A Nazi scientist and a woman known as a "spider goddess" attempt to develop a nerve gas made from spider venom.A Nazi scientist and a woman known as a "spider goddess" attempt to develop a nerve gas made from spider venom.A Nazi scientist and a woman known as a "spider goddess" attempt to develop a nerve gas made from spider venom.
- Villager in Tavern
- (uncredited)
- Villager in Tavern
- (uncredited)
- Villager in Tavern
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe print on the wall above Greville's bed depicting a mutilated man impaled on the branch of a broken tree is from Goya's "Disasters of War" series. The triptych that Greville finds in the woods contains a crude copy of the man-eating bird from the right hand panel of Bosch's "Garden of Earthly Delights".
- Quotes
Huber: Mr. Greville, superstition also breeds in the forest. There have been many stories and, I'm afraid, some tragic events. Death!
Paul Greville: Oh?
Huber: You didn't know? Accidents, apparently. But nonetheless tragic; nonetheless mysterious.
Paul Greville: How?
Huber: A strange sort of paralysis, unless there were spiders crawling all over the body. Well, you can't blame the simpler people here from digging into their memories of folklore, attributing the cause of death to the Spider Goddess.
Paul Greville: Oh, Herr. Huber, you're no simple peasant. What sort of junk are you trying to feed me? Anna, I suppose, is the spider Goddess?
Huber: It's what the people believe. I have no cause to prove it either way. Wasn't it your English poet who said, "There are more things in Heaven and Earth than are dreamt of"?
It's best not to know too much about the story (concocted by Donald & Derek Ford, "A Study in Terror") going in, because then at least the viewer can be rightfully amused at the places that "Venom" goes. It doesn't mean that the story is airtight - far from it. But it does an entertaining job of utilizing "folk horror" elements and eventually introducing mad scientist tropes. Best of all is the excellent European atmosphere, although the music score (composed by John Simco Harrison) is simply wonderful, and the ethereal attractiveness of the Yugoslavian-born Arneric (just 17 or 18 at the time) is a real selling point.
The solid European cast also includes the sexy Sheila Allen ("Love Actually"), an effectively brutish Derek Newark ("The Blue Max"), Terence Soall ('Our Miss Pemberton') as the nefarious Lutgermann, Gerard Heinz ("The Fallen Idol") as the amiable Huber, and Gertan Klauber ("Top Secret!") as eager-to-please innkeeper Kurt. Brent is a reasonably engaging hero who refuses to be intimidated, although the antagonists do their best at keeping him in line. For example, he's tied up in the forest with a tarantula for company. The imagery and visuals are enjoyable: one of the hooks here is that spiders are part of the iconography of this region.
Overall, "Venom" supplies agreeable entertainment, somewhat along the lines of typical Hammer fare. Unsurprisingly, "Venom" director Peter Sykes went on to direct the Hammer pictures "Demons of the Mind" and "To the Devil...a Daughter".
It's probably best if one doesn't take this one too seriously. Otherwise, people may find themselves getting annoyed with the muddled tale being told.
Seven out of 10.
- Hey_Sweden
- Jun 12, 2021
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Spider's Venom
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 31 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1