Ok peeps, my pick this week is Venom. This cool underated voodoo/zombie film was directed by Jim Gillespie and is one of my all-time favorite zombie films and definitely one I have watched many, many times over. The movie was released during the Weinstein/Dimension split which later was resolved and absorbed back into one faction. The two studios dropped the ball on several films while all this was going on. Venom didn't get much push, hardly any promotional backing or advertising. Ray Sawyer aka "Mr. Jangles" (Rick Cramer) was molded in the form of Jason Vorhees and was supposed to be "the next horror franchise" but shit happens.
Tagline: He Never Hurt A Soul Until The Day He Died.
Trivia:
The movie is based on a story for a video game that Bfg has in development.
Originally entitled "Backwater".
In the video game and some versions of the script,...
- 10/23/2010
- by brians
- GeekTyrant
NEW YORK -- Even by the standards of the current Miramax fire sale, this misbegotten horror film deserved to go direct to video. Or cable. Or oblivion. Depicting the efforts of a band of plucky and perky teens in battling a zombie boogeyman, the unfortunately timed "Venom" is set in the swamps of Louisiana, an area that already has seen more than its share of misery lately.
The screenplay, credited to no less than three writers, concerns the aftermath of a fatal car crash involving a voodoo priestess and the suitcase she's recently dug up containing myriad evil spirits who take the form of computer-generated snakes. When a hapless tow-truck driver (Rick Cramer) attempts to rescue her, he gets killed and possessed by said spirits, who promptly turn him into a prospective horror movie franchise character.
Said boogeyman proceeds to go on a murderous rampage, concentrating, naturally enough, on the most attractive teenagers in town, though with the occasional detour into such minor celebrity snuffings as Method Man (typecast as a police officer) and Bijou Phillips.
The paucity of good roles for younger performers is highlighted by the starring turn from Agnes Bruckner, who clearly was not fully successful in parlaying her fine notices from "Blue Car" into attaining more substantial fare.
The film is completely devoid of notable elements, other than that its carnage is significantly gorier than in the recent spate of tamer, PG-rated horror fare, and that its slumming creators include producer Kevin Williamson ("Scream") and director Jim Gillespie ("I Know What You Did Last Summer").
Venom
Dimension Films
Outerbanks Entertainment/Collision Entertainment
Credits: Director: Jim Gillespie; Screenplay: Flint Dille, John Zuur Platten, Brandon Boyce; Producers: Kevin Williamson, Scott Faye, Karen Lauder; Executive producers: Bob Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein, Andrew Rona, Michael Zoumas; Co-producers: Jennifer Breslow, Ron Schmidt; Co-executive producers: Flint Dille, John Zuur Platten; Director of photography: Steve Mason; Production designer: Monroe Kelly; Editor: Paul Martin Smith; Costume designer: Jennifer Parsons; Music: James L. Venable. Cast: Eden: Agnes Bruckner; Eric: Jonathan Jackson; Rachel: Laura Ramsey; Sean: D.J. Cotrona; Ray: Rick Cramer; Cece: Meagan Good; Tammy: Bijou Phillips; Deputy Turner: Method Man.
MPAA rating R, running time 87 minutes.
The screenplay, credited to no less than three writers, concerns the aftermath of a fatal car crash involving a voodoo priestess and the suitcase she's recently dug up containing myriad evil spirits who take the form of computer-generated snakes. When a hapless tow-truck driver (Rick Cramer) attempts to rescue her, he gets killed and possessed by said spirits, who promptly turn him into a prospective horror movie franchise character.
Said boogeyman proceeds to go on a murderous rampage, concentrating, naturally enough, on the most attractive teenagers in town, though with the occasional detour into such minor celebrity snuffings as Method Man (typecast as a police officer) and Bijou Phillips.
The paucity of good roles for younger performers is highlighted by the starring turn from Agnes Bruckner, who clearly was not fully successful in parlaying her fine notices from "Blue Car" into attaining more substantial fare.
The film is completely devoid of notable elements, other than that its carnage is significantly gorier than in the recent spate of tamer, PG-rated horror fare, and that its slumming creators include producer Kevin Williamson ("Scream") and director Jim Gillespie ("I Know What You Did Last Summer").
Venom
Dimension Films
Outerbanks Entertainment/Collision Entertainment
Credits: Director: Jim Gillespie; Screenplay: Flint Dille, John Zuur Platten, Brandon Boyce; Producers: Kevin Williamson, Scott Faye, Karen Lauder; Executive producers: Bob Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein, Andrew Rona, Michael Zoumas; Co-producers: Jennifer Breslow, Ron Schmidt; Co-executive producers: Flint Dille, John Zuur Platten; Director of photography: Steve Mason; Production designer: Monroe Kelly; Editor: Paul Martin Smith; Costume designer: Jennifer Parsons; Music: James L. Venable. Cast: Eden: Agnes Bruckner; Eric: Jonathan Jackson; Rachel: Laura Ramsey; Sean: D.J. Cotrona; Ray: Rick Cramer; Cece: Meagan Good; Tammy: Bijou Phillips; Deputy Turner: Method Man.
MPAA rating R, running time 87 minutes.
- 10/4/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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