"VENOM"
(2005) (Agnes Bruckner, Jonathan Jackson) (R)

Alcohol/ Drugs	Blood/Gore	Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude	Frightening/ Tense Scenes	Guns/ Weapons
Heavy	Extreme	Extreme	*Extreme	*Extreme
Imitative Behavior	Jump Scenes	Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Profanity
Mild	Moderate	Extreme	None	Extreme
Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
Moderate	Minor	Moderate	Moderate	Extreme

---

QUICK TAKE:

Horror: Various young people try to avoid a boogeyman whose dead body has been possessed by voodoo driven serpents.

PLOT:

In a small Louisiana town, restaurant worker Eden Sinclair (AGNES BRUCKNER) desperately wants to get out and has plans to go to college in New York, much to the dismay of her friend and coworker Rachel (LAURA RAMSEY) and boyfriend Eric (JONATHAN JACKSON) who's now broken up with her over her that decision. Eric's friend Sean (D.J. COTRONA), when not supplying teens Tammy (BIJOU PHILLIPS) and Patty (DAVETTA SHERWOOD) with booze, still holds a grudge against rough tow truck driver Ray (RICK CRAMER), his biological father.

Little do any of them know, however, how their lives are about to change. It seems that Eden's friend Cece (MEAGAN GOOD) has a grandmother who's deeply involved in voodoo and has recently unearthed a small suitcase that had been buried with various evil spirits she had excised from various criminals. A car accident, however, exposes Ray to the suitcase and the supernatural serpents inside it when he tries to rescue her. He ends up dead, but not for long as the spirits inhabit his body, sending him on a murderous spree that starts with the coroner and then Deputy Turner (METHOD MAN).

As Eden and the others try to get their minds around what's occurring, they do what they can to avoid Ray and his desire to kill them and anyone who crosses his path.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?

If they're into horror films or are fans of someone in the cast, they might.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R

For strong horror violence/gore, and language.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:

AGNES BRUCKNER plays a small town Louisiana restaurant worker who's saving her money to go to college in New York. She must deal with the aftermath of Eric breaking up with her, but that's forgotten when Ray's possessed body goes on a killing spree where she does what she can to survive. She uses profanity.

JONATHAN JACKSON plays her boyfriend who broke up with her, feels guilt over not doing more to save Ray from drowning, and then tries to avoid being killed by him. He uses profanity.

D.J. COTRONA plays Eric's friend who gives Tammy and Patty booze, holds a grudge against Ray for being his absentee biological father, and uses profanity.

LAURA RAMSEY plays Eden's best friend and coworker.

RICK CRAMER the local and somewhat scary looking tow truck driver who drowns and then has his body possessed by voodoo related snake spirits that send him on a murderous spree.

MEAGAN GOOD plays Eden's friend who realizes what's been unleashed by her grandmother's actions and tries to use voodoo to stop Ray's possessed body.

BIJOU PHILLIPS and DAVETTA SHERWOOD play teenagers who do underage drinking and then try to avoid Ray. The former also uses strong profanity.

METHOD MAN plays the local deputy who isn't pleased to be working on his time off and uses profanity before meeting his demise.

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

---

Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit?
Then read OUR TAKE of this film.

(Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below).

---

OUR WORD TO PARENTS:

Here's a brief summary of the content found in this R-rated horror flick. Profanity consists of at least 22 "f" words, while other expletives and colorful phrases are uttered. Some young women are briefly seen in tight or revealing attire, including one who exposes her bra and cleavage to various men.

Violence consists of an undead boogeyman (fueled by evil and serpent spirits) killing various young people by various means, often with gruesome, gory and bloody results. Such scenes, other moments of peril and usual haunted house/slasher type material and scenes featuring large snakes might be unsettling, suspenseful or downright scary to viewers (particularly younger ones and those with low tolerance levels for such material and mayhem).

Various characters have varying degrees of bad attitudes, while some characters drink (including some who are presumably underage) and one drives his motorcycle while drunk. Other potentially imitative behavior is present, as are some tense family scenes involving the death of a grandmother and a young man being angry at his absentee biological father (who lives in the same town as him).

If you're still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home who may be interested in seeing it, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content.

For those prone to visually induced motion sickness, some shaky camera footage is present.

---

ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE

Tammy jokingly tells Sean that she and Patty are almost drunk and asks if they can have a little more. He complies and gives them more liquor from his bottle. They then drink more.

Sean comments that Ray got his mom drunk in the past and left her pregnant (with him) but then adds that "doesn't make him my father."

Sean asks for more beer while swimming. He later drives off on his motorcycle while drunk.

Cece drinks a swig from a bottle of wine or booze and then spits it out onto a dead body as part of a voodoo spell, getting Eden to do the same. She also lights some of the liquor on the floor.

We see bottles of booze in a crypt.

BLOOD/GORE

Ray has a large scar on his face.

We see large and gory cut/bite marks on Ray's neck and arm (he's dead).

Ray strikes a man on the neck with a crow bar, sending blood out and then hits him again with it, this time to the chest, slamming his body back against a vehicle (all in a heavily edited scene with jump cuts, etc.). We then see Ray dragging the body away.

Ray thumps a dead and bloody body down and then partially sticks his finger into an open skin wound and then wipes blood on the dead man's forehead.

Patty states that she has to pee and finds a disgusting toilet at Ray's shop (but we don't see anything else).

Tammy slips on a large puddle of blood on the floor (getting it on her) and then sees a dead and bloody body suspended above her. Ray then closes the door as Tammy tries to run out but then finds herself trapped. She tries to run, but Ray lowers a car down off a lift onto her, pinning her to the floor. He then takes a high pressure air hose, shows how it can strip paint off a car door and then uses it on her (we see her point of view as he points the hose at her and we see her blood fly off back at him from the air).

A guy visibly vomits from seeing a large pool of blood on a garage floor.

Ray drives a crowbar through a guy's leg in some steps, with bloody results (on the leg and some dripping off it).

As the story progresses, Ray's body becomes more decomposed and bloody.

Ray rips off a guy's arm (we see that and the reaction of those inside who hear the attack). Ray uses the bloody arm to mark the exterior wall of a house with blood and then drags the body off (that's bloody and we see the bloody stump).

Ray strikes a person on the face with his crowbar (with bloody results) and then jams it into his chest (we see it come out his back with bloody/gory results). He doesn't die right away and is very bloody as are the hands of those who try but fail to save him.

We see a large bloody gash on a dead guy's face.

Ray slits a young woman's throat, killing her (we see the bloody wound).

A woman is impaled on some sharp tree branches, killing her (with bloody results including a view of a branch through her body and the sounds of dripping blood).

Eden makes her way into a cemetery at night and then decides to head down into a large crypt where she finds a sarcophagus of sorts filled with dead and bloody bodies (and we hear the sound of flies there). Hearing Ray coming with another body, Eden climbs in with the dead bodies and tries to hide as that other body is tossed in near her. She tries to remain quiet but then sees that the added person is still alive. Her startled noises draw Ray's attention, with the other person sacrificing themselves by moving so that Ray drives a large screwdriver or slim knife into the person's head (we see it sticking out with bloody results).

Ray's skin is all charred after briefly being on fire.

We see large snakes slither out through Ray's decomposing and charred skin.

Eden is covered in blood (others and maybe some of hers).

Eden drives the large tow truck into Ray, smashing him back against a huge tree stump. His body comes apart, with his charred, bloody and decomposed torso (with only one arm) landing on the hood and views of his other arm and legs (all bloody) lying on the ground. We then see snakes slithering out of the open wounds at the bottom of his torso.

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE

Ray goes on a killing spree, but he's dead and it's his body that's possessed by evil spirits that's doing the killing.

Tammy admits to stealing a bra and then says that she's a crook with a nice "rack" as she pulls down her top to reveal her bra and cleavage. She then does the same to Ray to taunt him (and then gives him "the finger").

We hear that Eric broke up with Eden over her deciding to go to college in New York rather than Baton Rogue.

Sean comments that Ray got his mom drunk in the past and left her pregnant (with him) but then adds that "doesn't make him my father."

Knowing that Ray is dead, Tammy steals money from his shop's register.

Sean throws a car rim through a window at Ray's shop and then proceeds to break and overturn things inside it while angry about apparently having inherited the shop.

Those opposed to magic and such won't like the voodoo related material present here.

We hear that Cece's grandmother spared and saved the souls of murderers, sadists and such, milking the evil from them and keeping the evil in a suitcase (and that all of them are now inside Ray's body).

FRIGHTENING SCENES

Scenes listed under "Violence," "Blood/Gore" and "Jump Scenes" may be unsettling, suspenseful or scary to younger viewers and/or those with low tolerance levels for such material.

The film is set in Louisiana and involves scenes of murder, drowning, wading through swamps, etc. and considering the recent events in the same location related to Hurricane Katrina, that might be unsettling for some viewers from that aspect.

We see Cece's grandmother digging up an old suitcase from a graveyard at night. She then puts it into the backseat of her car where we see one wave-like ripple go through it (from something inside it).

We see a quick flashback to flash images of some scene including a scream, the shot of a snake and more (but it's hard to tell what we're seeing).

We see the skeleton of a small viper fashioned on a necklace of sorts.

Cece's grandmother's car swerves out of the way to avoid hitting Ray's tow truck. She slides out of control across a bridge, nearly hits Eden and Eric who race out of the way and then ends up dangling off the bridge. Eric goes to try to help, but his leg falls through the bridge, with Ray getting him out and then entering the car to get the grandmother as the car teeters back and forth. He gets her out and then goes back to get her suitcase, but some large snakes come out, with one lashing out and biting him on the neck. The car door then closes, the car falls off the bridge and starts to fill with water, while the large snakes move around in the car as it sinks. We see the motion of them striking Ray, but don't see the impact in full (although we hear him screaming as the car sinks even deeper in the water).

We see Ray's body covered in plastic on a morgue table, with water dripping onto the floor from him. The coroner is on the phone, but hears a noise and goes to the body, opening the mouth (seen in close-up) and then pushing on the abdomen, causing water to come out of the mouth (back on the phone, he comments about hearing the death rattle). Moments later, he hears a noise and then discovers that the body is gone and slowly goes looking through the dark building where the lights flicker.

When Turner hears a noise, he puts his hand on his handgun as he cautiously goes to investigate. He then sees that the tow truck keys he placed on the hood are now gone and slowly looks under the truck (as we see a figure suddenly pass by in the foreground of the shot).

Eden hears odd sounds while in a cemetery and we see the POV of someone or something watching her. She then sees that a crypt door is open and then sees Ray's tow truck drive off. She tries to chase after it, but can't keep up.

Tammy goes looking for Patty who's disappeared at Ray's rundown but large shop.

Tammy slips on a large puddle of blood on the floor (getting it on her) and then sees a dead and bloody body suspended above her. Ray then closes the door as Tammy tries to run out but then finds herself trapped. She tries to run, but Ray lowers a car down off a lift onto her, pinning her to the floor. He then takes a high pressure air hose, shows how it can strip paint off a car door and then uses it on her (we see her point of view as he points the hose at her and we see her blood fly off back at him from the air).

Rachel discovers that her car has been turned upside down and she and a guy then hear odd sounds in the swamp at night. When they see Ray, they run back toward Cece's grandmother's house, but Ray throws his crowbar that knocks Rachel to the ground. Others scramble to get her up and in the house, but one of the guys trips and falls on the steps where Ray impales his leg (with bloody results).

A chain blasts through a window, wraps around Sean and then yanks him outside where Ray starts to drag him away. Sean grabs something to stop that and Eric runs out to free his friend with Ray coming back after him, but he's blown backwards by a rifle or shotgun blast from Eden (but it doesn't kill him).

Ray strikes a person on the face with his crowbar (with bloody results) and then jams it into his chest (we see it come out his back with bloody/gory results). He doesn't die right away and is very bloody as are the hands of those who try but fail to save him.

Ray yanks away the front of the house with a large chain attached to his tow truck, pulling away two people with it who then try to scramble away. From that action, a beam falls down onto two people inside the rest of the house, trapping one.

Cece repeatedly stabs a large knife down into a dead body that's been transformed into a voodoo doll, causing Ray pain as he tries to come after her.

Three people try to drive away, but Ray arrives in his tow truck and bumps into them several times. He then throws a chain that wraps around a young woman's neck and starts to pull her from that vehicle to his truck, but Eden grabs her feet and they then have a tug of war over her. As they blast down the road, they see a fork in the road with a clump of trees in the middle. The vehicles then separate, with the woman being impaled on the sharp branches, killing her (with bloody results including a view of a branch through her body and the sounds of dripping blood).

Two people escape into and wade through a swamp, trying to hide when they see Ray there as well. The killer then goes under the water and we see a small wave ripple moving toward them, with the one guy then quickly going under. He then pops up, but so does Ray who then swings his crowbar at them.

We see Ray rise up behind a guy in a swamp.

Eden makes her way into a cemetery at night and then decides to head down into a large crypt where she finds a sarcophagus of sorts filled with dead and bloody bodies (and we hear the sound of flies there). Hearing Ray coming with another body, Eden climbs in with the dead bodies and tries to hide as that other body is tossed in near her. She tries to remain quiet but then sees that the added person is still alive. Her startled noises draw Ray's attention, with the other person sacrificing themselves by moving so that Ray drives a large screwdriver or slim knife into the person's head (we see it sticking out with bloody results).

We see the ripple of something under Ray's decomposing skin and then see an eyeball look out through one of the thinner sections of skin.

Eden slowly approaches Ray who's turned away from her, hoping to stab him with a large screwdriver or slim knife. He blocks her repeated jabs, however, but his arm catches on fire and she then tosses a bottle of booze on him, causing him to be engulfed in flames. She tries to push him away with a large candle stand, but he grabs that and both fall down into a deep chamber where they're separated by a gate. He tries to reach out and grab her, while snakes that come out of his skin also strike out at her as she scrambles to climb out and close the heavy lid on the chamber.

We see large snakes slither out through Ray's decomposing and charred skin.

Eden hears monstrous sounds and tries to take off in Ray's truck, grinding the gears as she tries to get the truck moving. As she drives off, Ray is suddenly at her window and grabs at her, with her kicking him in the face and back out the window. She then runs and hides in some bushes which Ray approaches and repeatedly strikes at, but she's already moved on.

Eden drives the large tow truck into Ray, smashing him back against a huge tree stump. His body comes apart, with his charred, bloody and decomposed torso (with only one arm) landing on the hood and views of his other arm and legs (all bloody) lying on the ground. We then see snakes slithering out of the open wounds at the bottom of his torso.

GUNS/WEAPONS

Rifle or shotgun/Crowbar/Screwdriver or slim knife/Large knife: Used to threaten, wound or kill others. See "Violence" for details.

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR

Phrases: "What the f*ck /ya'll looking at me for/are you talking about?" "Are you f*cking kidding me?" "Really f*cked up," "F*ck this," "Drunk f*cker," "My f*cking car," "Where the f*cking gun?" "Did you see that f*cking thing?" "F*cking great," "You f*cking got him," "F*ck this town," "F*ck you," "Bullsh*t," "Oh sh*t," "She needs to get over that sh*t," "Redneck piece of sh*t," "All this voodoo sh*t really weirds me out," "This is some weird sh*t," "Dead d*ck," "So long, sucker," "Screw up," "Get the hell out of the car," "Chewed his ass up," "Gonna have my ass," "Not now, bitch," "Bitchy," "Slut," "Shut up" and "Town freak."

Ray has some tattoos.

Tammy admits to stealing a bra and then says that she's a crook with a nice "rack" as she pulls down her top to reveal her bra and cleavage. She then does the same to Ray to taunt him (and then gives him "the finger").

It's possible some kids could be enticed to try some of the voodoo material that's present here, including turning a body into a voodoo doll.

Sean drives off on his motorcycle while drunk.

JUMP SCENES

A door suddenly opens in a tense scene.

Ray suddenly blasts through a window to attack a man (we don't see the death).

A figure suddenly passes by in the foreground of a shot.

Ray suddenly shows up a truck window, surprising Eden.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE)

An extreme amount of ominous and suspenseful music plays in the film.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE)

None.

PROFANITY

At least 22 "f" words, 16 "s" words, 2 slang term using male genitals ("d*ck"), 1 for breasts ("rack"), 3 asses, 2 damns, 2 hells, 7 uses of "Oh my God," 4 of "Jesus," 2 of "G-damn" and 1 use each of "Jesus Christ," "Oh God," "Swear to God" and "Swear to Jesus."

SEX/NUDITY

Tammy admits to stealing a bra and then says that she's a crook with a nice "rack" as she pulls down her top to reveal her bra and cleavage. She then does the same to Ray to taunt him (and then gives him "the finger").

Eden wears a tight top that accentuates her buxom figure.

Sean comments that Ray got his mom drunk in the past and left her pregnant (with him) but then adds that "doesn't make him my father."

Eden shows a little cleavage.

We see a young woman in a bikini before she jumps in some water with Sean and makes out with him there.

SMOKING

Ray smokes once.

TENSE FAMILY SCENES

Cece grieves over her grandmother's death (not played to any great extent).

There's talk of Eden's current mindset starting when her dad got sick (but nothing more is made of this, although we see her visiting his gravesite).

Sean comments that Ray got his mom drunk in the past and left her pregnant (with him) but then adds that "doesn't make him my father." He's not happy about that situation and later trashes Roy's places following the latter's death.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT

Voodoo.

We hear that Eric broke up with Eden over her deciding to go to college in New York rather than Baton Rogue.

Eden states that there's nothing in the town for her and that she doesn't want the town.

Eric feels guilty about not doing more to save Ray from drowning.

Sean comments that Ray got his mom drunk in the past and left her pregnant (with him) but then adds that "doesn't make him my father."

A comment is made that some people are born mean. Another is made about the same for being born gay or bitchy.

We hear that Cece's grandmother spared and saved the souls of murderers, sadists and such, milking the evil from them and keeping the evil in a suitcase (and that all of them are now inside Ray's body).

VIOLENCE

Snakes bite Ray after he saves Cece's grandmother (who ends up dying from a car accident with no impact to her) and he then drowns when her car plunges into some deep water (we don't see the actual drowning).

Ray suddenly blasts through a window to attack a man (we don't see the death).

Ray strikes a man on the neck with a crow bar, sending blood out and then hits him again with it, this time to the chest, slamming his body back against a vehicle (all in a heavily edited scene with jump cuts, etc.). We then see Ray dragging the body away.

Tammy slips on a large puddle of blood on the floor (getting it on her) and then sees a dead and bloody body suspended above her. Ray then closes the door as Tammy tries to run out but then finds herself trapped. She tries to run, but Ray lowers a car down off a lift onto her, pinning her to the floor. He then takes a high pressure air hose, shows how it can strip paint off a car door and then uses it on her (we see her point of view as he points the hose at her and we see her blood fly off back at him from the air).

Sean throws a car rim through a window at Ray's shop and then proceeds to break and overturn things inside it while angry about apparently having inherited the shop.

Rachel discovers that her car has been turned upside down and she and a guy then hear odd sounds in the swamp at night. When they see Ray, they run back toward Cece's grandmother's house, but Ray throws his crowbar that knocks Rachel to the ground. Others scramble to get her up and in the house, but one of the guys trips and falls on the steps where Ray impales his leg (with bloody results).

Ray rips off a guy's arm (we see that and the reaction of those inside who hear the attack). Ray uses the bloody arm to mark the exterior wall of a house with blood and then drags the body off (that's bloody and we see the bloody stump).

A chain blasts through a window, wraps around Sean and then yanks him outside where Ray starts to drag him away. Sean grabs something to stop that and Eric runs out to free his friend with Ray coming back after him, but he's blown backwards by a rifle or shotgun blast from Eden (but it doesn't kill him).

Ray strikes a person on the face with his crowbar (with bloody results) and then jams it into his chest (we see it come out his back with bloody/gory results). He doesn't die right away and is very bloody as are the hands of those who try but fail to save him.

Eden blasts Ray again with the gun, knocking him backwards but not killing him.

Ray yanks away the front of the house with a large chain attached to his tow truck, pulling away two people with it who then try to scramble away. From that action, a beam falls down onto two people inside the rest of the house, trapping one.

Cece repeatedly stabs a large knife down into a dead body that's been transformed into a voodoo doll, causing Ray pain as he tries to come after her.

Ray slits a young woman's throat, killing her (we see the bloody wound).

Three people try to drive away, but Ray arrives in his tow truck and bumps into them several times. He then throws a chain that wraps around a young woman's neck and starts to pull her from that vehicle to his truck, but Eden grabs her feet and they then have a tug of war over her. As they blast down the road, they see a fork in the road with a clump of trees in the middle. The vehicles then separate, with the woman being impaled on the sharp branches, killing her (with bloody results including a view of a branch through her body and the sounds of dripping blood).

Ray swings his crowbar at two people in a swamp.

Ray drives a large screwdriver or slim knife into a person's head (we see it sticking out with bloody results).

Eden hears monstrous sounds and tries to take off in Ray's truck, grinding the gears as she tries to get the truck moving. As she drives off, Ray is suddenly at her window and grabs at her, with her kicking him in the face and back out the window. She then runs and hides in some bushes which Ray approaches and repeatedly strikes at, but she's already moved on.

Eden drives the large tow truck into Ray, smashing him back against a huge tree stump. His body comes apart, with his charred, bloody and decomposed torso (with only one arm) landing on the hood and views of his other arm and legs (all bloody) lying on the ground.

Reviewed September 13, 2005 / Posted September 16, 2005

Other new and recent reviews include:

Privacy Statement and Terms of Use and Disclaimer
By entering this site you acknowledge to having read and agreed to the above conditions.

All Rights Reserved,
©1996-2022 Screen It, Inc.