Color, 1981, 92 mins. 38 secs.
Directed by Piers Haggard
Starring Klaus Kinski, Oliver Reed, Nicol Williamson, Sarah Miles, Sterling Hayden, Lance Holcomb, Susan George, Michael Gough
Blue Underground (UHD, Blu-ray & DVD) (US R0 4K/HD/NTSC), Anolis (DVD) (Germany R0 PAL) / WS (1.85:1) (16:9)

A solid Venomnail-biter sold as a nature-on-the-rampage horror film, this crime curio with some tense black mamba action sports one of the strangest all-star Venomcasts of its era. Though virtually buried upon release (during a year crammed with superior genre fare), this adaptation of a thriller novel by Alan Scholefield still stands up fairly well as a solid, low-key genre mix with some enjoyable scenery chewing from the most volatile hams in the business.

While on vacation in England, American boy Philip (Holcomb) becomes the kidnapping target of a group of criminals: family chauffeur David (Reed), his nanny girlfriend Louise (George), and sadistic anarchist Jacques (Kinski). Alas, the scheme goes awry and, after the impulsive gunning down of a passing bobby, the group holes up in the boy's house with his macho grandfather (Hayden) and, unbeknownst to them, a deadly snake sent by accident from the pet store. The arrival of scientist Miles, the snake's intended recipient, adds another hostage to the roster; meanwhile outside, the chief inspector (Williamson) tries to salvage an escape plan as the body count rises.

Obviously even a lousy film could wring suspense out of such a scenario; after all, the thought of an unseen snake slithering around air ducts and popping out from beneath furniture and window curtains is enough to keep most viewers gripping their armrests. Fortunately Venom is more than competent with its Venommaterial thanks to efficient handling from director Haggard, a genre veteran from Blood on Satan's Claw and TV's VenomQuatermass who took over after a week's shooting by Tobe Hooper. The result is a diverting piece of entertainment worth using to kill a slow evening; after all, the once in a lifetime teaming of Reed (who tangled again with snakes in the much scruffier Spasms the following year) and Kinski merits a look simply by itself, and as far as deeply troubled productions go, at least this turned out better than most.

Usually seen on cable and via Vestron's ugly VHS transfer for its first two decades of video life, Venom finally got a watchable presentation thanks to Blue Underground's DVD in 2003. The image quality was solid, with vivid colors and accurate framing (similar to but more polished than the earlier no-frills Australian release). Both the 6.1 DTS and 5.1 Dolby Digital EX surround mixes sound fine, with a 2.0 surround mix hewing closer to the theatrical mix; the snake attack scenes (complete with occasional POV shots, no less) benefit the most from the audio overhaul, but the nice early score by the late Michael Kamen gets a solid boost as well. Haggard appears for an enjoyable but low-key commentary track with moderator Jonathan Sothcott, covering all of the bases including his dissatisfaction with Hooper's footage, the multiple rifts between actors, and the difficulties of mounting such a complicated production on limited means. Other extras include the theatrical Venomtrailer (which plays up the snake angle, of course), four TV spots, a poster and still gallery Venom(complete with press kit), and detailed bios for Reed and Kinski well worth reading.

Well over a decade later in 2016, Blue Underground revisited the title for a Blu-ray release (in a dual-format pack with a remastered DVD as well). Everything but the bios is ported over, while a new, extensive liner notes essay by Fangoria's Michael Gingold is added as an insert booklet. (Don't miss the closing lines.) Audio gets a nice boost here with a 7.1 DTS-HD mix as well as the same 6.1 and Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 options, with optional English, French, or Spanish subtitles. The new 2K HD transfer bumps up in all the expected areas with more natural skin details, heightened detail, and far less compression, though the SD version was nothing to sneeze at.

In 2025, Blue Underground took a stab at the film for the third time as a two-disc 4K UHD and Blu-ray set (also including the Gingold booklet) featuring a fresh 4K scan from the 35mm internegative with HDR10-compatiblae Dolby Vision on the UHD. Given that the film has a very subdued color palette, it looks quite impressive here with more detail in the darker scenes than before and some nice subtlety in the earth tones of most of the costuming. A new Dolby Atmos track pushes out the soundscape a bit more Venomwith Kamen's score getting some ambient push overhead, plus the usual 5.1 and 2.0 stereo DTS-HD VenomMA options with optional English SDH, Spanish, and French subtitles. The Haggard commentary is here as usual, plus a new track with Eugenio Ercolani, Troy Howarth, and yours truly that obviously won't be appraised here. The Blu-ray option features all of the video bonus features starting with the new "Fangs for the Memories" (26m12s), an interview with editor and second unit director Michael Bradsell about his impressions of Tobe Hooper, the shooting at Elstree, the "rebellious" rise among the participants and delays that led to replacing directors, the expected issues with Kinski, the speedy turnaround with Haggard, issues with Reed's accent, and a big change in Kinski's character during the regrouping. In"A Slithery Story" (21m), makeup artist Nick Dudman chats about how he got hired at the beginning under Hooper, the very vivid memories he has of the experience, the "Jekyll and Hyde" nature of Reed, the incontinent nature of Miles' pet Pekingese, the "learning curve" of having a makeup room next to black mambas, and the very challenging nature of Kinski who regularly clashed with Reed. In"Mamba Memories" (23m29s), Kim Newman delivers a jovial overview of the source novel's place among animal attack novels stemming from Ratman's Notebooks, the inherent stupidity and challenges of pulling off a kidnapping, the novelty of having a vigilante snake that earns our sympathy, and other films that capitalize on people's inherent reptile phobias. "Pick Your Poison" (15m26s) features Allan Bryce. Also included are the theatrical trailer, a teaser trailer, three TV spots, and a greatly expanded 127-image gallery of posters, stills, video art, and other tidbits.

Updated review on April 12, 2025