Venom

So shoot me...I have a soft spot for slasher films, so "Venom" was a fun little horror film for me. I had never heard of it, but luckily I have access to rental screeners before they are released, otherwise I never would have seen this film.

Typical story, guy gets killed, guy comes back to life, guy starts killing people. Though this time it takes place in the swamps of Louisiana instead of Camp Crystal Lake. A bit of voodoo gets thrown in just for good measure.

Sure, the story isn't the greatest, and it's not going to win any Oscars for best actors, but the film still is a fun little time waster for all horror fans out there.

If you enjoy the slasher films of the late 70's and the 80's, be sure to check this one out. Could be a surprise for you. Otherwise, steer clear of this film.

I saw this movie at a screening as well and it must have been a different version than the reviewer who thought it was "pure $hite". While the acting for the most part is typical teenager and a little disappointing except for the bad guy, the film looks fantastic, the actions sequences are great as well as the kills, some of which were hard to watch due to their realism. In this version at least, the cheesy special effects seem to be gone or at least vastly improved from what the other reviewer saw. It moves pretty well except for a few scenes of obligatory explanations regarding the voodoo deal and "teen angst", but there are a couple of really good scares as well as a good sustained overall tension throughout. The kills are brutal for the most part with one exception thats kind of lame, but the fight sequence close to the end is especially effective and looks just great as well as what has to be some new scenes, possibly even a new ending, since the lighting and overall look is so different from the rest of the film, but it still looks great. In my humble opinion it's definitely worth seeing and an R rating based on the blood and gore if thats what you expect from a horror movie. Gillespie definitely knows how to make an audience squirm.

Jim Gillespie transforms "Backwater" from computer game to horror movie with undeniable flair. Venom takes the best elements of "Backwater" and builds upon them to create an entertaining, if ultimately ridiculous, slasher film. If you don't spend too much time thinking about the plot and manage to overlook the general lunacy, Venom offers 90 minutes of dumb fun.

As a horror fan, the most interesting aspect of the film for me was the joining of two horror sub-genres (for want of a better description) - the voodoo/hoodoo and slasher genres. There are better voodoo films, Wes Craven's "The Serpent and the Rainbow" comes to mind, and certainly many better slasher films, but it was fun to watch the director mix the genres.

Ray, originally known as "Jangles" in the computer game, makes for an interesting villain. He's the town outcast, who dies while trying to rescue a voodoo priestess from a car crash. Unfortunately, the old lady's possessed snakes attack Ray and he turns into a voodoo powered zombie with a really bad attitude. Ray is no Freddy Krueger or Jason Vorhees, but he's also a step up from most of the clowns polluting American horror movies these days. Ray's weapon of choice is a crowbar and he busily uses it to impale, spear and slash anyone he comes across.

The film also gets extra credit for having Bijou Phillips in the cast. I have no idea why this woman isn't a bigger star, she manages to steal every movie that she appears in. Bijou doesn't have a big role and she really is way too cool to be believable as a small town bimbo. However, she is a beacon in the sea of pretty but wooden actors that make up the rest of the cast.

The film starts well but becomes increasingly improbable. The character of Cece is so idiotic that it defies belief - Apparently every resident of Louisiana keeps a spare voodoo priestess robe in their wardrobe. Oh, and nice idea to use your dead friend as a voodoo doll. The director also gets carried away with CGI effects as the film progresses and spends far too much time making snake eyes move under Ray's skin than concentrating on the good, old fashioned gore that makes the first half of the film so enjoyable.

The film's finale is fairly predictable and by then I had lost interest. Nevertheless, Venom is a fun horror film and should please less discerning genre fans.

I liked it and thought it had a good story line. I really liked the Ray character he was pretty scary right from the start and just makes you think about the don't judge a book by its cover saying. The effects where done well, the snakes were cool, and the acting was better than some of the low budget movies I have seen. I've seen a lot of horrors as I love a good horror and I enjoyed this one. People should stop being so fussy and just enjoy the movies, unless it is a shocker like low budget ones usually are, Example: Vampire Assassins.

I would recommend people that like horrors to see this movie.

Kat.

***May Contain Spoilers***

This movie is a pleasant surprise. While it is marketed to resemble a dozen movies similar to it, Venom has better than average plot development, an effectively eerie mood, and good suspense. The actors are unknowns, but they are believable. The film also avoids many horror movie clichés that would have otherwise dragged it down to a lower level.

Venom is evocative of many Wes Craven movies, especially Cursed, where another kind of "monster" is out attacking young people. In both, there is constant mayhem and suspense and the plots are easy to follow and moves quickly. I enjoyed the voodoo subtext here and even wished the story explained more of it and its role in motivating the killer.

Well worth a view on cable or DVD.