Post by Mr.HoRrOr on Sept 17, 2005 23:37:47 GMT -5
Plot:A man named Ray tries to help a voodoo woman who in a bad twist of fate winds up dangling her truck off the side of a bridge.In the back of her truck lies a wierd chest which contains 13 snakes,each one carrying the lifeforce of an evil soul inside them.Ray saves the woman but falls along with the truck into a river below where the snakes escape and attack Ray.Ray then becomes posessed by the 13 evil souls and goes on a killing spree which eventually becomes aimed at a group of teens.Running for their lives,they try to evade Ray in the swamps of Louisiana.
Cast:
Agnes Bruckner
Method Man
Bijou Phillips
D.J. Cotrona
Jonathan Jackson
Stacey Travis
James Pickens Jr.
Laura Ramsey
Meagan Good
Pavel Szajda
Davetta Sherwood
My Thoughts:Great slasher film,too bad there won't be a sequel.
Review:After seeing "Cry Wolf" yesterday and being disappointed big time,I am proud to say that "Venom" lived up to it's trailer and was the brutal,hardcore R, and entertaining slasher film that I went in expecting it to be.As most of you who've seen the trailers know by now,in the film a group of kids are on the run from an undead superhuman killer.A plot device that has been used countless times in this particular subgenre.Killer gets shot,killer gets stabbed,he won't die no matter what you do to him etc etc.But this one works because a whole new twist is added to that same old tired story thus giving it some much needed new life.So why are our teenage friends in so much trouble to begin with? Well the story is a simple one and is set up very nicely.An old creole woman/voodoo priestess digs up a mysterious suitcase and heads home with it.Whats in the suitcase? Well we don't find out until the big accident scene whats inside but early signs point to it not being good whatever it is.Then theres the town weirdo slash redneck towtruck driver named Ray.He has the usual redneck vibe going,scar on his face,trucker hat,tats,etc,and to make matters more pathetic for him,hes pretty much the running joke amongst the group of kids in the movie.Ray shares a connection with one of the kids but I won't reveal it here.As if Ray hasn't had a bad enough night being made fun of by the local brats,he has a near fatal car accident with the old creole woman who he manages to rescue but ends up falling into the lake along with her mysterious suitcase, when out pops 13 snakes possessed of 13 damned souls which attack and kill Ray.What follows is the usual slasher movie stuff with a voodoo-istic twist.Ray is now posessed of these 13 damned souls and has become evil incarnite,which send him around the small Louisiana town where the film is set slicing and dicing up the locals in typical slasher movie fashion, weilding his trusty crowbar.Once Ray becomes possessed,the film shifts into full blown slasher movie mode and doesn't stop until it reaches the end.Ray even looks the part having changed from a tall caucasian guy, into a green-skinned zombie like figure.Ah but theres a method to Rays madness.Hes sacrificing all of his victims to garner up enough strength to eliminate the creole womans granddaughter who holds the key to stopping him.What I really liked about this film besides the gruesome deaths and likeable characters, was the whole story of how Ray becomes the walking demon that he is.As I stated above,they took a tired plot device and breathed new life into it,rather than going with the usual bad person resurrected or local legend come to life gag.The setting of the dark,and spooky swamps of Louisiana also worked very well in this movie."The Skeleton Key" another film about voodoo but without the slasher element involved,used the settings of Lousiana nicely too but for some reason I felt this film did it better.Maybe it's because I'm more partial to slasher films than supernatural thrillers.If you're a fan of slasher movies like I am you'll enjoy this movie as much as I did.The kills aren't necessarily anything that hasn't been done before but they're bloody,brutal,nicely done,and theres alot of them,which is what I like to see in a slasher movie.One scene in particular which stands out to me is when the character of Cici has "spelled" the house so Ray can't get in.So he tosses his tow truck hook through the window and drags one of the kids out through it!Great stuff!"Venom" also doesn't fall short in the suspense category either.There are some suspenseful scenes here and there that they made work really well which is not something you see often in slasher movies where a killer is going around and disposing of people systematically.The best of which being when Ray is pursuing the last two remaining kids through the swamps.I had my tiniest of doubts about this film due to the lack of promotion from Dimension Films who produced and distributed the movie.But after seeing it I am now even more puzzled as to why they never put forth a moderately decent effort into promoting this movie.It's a shame too because this could've become a series of films especially with "Venom" ending the way it did.But it opened on a very small amount of screens and promotion for it started up very late,so unless it shocks and makes a nice chunk of change,I can't see a sequel happening.Still,this was one of the most entertaining and fun slasher movies I've seen in awhile."Venom" as far as I'm concerned is 2005's "Wrong Turn".It's that good a slasher film.
Pros:Likeable characters,very well put together story for a slasher flick,good acting by most,particularly the lead chick.Awesome killer,great kills,plenty of well done and suspenseful scenes,and enough blood and gore to satisfy.I'll say it again,the swamps of LA setting really make for great horror films.The setting adds a very dark,sinister feel to a horror film and the night time setting in Louisiana is nice to look at.
Cons:Two kills were cut aways,the first one,and another one later on.Maybe they were cut out and will appear on the dvd but judging by the way they were edited it looked like it was set up that way early in the movies production rather than something they had to cut out to appease the ratings folks.
Overall:Screw "Cry Wolf".If you're looking for a slasher film with an awesome new killer,great kills,and one thats actually ENTERTAINING,then go check out "Venom"...if you can find it.