Saturday is Horror Day #221 - Venom (1981)

 Venom (1981)

Philip Hopkins (Lance Holcomb) is the ten-year-old son of a well-to-do family. His asthma keeps him mostly indoors among the pets he loves and collects. When his mother Ruth (Cornelia Sharpe), goes to join his father in Rome, Philips is left in the care of his grandfather Howard Anderson (Sterling Hayden), a world famous hunter, and the family maid Louise (Susan George) and the chauffeur Dave (Oliver Reed). Philip and his grandfather concoct a little scheme to enable Philip to sneak out of the house long enough to pick up his newest purchase from the dealer - a gray snake. Unknown to them, Dave and Louise have their own plan that is going to go down while the mother is away, one that involves a third man, Jacmel (Klaus Kinski) - they plan to kidnap the boy and hold him for ransom.

Meanwhile, at the Institute of Toxicology, Dr. Marion Stowe (Sarah Miles) discovers that a snake that was 

recently purchased by them is not the one they ordered, it's a common domestic snake. To her horror, she realizes that the purchaser of this domestic snake actually has the black mamba they expected to get - the most dangerous animal in the world. A policeman is sent to the boy's house to inquire about it, but the nervous kidnappers assume they have been discovered, chaos ensues, and now they are all trapped in the house with a black mamba that is loose and the police are just outside the door - between a rock and a hard place!

To be honest, I didn't know what to expect with this 1981 film (not to be confused with the Tom Hardy film of the same name). I was very pleasantly surprised. This is definitely no cheap horror film, and the snake is not CGI or cartoonish - and something to be legitimately scared of. There are some well-known actors in this film - Oliver Reed, Sterling Hayden, Susan George, Klaus Kinski, Sarah Miles, and Nicol Williamson as the police commander who is determined to rescue the boy and his grandfather. The acting is wonderful, as is the writing and direction. I had no idea what was going to happen, it is far from predictable. I loved Nicol Williamson's performance as Commander Bulloch - he commands any scene he is in. You may remember him from the film Excalibur where he played Merlin. Oliver Reed as the chauffeur is prone to act first and think after, which doesn't work well. You may remember him from such films as Gladiator and Tommy. 

Klaus Kinski as the cold rather psychotic German is perfect. You may recall I recently reviewed Nosferatu, where he starred as the titular character. I much preferred Venom and his performance there.  All in all, a very entertaining film, well worth watching. I'll give this film 4.5 Stars.