Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: DVD
Brand: Venom
EAN: 0786936693638
Format: Closed-captioned
Label: Dimension
Languages: Array
Manufacturer: Dimension
MPN: DISD49546D
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Dimension
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2006-01-17
Running Time: 85
Studio: Dimension
Theatrical Release Date: 2005-09-16

VENOM is a fright-filled voodoo thriller loaded with a sizzling cast of the screen's hottest young stars! Set deep in the eerie swamps of southern Louisiana -- Agnes Bruckner (MURDER BY NUMBERS), Jonathan Jackson (TUCK EVERLASTING), and Meagan Good (ROLL BOUNCE) are among a group of teenagers trying to uncover the truth behind a friend's mysterious death. What they find is an evil force more deadly than anyone could have imagined! Now they are the ones running for their lives! Also starring Bijou Phillips (ALMOST FAMOUS) and Method Man (GARDEN STATE) -- critics everywhere hailed this chilling and thrilling horror tale!

Customer Rating:
Summary: Solid horror
Comment: This movie wasn't the greatest horror movie, but given the budget, I enjoyed it. The story is pretty cool, gets quite cheesy at times, but what horror movie doesn't. The voodoo idea was done in a way that was creepy and believable, but not overly Hollywood glamorized idea of Voodoo. I'd recommend this movie to someone who wants a good way to spend a Friday night.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: 0 STARS: Rubbish!!
Comment: Unfortunately, I caught this on encore the other night, and being that it is supposed to be a horror movie, I decided to watch it. Succinctly, "Venom" represents a lame attempt to spice up a slasher-type movie with an element of the oh-so-deadly voodoo stuff!! I'm just shaking in my boots after having seen it!!

The voodoo element does not work at all, and, basically, what you have in "Venom" is nothing you haven't already seen before except for the exciting element of voodoo which is completely unconvincing in my estimation and actually makes the movie even more stupid in my opinion than if the movie had just gone straight slasher.

The acting, directing and screenplay are all horrible in this flick making for an intellectual meltdown experience and a completely boring way to spend your evening. I could barely finish this trash. Sadly, "I Know What You Did Last Summer" is a lot better than this garbage. I guess they just don't make slashers like they used to...what a tragedy to see what this once beautiful sub-genre of horror has actually come to. If Hollywood is going to continue with this kind of garbage, then I have great fears (not in a good way) for the future of my beloved horror genre.

Some people call "Venom" a horror movie...I just call it rubbish.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: All Bite And No Real Venom
Comment: With the Louisiana swamps as backdrop, voodoo as a catalyst, and young starlets heading up the cast, you'd think that "Venom" might just be able to be a decent R-rated slasher/hacker flick. Instead of that, we get another formulaic PG-13 teen slasher flick with a little more gore and a lot more rough language (hence the "R" rating). Poor Ray Sawyer was just trying to save an old lady's life when he got snakebit. Unfortunately for him, though, the venom in the snake's bite was a little bit more than poisonous. It contained the souls of some of the wickedest murderers and rapists you could muster in southern Louisiana. Now undead and armed with a crowbar, Ray is after any and everybody who stands in his way. A gaggle of local teens try to stop him by using voodoo, but will that work? If you can sit through this textbook horror flick you just might find out.

The cast is made up of relative unknowns (at least to me). The biggest stars (if you can call them that) are Method Man as a cop and Bijou Phillips as the only thing Bijou Phillips seems to get cast as: the local tramp. She does get to keep her clothes on in this flick, though. Everybody in the film does very well with what they're given, but I really never cared if any of them lived or died.

The creature doing all of the wicked business looked decent enough, but didn't have the screen presence of "Jason" or even "Michael Myers." He grunted a lot, growled a bit, and freed up a few limbs. Overall, however, he just wasn't that menacing to watch.

I felt that more could have been done with the voodoo aspect of the film, but I'm just a reviewer. Why the voodoo wasn't explored deeper is unknown to me.

In conclusion I must say that "Venom" is decent enough for one viewing, but there is a lot better horror out there. I mildly recommend this flick to horror fans. If you enjoy flicks like the "Friday The 13th" series or mediocre horror like "Dreamcatcher," "Venom" will suit you just fine.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Dimension Film Horror from the Director of "I Know What You Did Last Summer"
Comment: For making of Dimension Film's "Venom," Kevin Williamson (as producer) joins forces again with director Jim Gillespie who had once helmed "I Know What You Did Last Summer" based on Williamson's script. As you know, in this 1997 hit horror film, a group of teenagers are stalked and killed by a mysterious guy with a hook, who is supposed to be dead.

In "Venom," a pack of teenagers including Eden (Agnes Bruckner) and her ex-boyfriend Eric (Jonathan Jackson) must run away from the zombie-like murderer with jingling keys, who is also supposed to be killed in a strange car accident. With a different setting (this time, in the swamps of Louisiana) and a spooky photography, the film tries to tell a new story, which is in fact nothing new.

But as you know, slasher films tend to be formulaic from the beginning - flat characters, obligatory love interest, etc. - so story is not everything. I know what really matters is suspense and killings in the end, so I waited for the film to show what it really can do.

What really disappointed me is this - the film is not scary or gory enough. Maybe that's because I have seen so many horror films since the 1980s. Even so, most tricks used here are not particularly original, used by some more famous killers like Jason who did it better.

Only Bijou Phillips and her character as shoplifting girl interested me during the film's 90 minute running time. But the time allotted to her is not very long.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: A Gory Slasher Flick
Comment: Ray Sawyer (Rick Cramer), Agnes Bruckner (Eden), Laura Ramsey (Rachel), Jonathan Jackson (Eric), and D.J. Cotrana (Sean) star in this scary and bloody slasher movie.

Eric and Eden are going through any typical teen romance; going steady one minute, broken up the next. Eden works at a local truck stop as a waitress. One evening, Ray pulls into the truck stop to get some food. Known as the local nut case, Ray has few friends and owns a filling station on the edge of town. Later that same evening, Ray comes upon Eric and Eden on a lonely bridge. Swerving to miss Eric's jeep, Ray instead crashes into an on-coming car. The impact of the crash sends the car slamming through the guardrail of the bridge. The car is now teetering precariously on the side of the bridge. Ray jumps from his truck and goes to the aid of the woman inside the car. After pulling her to safety, Ray goes back inside to retrieve a suitcase that the woman told him about. However, both Ray and the car tumble over the side of the bridge and into the water below. To make matters worse, the suitcase is full of poisonous snakes, who immediately begin striking at Ray. All that can be heard are Ray's screams as the car sinks.

Ray's body is pulled from the water and taken to the local morgue. But it doesn't remain there for long. It seems that the woman in the car was a Voodoo priestess, and the snakes were used to "cleanse" people by drawing the evil out of them. Now, the evil venom is flowing through Ray. Now begins a bloodbath of carnage as Ray, possessed by the power of the evil venom flowing through him, begins to stalk unsuspecting victims. One by one, he exacts his revenge on Eden's friends until only Eden remains. Who will win this final showdown; Ray or Eden?

I've always been a big fan of slasher-type films, and characters like Freddy from the "Nightmare on Elm Street" series, as well as Jason from "Friday the 13th". Ray Sawyer fits the mold of the typical slasher perfectly. The motives are the same; kill as many teenagers as possible, and Ray succeeds in this very well. I thought the story involving voodoo was well-conceived. The special effects were good, too.

I recommend this movie to horror and slasher fans. Although the movie is short (only about 80 minutes), there's lots of slashing in a short amount of time. If you enjoy a good slasher flick, then don't miss "Venom".

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