|
|
|
Venom
R2 - United Kingdom - Fabulous Films Review written by and copyright: Samuel Scott (9th July 2015). |
|
The Film
 ***This is an A/V and Extras review only. For reviews on the movie from various critics, we recommend visiting HERE.*** Whilst enjoying his holiday in a Tyrolean village, artist Paul Greville encounters the young and beautiful Helen, a waif-like siren who roams the woods alone, possessing a scar in the form of a spider on her shoulder. Back at the inn, Paul finds trouble in the form of innkeeper Johanne, together with his seductive daughter Anna, whom seduce and exploit Paul's affable nature. When Paul is attacked by Johanne's thugs, the inn-keeper winds up dead, sparking a man-hunt by Anna who becomes desperate for revenge... Now on the run, Helen takes Paul to her father's cottage, where a diabolical series of experiments is being conducted which involve animals. Using money from stolen paintings to finance his fiendish scientific dabblings, Paul is again placed in a procarious position involving Helen's father, who is desperately trying to create a deadly nerve gas - but not before Anna's henchmen, hot on their heels, close in for the film's terrifyingly "explosive" confrontation.
Video
Independent British distributor Fabulous Films continue to release lesser known titles of yesteryear with seventies British horror title "Venom". They provide the film in the original aspect ratio of 2.35:1 and the transfer is anamorphic. It's a bit of a mixed bag, but overall, better than I was expecting. When the film opens, we get a "Restored by Pinewood" screen, giving the impression that the master may well be relatively recent. After that, we are shown the original BBFC X certificate which will be of interest to some. I haven't experienced "Venom" before, so I can't summarise how it has looked on TV or elsewhere, but I must say that for the most part, the print is surprisingly clean. Most scenes show little to no damage, and restoration is reasonable. However, it is marred by other scenes such as that at 28:45, which is littered with dirt and has several large scratches running the length of the screen. The main issue with the transfer tends to be consistency. Another case in point is how the colours and details are shown. Some scenes show some very nice close-up details, and the colours look good, yet other scenes are very fuzzy and details are non-existent. Blacks aren't as deep as they should be, but are not problematic. Internal scenes do fair better than external scenes, with more in-depth clarity. There are some noticeable stability issues at several points, though they don't tend to last longer than a split second. Some of the framing seems a little awkward with tops of heads slightly cut, but I am unsure if it has always been like that as I'm not familiar with the film. "Venom" does not look great, but it certainly looks better than other films of the era and genre that some would consider forgotten. This is an adequate transfer, and fans will be relatively satisfied. The feature is uncut and runs 87:59.
Audio
Fabulous Films have provided a single English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono track for this release, which like the transfer, people will be happy with, but it certainly won't go winning any awards any time soon. Dialogue is clear at all times (if flat), though I did find that Neda Arneric's heavy Eastern European (Serbian?) accent was a bit of a stumbling block for me on occasion. The syncing was also slightly out during a couple of lines of dialogue. The score by John Simco Harrison is quite prevalent but never overpowering. Effects are good but not great, with some more distinct sounds, such as a gun shot, sounding restrained. There are no major issues with drop outs, pops or scratches, but there is the misfortune of some mild background hiss in the odd scene. No subtitles are included.
Extras
None.
Overall
"Venom" is a pretty mediocre seventies British horror given a satisfactory presentation from Fabulous Films in what we believe to be the first ever licensed home media release on DVD (there are some unauthorised black market releases in the US it seems). If you're a fan of this genre and time in British cinema, this is worth picking up as filler.
|
|||||
|