Venom (1981): A Silly Snake Tale with a Stellar Cast (4K/Blu-ray)

The Film:

What happens when you take a tense premise, combine it with a ridiculous, over-the-top complication, and throw in an incredible top-tier cast? You end up with something along the lines of "Venom," a somewhat obscure British thriller that was released in the UK & the US in 1982 (though released first in Japan in 1981). To be fair, it wasn't exactly met with glowing praise, which very likely had a helping hand in it fading into the background, but was it truly deserving of such a fate? To celebrate this little-talked-of thriller, Blue Underground has decided to give the film a 4K upgrade and pack it full of new extras, so let's go back and delve into it to see where this little oddball snake flick with a stellar ensemble lands.

The film centers on the Anderson family, which includes young Philip (Lance Holcomb), his grandfather Howard (Sterling Hayden), and mother Ruth (Cornelia Sharpe). Criminals Jacques Muller (Klaus Kinski) and his girlfriend Louise (Susan George) plot to kidnap Philip with the help of the family's driver, Dave (Oliver Reed), hoping to earn a big payday due to the fact that Howard owns & operates a chain of successful hotels. With Louise posing as a maid and helping Jacques to trick the others out of the house, everything seems to be in place for the kidnapping, but Philip, aided by his grandfather, unexpectedly goes off to a pet store to pick up a new snake for his collection, causing a forced confrontation upon his return.

To make matters more complicated, it turns out that the store accidentally gave him a poisonous Black Mamba snake, one of the deadliest in the world. The mistake is discovered by toxicology expert Dr. Marion Stowe (Sarah Miles), putting a chain of events into motion that has Jacques and his criminal cohorts dealing with Commander William Bulloch (Nicol Williamson) of the police, forcing them to negotiate a tense hostage situation, while simultaneously trying to avoid getting killed by the deadly snake that has gotten loose in the house.

As you can see, this is a rather silly, absurd premise, one that you'd be forgiven for thinking might be better off played for laughs just based on its farfetched nature, but to the surprising contrary, screenwriter Robert Carrington (adapting the novel by Alan Scholefield) treats it with complete seriousness, ultimately leading the viewer to wonder if it's going to be quite enough to sustain a feature-length film

In the case of "Venom," it's another instance where there's nothing particularly wrong with the premise itself, which contains both a suspenseful hostage situation and the more outlandish complication of a deadly snake on the loose, but rather the unfortunate hesitation to do very much with any of it. After the scenario is set up, it becomes something of a waiting game for something interesting to happen, something to advance the plot, or even something to take advantage of the aforementioned absurdity of these circumstances. It tries to sate the audience by offering semi-tense stand-offs between Jacques & Bulloch, as well as the criminals' attempts to find & deal with the snake, but sadly these don't do a whole lot in terms of making the story all that compelling, though it can't be said that they didn't give it a good try.

However, even though the development of the plot is a little on the disappointing side, what's not a disappointment is the remarkable cast, which has to be one of the best ensembles ever assembled for such a silly concept. To give you an idea, the cast includes Sterling Hayden (perhaps best known for his two collaborations with Stanley Kubrick), Klaus Kinski (best known for his collaborations with Werner Herzog), Oliver Reed (known for his work with Sir Carol Reed and Ken Russell), Nicol Williamson (a prominent actor of stage & screen), Oscar nominee Sarah Miles, and even a small appearance from the great Michael Gough. The premise may have been ridiculous, but watching so many great actors playing it straight with such intensity is certainly a highlight that's worth noting.

In the end, "Venom" balances out to something in the range of a guilty pleasure. It would be a little difficult to say that it's a particularly good movie due to the somewhat languid storyline, but the excellent cast certainly tries their best anyway, which generates at least a little entertainment throughout these brief 90 minutes. It may not be one of the most memorable thrillers you'll ever see, but there is a good chance that you'll remember the talent involved, and sometimes that can make all the difference.

Video/Audio:

This edition of "Venom" comes with the film on 4K (2160p, UHD) and Blu-ray (1080p, HD) in 1.85:1 transfers of outstanding quality. The brand-new restoration, scanned in 4K from the 35mm negative, looks fantastic, with a picture that's sharp & clear throughout the brief 90-minute duration. Likewise, the Dolby Atmos, 5.1 DTS-HD, and 2.0 DTS-HD audio tracks are fantastic, giving you all of the dialogue and music in excellent quality. Overall, Blue Underground has done a wonderful job cleaning up the film in both departments for this new release.

Special Features:

Audio Commentary with Director Piers Haggard

Audio Commentary with Film Historians Troy Howarth, Nathaniel Thompson, and Eugenio Ercolani

Fangs for the Memories (26 Minutes)

A Slithery Story (21 Minutes)

Mamba Memories (23 Minutes)

Pick Your Poison (15 Minutes)

The film comes with a great selection of extras that includes two commentary tracks (one with the director and another with three film historians) and four featurettes, totaling about 75 minutes, that feature interviews with select crew and more. Definitely plenty of intriguing material to delve into here for those wanting to learn more about the film.

Conclusion:

Piers Haggard's "Venom" may feature a silly, over-the-top premise that screenwriter Robert Carrington doesn't do quite enough with, but with an incredible cast that includes Sterling Hayden, Oliver Reed, Klaus Kinski, and Nicol Williamson, some viewers may find that it balances out to become an oddball guilty pleasure that has the ensemble providing at least a little entertainment.

Score: 3/5

Available on 4K/Blu-ray starting tomorrow.

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