Venom

Director Piers Haggard

Blue Underground

R1 DVD

Phillip Hopkins is a 10 year old rich kid as well as a loner who survives his overprotective and rather neurotic mother by collecting pets and reptiles. His mother is more than suffocating and is severely fretting due to the fact that she's going on vacation to see her husband who is working overseas - they have been apart at least a month. Phillip has severe asthma, but is left in the care of his rather eccentric grandfather Howard, and some unsavory housekeepers Louise, the maid and Dave the chauffer being played by a menacing alcoholic Oliver Reed. Their townhouse in London is undergoing renovations with a new heating system to sustain a high temperature to supposedly assist Phillip’s asthma.

Howard who in his younger days was a safari leader, reassures Ruth that all will be fine. But there's something being planned by the servants – Louise seems a rather cheap little trollop and is using “all her skills” to keep Dave under her thumb. Dave drops Ruth off at the airport, but picks up the mysterious Jacmel, who Louise has arranged to help them with the task at hand. He drives Jacmel to a house in the country which has a secure room with asthma equipment to keep Phillip captive.

The next day, Howard sends Phillip off to the pet shop to pick up a nice pet, this time it’s a snake. The scene cuts to Dr. Stowe at the Toxicology Institute who realizes the snake they have just had delivered is only a common house snake and assumes, rightly, that the highly poisonous Mambo they should have received has gone somewhere else.

So here we have the dramatics of this cult tale. Jacmel is played by the mad Klaus Kinski, the Chaffeur is Oliver Reed, there is a kidnapped child, a hostage drama, a black Mambo enjoying the high temperature of the heated house and the stage is set !

When you first read the story of this film it seems just too far fetched to be credible. Yet the filming is quite impressive, the acting is excellent and the real Black Mambo used (!), yep, it was a real one, provides a sterling performance.

Blue Underground has done a fantastic job in preparing Venom for DVD release. The picture is clean and the colours are bright and sharp. The movie is presented in 1.85:1 wide screen, and is enhanced for widescreen TVs. The audio has been redone and the Dolby 6.1 DTS track is a gem. It has a good balance of voice, special effects and score and really helps to create the mood.

There is a great director’s commentary with lots of background including Tobe Hopper pulling out of directing the film and tales of the clashes between Klaus Kinski and Oliver Reed. There is also a theatrical trailer, four TV spots, a poster/stills gallery and bios of Kinski and Reed.

The Australian DVD is an all region NTSC edition of the Blue Underground US release. There is a cheaper edition in R4 by Force Entertainment, which we have not seen.