Directed by:
Jim Gillespie
Starring:
Agnes Bruckner ………. Eden
Jonathan Jackson ………. Eric
Laura Ramsey ………. Rachel
D.J. Cotrona ………. Sean
Rick Cramer ………. Ray
Meagan Good ………. Cece
The Movie
Earlier in the year after the devastation left by hurricane Katrina there was a lot of buzz surrounding this small horror movie due to the location depicted in the film. Quite a few media outlets picked up the story talking about how it’s not right to characterize all Louisiana residents as voodoo experts. This isn’t the first time poor timing jeopardized a films box office, shortly after 9/11 Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Collateral Damage was pulled from theaters days before its release because it had such a huge emphasis on terrorists. In the same vein the film Phone Booth was repeatedly being held back due to a series of sniper attacks along the east coast. But could a film really be negatively effected by a natural disaster? Shortly after release the film was out of theaters in the blink of an eye due to such low business. If I were to tell you the reason the movie failed is due to bad press it would be a flat out lie, Venom is below a B grade movie, I’m talking 85 minutes of your life you’ll never get back.
Sad to say the entire concept of these films haven’t changed since the 90’s, a group of teens do something wrong and then an ominous figure chases after them until the closing moments where the films hero does something to stop the serial killer/monster/demon/(insert generic villain here) once and for all. That’s been the basic outline for as long as the concept has been around and it never seems to go far off that track. Venom is as predictable as you could possibly imagine.
Based in the Louisiana bayou Venom is about a small group of friends being chased after by a possessed tow truck driver who has the souls of thirteen evil spirits inside of him. That’s the short form of the movie, but the more detailed version is that Eric and Eden are in a lovers spat after Eric finds out Eden plans to leave the state after graduation after being accepted to college in New England. While trying to make amends on a bridge they run in to Ray a local tow truck driver who has always been an outcast in the town due to his facial scars. With Eric parked on a bridge it’s difficult for Ray to pass so he goes around inadvertently almost smashing head-on in to an old woman’s car who then nearly drives off the bridge.
Ray rescues the old lady and tries to recover a suitcase from the back seat she keeps mumbling about. Once he has hold of the luggage the car falls off the bridge and slowly begins to sink in to the river. The suitcase springs open revealing thirteen snakes who proceed to bite Ray and kill him with their venom. We then learn the snakes that bit Ray aren’t ordinary snakes but ones used in voodoo rituals to rid humans of their evil spirits and the spirits in the snakes are now in control of Ray’s body.
Now the possessed body is on a mission to kill the high priestess that trapped them, only they don’t know she died on the bridge. Now her grand daughter and her friends have to stop it before the evil souls continue to kill. And her friends as you can guess are the movies lead love interest and their group of friends.
Earlier in the year I berated the remake of The Amittyville Horror of being “one giant cliche” well compared to Venom that movie is Citizen Kane. Throughout the entire time the movie plays you’ll be rolling your eyes at just how mind numbingly boring the movie is and just how predictable and contrived what the writers believe to be a plot is. Speaking of the writers, did you know that this was their first theatrical motion picture together? I’m sure it wouldn’t surprise most seeing as their resume is comprised primarily of video game screenplays and for some reason beyond my realm of understanding are also credited as executive producers of this “film”.
If there is one type of movie we’ve seen a lot of this year it has to be low budget horror movies with the majority being watered down PG-13 titles done so in hopes to garner the largest audience possible. Perhaps the only notable thing to come from this movie is that it took a risk by going with an R rating. Of coarse watching the movie it’s hard to see how it got the rating seeing as how unrealistic it all is and how much we really don’t see on screen. Then again the MPAA are a little nuts these days when it comes to rating films.
Venom is a bad movie, there’s just no way around it. From the poor camera work used to hide the poorly crafted zombie type villain to the simplest of set ups. Acting is average at best with the cast filled with no one of real stature, the only real “name” star in the movie is hip hop star Method Man, everyone else are in the early years of acting or have gone under the radar for so long they’ve been forgotten completely.
The only reason to see a movie like Venom is to see exactly how movies like this shouldn’t be made. It’s soulless has no redeeming qualities and is the epitome of why people have stopped going to the cinema. It’s clear watching this that it was made purely to generate money in hopes to cash in on the latest horror fad, studios need to realize that while the business is to make money it’s also to leave your customers satisfied. Venom does nothing of the sort, and its less than one million dollar box office total shows why.
Score: 1/10
The Video
(Presented in 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen)
Since Venom is a low budget horror movie it has a few of the same problems that face similar films. Black levels seem to be to dark and since the movie is 95% at night that can be a problem. The last 5% of the film when day breaks towards the end of the movie colors are washed out with harsh whites. So it’s no where near a great transfer but it’s what the movie deserves.
The Audio
(English Dolby Digital 5.1)
There isn’t a whole lot happening in the movie besides screams which generally come from the front channel. The only times you’ll notice the surround effect is when Ray’s tow truck revs its way on to the screen. Again much like the video what’s put here is average.
The Extras
Voodoo Nightmare: The Making of Venom (8:36) – Here is where you’ll find your generic studio made puff piece about the film. Kevin Williamson the producer of the movie talks the most in the featurette about how everything came together in the movie and the origins of the story. The rest of the piece is him and the cast all talking about their views on the practices of voodoo. They all seems like the had a good time filming.
Storyboard to Film Comparison – Probably the most interesting feature is this one which shows four scene comparisons. Watching them you’ll notice just how much the director and his crew stuck to the original drawings never really straying from what’s sketched on the page.
Cast Auditions – Never running over a minute each here are six audition videos for the films cast.
Score: 1.5/10
