A movie about a kidnapping? Cool. A movie about a kidnapping that degenerates into a hostage crisis? Even better! But howzabout a movie about the kidnapping of a seriously asthmatic kid, that turns into a hostage crisis, while the victims and criminals besieged by the law in a London town house are threatened by an escaped black mamba snake, the world's swiftest and most deadly? What could be better than that? Well, as the 1982 British thriller "Venom" demonstrates, perhaps an all-star group of performers to put this fun-sounding conceit over! Thus, we have an absolutely sterling cast here, consisting, in part, of, uh, Sterling Hayden as the asthmatic boy's supercool grandfather, Klaus Kinski and Oliver Reed as the kidnappers (a terrific pair of bad guys, with Oliver's ultimate fate in the film giving new meaning to the old expression "trouser snake"), Sarah Miles as a toxicologist, Nicol Williamson as the police commander in charge of the crisis, and Michael Gough (wasted in a teensy role) as a snake expert. The picture has been directed for maximum suspense by Piers Haggard, with much of that suspense naturally arising from the fact that the viewer can never predict where or when that deadly mamba will raise its ugly head. Any opened drawer, cabinet or door in the picture can serve as a most lethal jack-in-the-box of sorts, and this knowledge keeps us primed and nervous throughout. With the exception of that final ambiguous shot of a snake in the town house's ductwork (I still can't figure out the meaning of that!), I found this film to be thoroughly satisfying and entertaining. And the further good news is that the picture has been given a great-looking treatment by the always dependable folks at Blue Underground. Thanks again, guys!
