Venom
http://www.miramax.com/venom/

**1/2
With Agnes Bruckner, Johnathan Jackson, Laura Ramsey, D.J. Cotrona, Rick Cramer, Megan Good, Bijou Phillips, Method Man, Pawel Szajda and Stacey Travis.

Directed by
Jim Gillespie

Writing credits
Flint Dille & John Zuur Platten

First, lets reach an understanding about slasher/horror films. They don't have to have a script that will win an Oscar, ok? They don't have to parody their genre, be campy, and poke fun at him or her or anything else of that nature.
The only real purpose of a horror film is to freakin' scare you half out of your seat. We need to stop thinking about how this line should have been or how this character should have reacted when the cat sprung out of the cabinet.
Just watch the film and enjoy the ride. If you want classic writing in a horror film, go watch the Universal Monsters of the 30's and 40's or the Hammer films of the 60's and 70's. Watch Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Vincent Price or Peter Lorre.
Hollywood Horror of today is not designed to win awards (although some do) nor is it intended to be a thought provoking essay on life (although some do). To get films that intend to reach that level, I suggest you start watching Asian Horror.
Until then, just relax and eat some popcorn.

And I have heard a lot of people dogging this one but I was quite pleased with it. I thought it was much better then the other horror release this week, "Cry Wolf". Maybe it was the cast, or the setting but something about this film just made me like it more then I thought I would.
Let me give you a little background on how I saw this movie. I first saw the trailer at my local cinema, the Regal in Modesto. Within 12 miles of me there are three different theaters, the Regal in Modesto and the Galaxy in Riverbank. Then there is the other one in downtown Modesto. To be blunt, I only go to the Regal or the Galaxy refusing to go to the one downtown.
So, when I found out that "Venom" was playing only at the theater downtown and in Stockton I was sort of perturbed. I mean, here I am stuck with going to a theater I dislike or spending the gas driving almost 30 miles one way just to watch a horror film.
What kind of idiot am I? I'm the kind that drives to Stockton just to watch a horror film.
So, what is it about "Venom" that makes it worth watching? Well, the guy who did I Know What You Did Last Summer directed it and easy to see the same homage IKWYDLS tried to give to the suspense films of the 70's and 80's, it is easy to see the homage "Venom" has for the slasher genre of the 80's.
It has the same spooky scenes that "Friday the 13th" had, but it uses characters that you can enjoy seeing get wiped out just like "Halloween". In Friday we had the supernatural element of Jason Voorhees, the unstoppable killing machine who goes through the forest (and New York, but lets try to forget that one) just willy-nilly chopping, slashing, goring, beating down, stomping and generally killing everyone he comes in contact with. Normally, Jason uses a machete but he has been know to use his bare hands, knifes or trees to kill his victims.
Now, Michael Myers from Haddonfield, Ill is a little different. He is also an unstoppable killing machine and much like Jason has some supernatural elements around him. No one has investigated deeply into the mystical or magical background of either character but that is fine with Mike. He wanders the towns and cities killing people with a seeming final intent. He wants to kill everyone in his family and will gladly kill anyone else who stands between him and that final object.
Now we have a new unstoppable killing machine, Ray, played by Rick Cramer. Cramer really brings out the goose bumps as the tow truck driver who simply shows up at the wrong place at the wrong time and tries to be a hero.
What is interesting is that here we have a character with a true origin and a background we can find out about; we see the horror of Ray's fate and the actual element of supernatural that creates the villain here. It is a dark and foggy night when Eric and Eden, former lovers who are about to be separated by thousands of miles as Eden goes to medical school in New York and Eric stays in Louisianan. They are standing on a bridge chatting after Eric has parked in one lane.
Ray, either stalking Eden or actually trying to be a nice guy, pulls into the on-coming lane to check on them. As he drives away, a speeding car comes out of the fog and swerves to miss the tow-truck, causing the driver to go out of control and crash, hanging half off the bridge.
And this is where Cramer and Gillespie both demonstrate they have the ability to make a scene downright creepy and horrid. Seeing Ray and his face as he faces his end is outright freaky. I won't go into details, but this thing made me squirm a little in my chair.
But, it is when he returns that Cramer shows true talent. He makes the villain scary without making him campy or funny. He never speaks, just stands or moves through a set almost silently.
The other characters were also fairly well done. Agnes Bruckner as Eden is both attractive and intelligent and shows (as usual) the ability to find strength that she didn't know about. Her boyfriend, Eric (Jackson), shows some dignity as he tries to deal with the situation he finds himself in.
These three characters are the main winners of this movie. Most of the rest of the cast is just throwaway fodder for Ray. And they certainly don't engender any sympathy, which I think is perfect. You want these punks to die, and you want them to die-hard.
Admittedly, the acting is pretty normal for this type of film. The girls are supposed to be attractive and the boys well built and sexy. They are both supposed to be very good looking in lingerie or in swimsuits and they are shown to pretty good advantage in several scenes.
The film moves very well, with excellent editing and cinematography and the director did a very good job of keeping the emotion and feeling of dread throughout the film.
True, the scenes where they are being taught the essence of 'Soul Milking" in Haitian voodoo is sort of dry. It really felt like this scene should be a bit longer, offering more 'meat' then the story offered.
Also, the 'teenage trauma' stuff gets a bit old as well but I guess they have to have it.
The tension is kept strong throughout the film and the scares are almost perfect. And the amount of blood and gore in the film definitely earned it an "R" rating.
"Venom" is the type of film that will keep your attention without boring you, at least after the first few minutes of introducing the characters.

Now, let me say a little about the Regal I saw Venom in. It was the Holiday 8 Cinemas in Stockton at 6262 West Ln. The auditorium I was in was clean and comfortable with large cup holders and floors your feet didn't stick to.
The staff was friendly and helpful without acting like they were doing you a favor by giving you popcorn. The restrooms were clean, the lobby was neat and the coming soon posters were located in areas that were easy to see.
If you are even in Stockton and want to watch a film, drop by there. And no, I get no perks from Regal, Inc.