Venom (2005)

Of course this is no genre classic but once you've seen some more typical slasher flicks of this decade, you have to conclude that this movie is not all too bad in the long run. Nothing too memorable but just good enough to watch it.

People tend to call these type of movies new age horror but fact is that these type of movies have been around since the '70's, in which a bunch of hot looking teenagers are all getting killed one-by-one by a maniac/monster. Not much has changed since the '70's, except for its style and look.

Storywise this movie is of course very formulaic in every way thinkable. It's actually a very simple written story, in which basically nothing out of the ordinary happens and everything progresses and happens by the book. It's the type of screenplay that makes you go think; Hey! I could have written something like this! The story is perhaps the movie disappointing aspect of the movie, since otherwise this is basically a fine and well made movie.

I liked the movie its style. It kept the movie going, even though when nothing was happening in the movie. It makes sure that you never get bored. This is also thanks to the editing by Paul Martin Smith, who is a good editor but hasn't really been given good movies yet to proof his skills to the world. The directing was good and fresh and it seems to me that Jim Gillespie has some talent as a director, even though he hasn't really showed it with his movies yet. Perhaps he needs to stop working with Kevin Williamson, perhaps then he will get some better movie propositions to direct. Ever since "Scream" Kevin Williamson hasn't done a decent thing for the genre anymore but he's still active in the business, probably because he is the guy who wrote "Scream". For this movie he serves as a producer. He also wrote the previous Gillespie directed movie "I Know What You Did Last Summer", which became a success, though probably only because it got released so shortly after the success of "Scream" and the genre was hot and popular again at that time.

This is not the type of horror movie that should ever scare you, it's more a movie that entertains with its horror, perhaps of the reason that everything happens in such a predictable way. But Jim Gillespie obviously understands the genre though and knows what is important. So there is some gore and good make-up effects as well as a good 'killer'. You don't really ever start to care about the rest of the characters though, mainly because they remain so superficial and obviously also aren't being played by the most talented actors.

The movie brings zombie movies back to its roots; Voodoo. The earliest zombie movies, from the '20's on, always featured voodoo themes, whenever zombies were involved with the main story. Just too bad that the didn't really used much of the voodoo concepts to make this movie a bit more interesting and original to watch.

It's enjoyable enough for the fans of the genre and certainly not as bad as everyone tries to make you believe it is.

6/10

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Fmovies: When I read about this movie, I was expecting another low-budget, straight-to-DVD shaky-camera movie with corny music, lame actors, and a very predictable, repetitive plot. Of course, everyone knows, there's about a 1 in 100 chance that straight-to-DVD horror movies will be DECENT. But that 1 in 100 is a pleasant surprise. And this movie is a perfect example.

The movie basically centers around these two teenagers who witness the 'drowning' of the local rednecked trucker. He gets in an accident with the grandmother of one of their friends, who is a voodoo priestess. He opens her 'suitcase' and gets a nasty surprise, before her car falls off the bridge they crashed on into the water. Soon his body disappears, and so-on so-on.

The plot is very solid, with only minor "What the hell?"s every so often. The acting is really decent, and there are many great deaths scenes (meaning good special effects). There is actually a variation in the 'scary' music that they play, and the camera is solid, the lighting is generally great, and the actors SPEAK UP.

It is a really great movie. I started to watch it expecting NOTHING, but I was pleasantly surprised. Don't expect a million-dollar budget out of it, but its a darn good movie!

When a voodoo witch has a car accident over a bridge in Louisiana, the rejected tow trucker driver Ray (Rick Cramer) rescues her from the overhang car. She begs him to get her suitcase, which she had just dug from the cemetery, from the backseat of the car. When Ray returns to get the object, many snakes are released from the suitcase, bite him and the car falls in the swamp with him. When the police retrieve the car, his body is completely bitten and deformed. In the morgue, Ray becomes an undead murdering the coroner and a police officer and two teenagers later. The teenager Eden (Agner Bruckner) decides to pay a visit Cece (Meagan Good), the granddaughter of the voodoo priestess, with her friends trying to find an explanation, and they are advised to leave the place, since Ray is possessed by the souls of the most despicable villains milked by her grandmother from sinners. While Ray is trying to reap more souls, the group has only the protection of the spelled house and a charm.

When I see a slash movie, I certainly foresee the story: original and savage deaths; gore; beautiful unknown actresses; a few of survivors in the end, if any; a good soundtrack; and a hook for a possible sequel. Therefore, "Venon" fulfills all my expectation for this type of movie. But this film is above the average, since the creepy killer commits brutal murders in a frightening environment, the swamps of Louisiana, and the action scenes are really very well choreographed, keeping the tension. I am not sure whether "Venom" works in a movie theater, but it is a great entertainment on DVD. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Not Available"

Venom fmovies. Why did I give this movie a rating of 8? Because I am a huge horror movie buff who loves slasher movies. This movie is a throwback to the 80's that produced several of these type of films. This film does deserve respect, in the fact it is better than the Friday the 13th film that came after the 3rd one and Halloween films that came after the second one. Its not great but it is pretty good, with good fx, OK acting and some memorable death scenes. This is a slasher movie with a good body count. The killer is well I think better than Jason, at least we like the guy before he becomes a killer and even then you feel sorry for him and like him more. This movie deserved more publicity and abetter chance. Yes it could have used some touch ups on the script but its a fun slasher movie. It deserved better. Way better than the very unscary film called CRY_WOLF. That was well boring and awful. this is a movie for true horror fans especially ones who miss the Rat3ed R days of slasher / horror films. Just remember not fantastic or inspiring than Halloween, Scream or Friday the 13th but its good at hanging with the best of them and to put it nicely if this came out in the early eighties instead of rooting for Jason in the Friday films we'd probably be rooting for this guy in slasher films.

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.

"Venom" is one of the more unique horrors to come out in recent years in that it feels just like you are watching a horror flick from the reigning hey-day of horrors, the 1980's. While the premise is nothing new, it is done in a slick fashion that keeps the viewer entertained.

The cast is a mixed bunch, admittedly I am not familiar with some of them, they either are not very good, or they just played their characters poorly. Take Agnes Bruckner for example. She plays the "heroine", Eden, but she is about the most uninteresting character in the whole film, not to mention as far as horror-heroines go, she is not very resourceful. Similarly, Jonathan Jackson seems like an unusual choice for male-lead, but he is rather surprising in that his character is very well-rounded in terms of personality and resourcefulness. Laura Ramsey is terrific as Rachel, Eden's best friend - that is, until she goes rather crazy, then her character is just annoying. D.J. Cotrona plays Sean, the resident hottie, and he is also one of the more interesting characters due to his connections with the teens' enemy, giving him more story than several of the others, and making him more interesting than the leads. Meagen Good doesn't get much screen time, but due to her connections also, she plays one of the more interesting characters, Cece. Rounding out the main group of teens is Pawel Szajda who plays Ricky, and worthy of note not simply because Ricky is gay, but because he is a normal gay character, something still rare in films (where gay characters are either ugly, victimized constantly, or only there as comic relief), though increasingly in horror films gay characters are being depicted as normal, and often more interesting than other characters (see also the recent film Tobe Hooper's "Mortuary").

Rick Cramer plays the possessed villain in the film, Ray, and does a very good job. An interesting location, nice scenery, some frightening scenes and a cool score make for a fun film that pays tribute to the horror of the 80's. Also, just when you think you know who is going to survive (the terrible unfortunate motif of recent years when you already know the heroine and the hero will survive) there is a surprise turn. Highly enjoyable, albeit somewhat underplayed.