Venom (1971 film)

Venom (also known as The Legend of Spider Forest, and Spider's Venom) is a 1971 British horror film directed by Peter Sykes in his directorial debut.[3][4]

Venom
Opening title
Directed byPeter Sykes
Screenplay byDonald Ford
Derek Ford
additional dialogue
Christopher Wicking
Based onan original story by Stephen Collins
Produced byMichael Pearson
Kenneth F. Rowles
StarringSimon Brent
Neda Arnerić
Sheila Allen
CinematographyPeter Jessop
Edited byStephen Collins
Music byJohn Simco Harrison
Production
companies
Cupid Productions
Action Plus Productions
Distributed byCupid Productions (UK)
New Line Cinema (USA)
Release dates
2 May 1974 (UK)[1]
1974 (US)
Running time
90 min.[2]
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Plot

A Nazi scientist and a woman known as a "spider goddess" attempt to develop a nerve gas made from spider venom.

Cast

Production

Cupid Films was the company of Michael Pearson, son of one of the wealthiest peers in England. (Cupid had made Sympathy for the Devil and Vanishing Point.[5][6]

Peter Sykes said when he was asked to make the film a script already existed. Sykes rewrote the script and the producers told him he had changed it too much from the original, which had received financial backing. So it changed it back while keeping some changes. "The film looked beautiful," said Sykes, saying he was influenced by Sunrise. The film led to Hammer Films offering him Demons of the Mind.[7]

Filming took place in October 1970 at Twickenham Studios and on location.[8] Peter Sykes called it "more of a romantic fantasy with horror overtones. It touches on the genre I’m most interested in, which is the psychological horror story — Cat People and films like that. It’s a kind of comic strip myth."[9]

Release

Home media

The film was released on DVD by Cav Distributing Corporation on Jan. 31, 2006, as a part of a double-feature alongside God Told Me To. It was later released by W Video on May 2, 2017 under its alternate name Spider's Venom.[10]

Reception

Time Out London gave the film a mixed review, criticizing the film's script as being "full of holes", but commended the film's "tautly visual" action, and imaginative direction.[11] Dave Sindelar of Fantastic Movie Musings and Ramblings gave the film a negative review, criticizing the film's confusing plot, "jagged" direction, and poor camerawork.[12]

References
  1. "VENOM | British Board of Film Classification". Archived from the original on 2019-04-24. Retrieved 2020-05-31.
  2. "VENOM | British Board of Film Classification". bbfc.co.uk.
  3. VENOM Monthly Film Bulletin; London Vol. 41, Iss. 480, (Jan 1, 1974): 136.
  4. "VENOM | British Board of Film Classification". www.bbfc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2018-11-15.
  5. "A man from Cupid". Evening Standard. 22 February 1969. p. 7.
  6. "Life with a monastic touch for mr pearson". Liverpool Daily Post. 3 December 1971. p. 8.
  7. Gilbert, Basil (July 1977). "Peter Sykes". Cinema Papers. p. 36.
  8. "Her name means no-yes". Thanet Times and East Kent Pictorial. 20 October 1970. p. 12.
  9. Pirie, David (April 1971). "New Blood". Sight and Sound. p. 75.
  10. "The Legend of Spider Forest (1974) - Peter Sykes". Allmovie.com. Allmovie. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  11. "Venom 1971, directed by Peter Sykes". TimeOut.com. Time Out London. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  12. Sindelar, Dave (24 April 2015). "The Legend of Spider Forest (1971)". FantasticMovieMusings.com. Fantastic Movie Musings and Ramblings. Retrieved 19 November 2019.


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