Venom (2005)

Director:

Jim Gillespie

Writers (WGA):

Flint Dille (screenplay) &
John Zuur Platten (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

16 September 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Thriller | Horror

Tagline:

He Never Hurt A Soul Until The Day He Died.

Plot:

A pack of teenagers run for their lives through the swamps of Louisiana, as they are chased by Mr. Jangles, a man possessed by 13 evil souls who is relentless in his pursuit of new victims.

Plot Keywords:

Screwdriver In The Head | Creole | Severed Leg | Louisiana | Gore

Cast

Agnes Bruckner	...	Eden Sinclair
Jonathan Jackson	...	Eric
Laura Ramsey	...	Rachel
D.J. Cotrona	...	Sean
Rick Cramer	...	Ray Sawyer
Meagan Good	...	Cece
Bijou Phillips	...	Tammy
Method Man	...	Deputy Turner
Pawel Szajda	...	Ricky
Davetta Sherwood	...	Patty
Stacey Travis	...	Laura
Marcus Lyle Brown	...	Terry Parker (as Marcus Brown)
James Pickens Jr.	...	Sheriff
Deborah Duke	...	Miss Emmie

Also Known As:

Backwater (USA) (working title)
The Reaper (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong horror violence/gore, and language.

Runtime:

USA:85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Finland:K-15 | Iceland:16 | Germany:18 | Australia:MA | UK:15 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:R21 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:18A (Manitoba) | Malaysia:18SG | Netherlands:16 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Choctaw, Louisiana, USA

Company:

Dimension Films

Trivia:

Originally entitled "Backwater".

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Sean is pulled through the window with the chain by Ray Sawyer, the whole window behind him shatters. However, a few moments later inside the house - the window has somehow repaired itself.

Quotes:

Ray: Bridge ain't no place to park a car boy.

Soundtrack:

When I'm Gone (Sadie)

decent straight to video, not much more

Overall it was a watchable movie. I didn't pause it or stop it to come back to it--a clear sign of a boring movie--so it passed the first test. Best of all, it got into the story fast, no boring unneeded back story for the characters.

It will never go down as a great movie. Nor as a great B movie. I would recommend this movie to slasher/horror fans who don't mind straight to video releases.

Unlike some movies of it's ilk, there is no nudity, only moderate language and rather subdued gore. There is violence though. The deaths were rather dry and unimaginative sadly. The computer special effects were actually pretty good. The way the 'creature' wielded his chains in some scenes reminded me of 'Spawn' and the 'Ghost Rider' comic books.

A little pet peeve...It's set in Lousinia, but no one seems to talk with any accent. I had to watch the credits to even realize it was filmed in Lousinia.

Like most low budget movies, there are small goofs in the filming. Lack of time and money would be the main factors for the goofs. For example in one scene it went from mid afternoon to pitch black in seconds...during a short car ride. The other instance was the stunt double for the 'creature' didn't have on the 'creature' makeup when falling out of the tow truck...it also looks like he's wearing a shirt in the scene.

In summary, I didn't hate this movie but I also didn't love it. I probably will never rent it again, but if a buddy owned it, I may watch it again in a few years.