quincy-white

25 May 2012

not a bad idea gone way wrong

I never intended to see Venom, but I caught it on cable. It does havegood elements. The Louisiana swamp atmosphere for one, something wewill unfortunately not see so much of in movies because of HurricaneKatrina. It is based on an interesting concept, a regular man imbuedwith the spirits of evil. His confrontation with his son could havebeen interesting, as could much of the movie. But as tends to happen inHollywood, an interesting idea goes down a familiar direction: Kill off all the characters save the good girl, starting with the Blackguys. I'm a fan of Agnes Bruckner, but the other characters, thevillain's afore-mentioned son, CeCe who must become a voodoo priestess,are more interesting. And for the love of God, just once I would liketo see the virgin get killed. We all like the easy girl, why can't shelive? In this case it was Bijou Phillips, and we love her.The ending made no sense considering what had been established aboutthe villain's invincibility. All the carnage and atmosphere, and itleads to nothing.

Boba_Fett1138

25 May 2012

Really nothing too horrible.

Of course this is no genre classic but once you've seen some moretypical slasher flicks of this decade, you have to conclude that thismovie is not all too bad in the long run. Nothing too memorable butjust good enough to watch it.People tend to call these type of movies new age horror but fact isthat these type of movies have been around since the '70's, in which abunch of hot looking teenagers are all getting killed one-by-one by amaniac/monster. Not much has changed since the '70's, except for itsstyle and look.Storywise this movie is of course very formulaic in every waythinkable. It's actually a very simple written story, in whichbasically nothing out of the ordinary happens and everything progressesand happens by the book. It's the type of screenplay that makes you gothink; Hey! I could have written something like this! The story isperhaps the movie disappointing aspect of the movie, since otherwisethis is basically a fine and well made movie.I liked the movie its style. It kept the movie going, even though whennothing was happening in the movie. It makes sure that you never getbored. This is also thanks to the editing by Paul Martin Smith, who isa good editor but hasn't really been given good movies yet to proof hisskills to the world. The directing was good and fresh and it seems tome that Jim Gillespie has some talent as a director, even though hehasn't really showed it with his movies yet. Perhaps he needs to stopworking with Kevin Williamson, perhaps then he will get some bettermovie propositions to direct. Ever since "Scream" Kevin Williamsonhasn't done a decent thing for the genre anymore but he's still activein the business, probably because he is the guy who wrote "Scream". Forthis movie he serves as a producer. He also wrote the previousGillespie directed movie "I Know What You Did Last Summer", whichbecame a success, though probably only because it got released soshortly after the success of "Scream" and the genre was hot and popularagain at that time.This is not the type of horror movie that should ever scare you, it'smore a movie that entertains with its horror, perhaps of the reasonthat everything happens in such a predictable way. But Jim Gillespieobviously understands the genre though and knows what is important. Sothere 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 charactersthough, mainly because they remain so superficial and obviously alsoaren't being played by the most talented actors.The movie brings zombie movies back to its roots; Voodoo. The earliestzombie movies, from the '20's on, always featured voodoo themes,whenever zombies were involved with the main story. Just too bad thatthe didn't really used much of the voodoo concepts to make this movie abit more interesting and original to watch.It's enjoyable enough for the fans of the genre and certainly not asbad as everyone tries to make you believe it is.6/10

23 May 2012

Voodoo Meets Jason

First of all I watch all sorts of slasher flicks, I've watched hundreds of horror movies so I think I know what I'm talking about. Now, this movie is basically a voodoo fed Friday the 13th I cant get enough of Jason and voodoo is cool so I give this movie a thumbs up, I liked it from the crazy ass voodoo snakes to the kick ass tow truck. The body count was pretty good and the blood flow and guts shown was respectful Fangora style. I bought this movie on Amazon with out watching it first taking a gamble and I was not disappointed I will definitely recommend Venom for any horror movie collector.

lastliberal

22 May 2012

What the Fck!... MY FCKING CAR!

The car is the least of their worries as an creepy redneck gets a tasteof Snakes in a Car! The zombie is now possessed by the snakes, whichare the souls of evil men and is adding to his list.Among the victims are Jonathan Jackson (Riding the Bullet), Meagan Good(Waist deep, Stomp the Yard), Bijou Phillips (Hostel II), Laura Ramsey,and Davetta Sherwood.Slashed throats, knives in head, crowbar as tool of choice, and areally great ending.If blood and gore are your cup of tea, then this has what you arelooking for.

MLDinTN

21 May 2012

Snakes really bite...

and in this case turn you into a zombie. Some voodoo snakes kill a guyand turn him into a killing zombie. And of course, there are some localteens who are ripe for the killing. There is some gore and it is scarywhen the teens are being chased by the monster. Plus, the monster wascreative- he was ugly, but quick and had no problem ripping limbs off.We had the chase in the swamp, and you had to feel for that girl whenher boyfriend makes a noise in the tomb saving her. He's the one withthe pipe through the brain.Plus the ending with a halving sort of speaking. Really cool.FINAL VERDICT: It's good enough to watch if you like the slasher films.

Daniel Pestana

20 May 2012

A very very good movie. An oldie-like slasher.

I really loved this movie so I was surprised to see that it was solowly rated. The script is well written, the characters are in place,good-acting and... it gave me the creeps and made me jump of my chair afew times. Go see it, I believe you'll like it. The mixture between twogenres was really good, the occult and slasher. The man becomes themonster, not like Mike (Myers) or Jason, not even like Freddy. That'swhy I found it somehow original. The voodoo stuff was not boring,because it was little explained, they were smart enough to only pointout the major details, which were important to the story. I think theonly flaw is the unoriginal way in which some of the characters die,however it's still a great movie. I recommend it.

Gary Thompson

20 May 2012

I can safely prounounce this would-be horror series (it angles for a sequel) to be dead on arrival.

Frank Swietek

19 May 2012

There's no known antidote for a movie as poisonously bad as Venom.

Josh Larsen

18 May 2012

The bad guy jangles (his key ring) while stalking his prey, presumably to build tension, but I just kept thinking my car keys had fallen out of my pocket.

Eric D. Snider

18 May 2012

A lifeless, uninspired horror flick that ought to have been left in whatever hole they found it in.

Jeff Vice

17 May 2012

As much as audience members will want to laugh it off the screen, it even defies that much enthusiasm.

happychappy6

17 May 2012

Surprising Gem Of A Movie That Takes You Back To The Slasher Genre

I had seen this movie at the video store for a while and finallydecided to rent it when I couldn't find much else that looked evenremotely watchable. I popped it in and was very pleasantly surprised,the movie took off well from the very beginning, the back story isquickly explained and the killer's identity is known from the get go sofrom their its just who is going to get killed and how! The deaths inthis film are its strongest point, some very creative demises areextremely well executed - crowbars, sandblasters and my favorite a girlbeing pulled between 2 moving vehicles and then impaled on a tree. Nowwhile this may sound gory, its not really, its the impact and deliveryof these death scenes but thats not to take away from the shock value.The characters were developed enough to care about although theaudience doesn't get to know them all to well, being a slasher moviethe stereotypical introductions to each character set up theirbackground immediately - slutty girls, gay guy, angry jock, finalgirl's best friend, final girl etc. The acting was quite impressive inthis sea of typical teenage model looking cast, a stand out was LauraRamsey as 'Rachel'. So if you usually enjoy stalk/slash teen foddermovies but are hesitant to see this going by how the cover looks orthat its direct to video give it a a try - I loved it!

Pete Croatto

17 May 2012

dead from scene one

16 May 2012

Thank good for the swamp

Thank good for the swamp and the back ground because it helped alot to make this movie scarey...but other than that on my review meter the arrow is between fair/ok can't complain just watch wolf creek then you'll see venom isn't really bad...

vze3tndu

15 May 2012

This Movie is pure hite

I saw this movie at a free NYC screening back in June , And I must saythat this movie totally sucks. Such a recycled plot, characters looklike they had stepped out of a WB TV show. The Reaper looks like DolfLundren bathed in mud(totally z grade special effects). All the deathscenes weren't even scary or funny , except one which involves asspeeding truck and a tree impalement. I hated this movie along witheverybody at the screening. I give it two big watery bowels down!! Whathorror movies need is a hard R rating, Mature characters, and brutaldeath scenes that do not shy away from the screens.If you want to see a good movie , see the Devils Rejects, High Tensionor wait for Slither.

sm002c9274

15 May 2012

Not bad could have been better!!!!

I suppose i expected a bit more from this considering that it came fromJim(i know what you did last summer)Gillespie which i thought was quitegood.The overall look of Venom and where it was filmed is really goodwhich is what makes me feel like it could have been a lot better.Thiswasn't a direct to video release although it probably should have idon't think it even took £1 million at the box office in America. iliked the way the killer didn't show any remorse when killing he didn'tcare who it was(even his son).I'm disappointed that you never got tosee more of the killer's face and the killings could have been a lotmore inventive i thought.I love the truck the killer has it reminded meof jeepers creepers. Overall if you looking for your usual easywatching teen slasher then you'll probably enjoy this!!!

lostsoccermom1990

15 May 2012

Good Scary Movie

I did not get the chance to see this in the theaters. I finally got tosee it today (thanks to Netflix!) and I thought it was good. I'm glad,though, that I didn't see it in the theaters; definitely a videorental. I'm still debating whether it was good enough to own... Therewere some good deaths and a lot of new potential actors/actresses.Laura Ramsey is one of my favorite actresses so I was sad that she died- I thought she would make it. A problem I had, however, was that thebeginning was a tad slow and gratuitous. It would've been better ifthey added more character-development. All I could decipher was this:Eden - typical teen that hates the town and wants out; Eric - obsessiveboyfriend that is still in love with his ex; Rachel - local hottie andsensitive; Sean - bad ass rebel; Ricky - stereotypical cocky jockBut other than that, I liked it!

GroovyDoom

14 May 2012

It doesnt suck, but...

"Venom" is a the kind of movie that typically goes straight to video.I'm surprised this got a theatrical release, seeing as it is veryderivative and by-the-numbers.That said, I have to admit that the movie has an utterly nihilisticsensibility that really works. The town's local creepy-but-well-meaningoutcast loses all of his good intentions when he's bitten by a bunch ofcursed snakes, turning him into a killer zombie. It's curtains for theprerequisite group of impossibly gorgeous young people who happen to bein his way.The screenplay is bad, at least in the sense that it's nothing new. Theclichés and standards of slasher films are all still intact, includingthe rule that the survivor of the rampage must be a white female. Butthat said, not many slasher films do have a good script ("Halloween","Scream", "Black Christmas" and a few others were exceptions to therule). The important thing is that they be somewhat nerve-wracking, and"Venom" pulls it off while it's on screen. You may not remember much ofit after it's over, but it's a decent ride while it's happening. Theonly real complaint I have for it is that it pulls all its punches,especially in one scene where it's implied that one victim gets asandblaster to the face. Now that I'd have been interested in seeing.

richard cavellero

14 May 2012

horror film with bite!

Venom Dimension 2005 color 85 minutes Horror-Thriller Agnes Bruckner,Johnathan Jackson, Laura Ramsey, D.J. Cotrona, Rick Cramer, Megan Good,Bijou Phillips, Method Man, Pawel Szajda and Stacey Travis star.Directed by Jim Gillespee Written by Brandon Boyce and Flint DilleProduced by Kevin Williamson Rated R for strong language, graphicviolence and lots of gore Miramax's genre division Dimension has to bethe absolute dumbest company. It's true what you've heard Venom is nomasterpiece but it's far from being a disaster. It's a decent film withsome great scenes and ideas. It would've certainly been a bankablefilm. Definitely an audience film, filled with Oh my God frantic jolts,sweaty palm inducing suspense and loads of dumb character stereotypeswe've all grown to love. Because without them horror movies justwouldn't exist. So dimension finished this film and fast tracked it fora September release instead of taking a bit more time to develop itslightly and marketing it better so people actually know it exists. Imean why even bother making it if your not going to promote it. Wellanyways, on to the movie Venom is a fun little thrill ride. The storyis a little contrived ringing continuously true out of I know what youdid last summer land mixed with the skeleton key and just a dash ofTexas Chainsaw. Massacre. As the film begins we are introduced to abunch of annoying kids all of whom you pretty much want to die exceptfor a few cute guys. There is a town bad ass named Ray whom the kidstease and one night while riding her bike(because she's saving moneyfor med school) home Eden (By far the worst name for a white characteror anyone for that matter) has a run in with her ex boyfriend becauseof college reasons and becomes part of an accident involving a creepyold woman, Ray and a devilish suitcase. A suitcase that holds a groupof snakes that hold the souls of the worst of men murderers, rapists,etc. So ray gets bit a lot before drowning and comes back as an uberhuman killer trying desperately to get to the old womans grand daughterand the group of friends for no particular reason. There's lots of funstuff thrown in including loud sound effects,sparklingly clearcinematography, unexpected scares and some creative death sequences.All of that makes for a great but not completely memorable time. It'ssubstance in where the film's major problem lies. It doesn't reallyhave any. We don't know the characters and they're all horrible actorsreacting wrongly to the situations. There is no real plot developmentor story buildup so it's hard to care for anyone or even know whatsgoing on. The film also comes equipped with that annoying flashyediting that I hate so much. However the good outweighs the bad andVenom makes for a fun night out at the movies especially with a date.The main villain is haunting, and the cast is full of hot guys adorableJohnathan Jackson from Tuck Everlasting, Sexy D.J. Cotrona from TV'sshort lived but excellent series Skin. And last but not least PawelSzajda that hunky young man from Under the Tuscan sun. The girls areless memorable some of them are mildly attractive and Bruckner doesbadly as the film's heroine but kicks it up a slight notch in the lastreel. And about the last reel, this film has a killer last reel. It'squite Brutal filled with edgy, grainy cinematography reminiscent of70's horror films. So all in all go into Venom with mediocreexpectations and expect to be entertained . It's been quite a whilesince I've seen so many horror films(House of wax, Chainsaw remake,Dawn remake, exorcism of Emily rose, Hellbent, etc.) with such a brutalbite as the ones they've been releasing. It reminds of me of the 80'swhen I grew up it was a damn fun time! Keep'em coming guys! ***(out offive)

Eric Roberts

13 May 2012

Well Done Slasher Flick

I was very hesitant about this movie. I'd first seen it when it wasreleased on DVD at a videostore and read the synopsis. At the time Ithought it sounded like a really ridiculous plot. But just last week Iended up recording it to my Tivo and just watched it tonight for thefirst time and was really surprised at how well done it was for a teenslasher flick. If you like movies like "Scream" and "I Know What YouDid Last Summer", you'll definitely enjoy this one. Although, to myenjoyment, this movie featured a supernatural killer, unlike the twomovies I mentioned. To me that'd be a lot more horrifying than tryingto outsmart or outrun a human killer. Props to the makers of this film.6 stars.