camera operator: second unit
David Wynn-Jones	....	focus puller
Chris Warren	....	video operator (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
David Murphy	....	wardrobe supervisor
Eileen Sullivan	....	wardrobe mistress

Editorial Department
Jim Howe	....	assistant editor
Tim Jordan	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Michael Kamen	....	conductor
John McClure	....	music mixer

Transportation Department
Richard Booz	....	driver: artist trailer
Howard Pugh	....	transportation coordinator

Other crew
David Ball	....	snake handler
Annie Britten	....	secretary to producers
Tony Coroon	....	production accountant
Ceri Evans	....	continuity
Geoff Freeman	....	unit publicist
Mark Goddard	....	production trainee
Bob Halliday	....	police liaison
Kay Rawlings	....	continuity
Carol Regan	....	secretary to producers
Brian Savage	....	assistant snake handler

Thanks
David Ball	....	thanks

Production Companies

• Morison Film Group
• Venom Productions Limited

Distributors

• HandMade Films (1981) (UK) (theatrical)
• Paramount Pictures (1982) (USA) (theatrical)
• Union Générale Cinématographique (UGC) (1982) (France) (theatrical)
• Thorn EMI (1982) (UK) (video)
• Blue Underground (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Roadshow Entertainment Video (Australia) (VHS)
• Roadshow Home Video
• Vestron Video (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• DDA Public Relations (DDA)  publicity
• Elstree Film & Television Studios  movie studio
• Garrard of London  jewellery
• Joe Dunton & Company  camera equipment provided by
• Lee Lighting  grip and lighting equipment (as Lee Electrics)
• Morison Film Group  presents
• Panavision Grips  lenses and panaflex camera (as Panavision)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

93 min | USA:92 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | France:-12 | Norway:15 | Norway:16 (original rating) | UK:15 | USA:R | Australia:MA (DVD rating) | UK:12 (re-rating) (2004) | Iceland:16 | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

EMI Elstree Studios, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company:

Morison Film Group

Trivia:

The final moments set up the possibility of a sequel, although none was forthcoming.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: When Dr stowe is told to get up by Kinski, she anticipates the terrorist's action by grabbing the scarf before Kinsi wraps her hand in it.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Video Nasties: Moral Panic, Censorship & Videotape (2010) (V)

Soundtrack:

Time Out

Caught between a rock and a hard place

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.