Jim Gillespie transforms "Backwater" from computer game to horror movie with undeniable flair. Venom takes the best elements of "Backwater" and builds upon them to create an entertaining, if ultimately ridiculous, slasher film. If you don't spend too much time thinking about the plot and manage to overlook the general lunacy, Venom offers 90 minutes of dumb fun.
As a horror fan, the most interesting aspect of the film for me was the joining of two horror sub-genres (for want of a better description) - the voodoo/hoodoo and slasher genres. There are better voodoo films, Wes Craven's "The Serpent and the Rainbow" comes to mind, and certainly many better slasher films, but it was fun to watch the director mix the genres.
Ray, originally known as "Jangles" in the computer game, makes for an interesting villain. He's the town outcast, who dies while trying to rescue a voodoo priestess from a car crash. Unfortunately, the old lady's possessed snakes attack Ray and he turns into a voodoo powered zombie with a really bad attitude. Ray is no Freddy Krueger or Jason Vorhees, but he's also a step up from most of the clowns polluting American horror movies these days. Ray's weapon of choice is a crowbar and he busily uses it to impale, spear and slash anyone he comes across.
The film also gets extra credit for having Bijou Phillips in the cast. I have no idea why this woman isn't a bigger star, she manages to steal every movie that she appears in. Bijou doesn't have a big role and she really is way too cool to be believable as a small town bimbo. However, she is a beacon in the sea of pretty but wooden actors that make up the rest of the cast.
The film starts well but becomes increasingly improbable. The character of Cece is so idiotic that it defies belief - Apparently every resident of Louisiana keeps a spare voodoo priestess robe in their wardrobe. Oh, and nice idea to use your dead friend as a voodoo doll. The director also gets carried away with CGI effects as the film progresses and spends far too much time making snake eyes move under Ray's skin than concentrating on the good, old fashioned gore that makes the first half of the film so enjoyable.
The film's finale is fairly predictable and by then I had lost interest. Nevertheless, Venom is a fun horror film and should please less discerning genre fans.
