Venom

Woefully archaic in its British B-pic reliance on very cheap thrills and very worn dramatic clichés, and without any self-parodic saving grace, Venom spells box-office poison. A kidnapped kid, a killer snake loose in the house, sibilant Teuton Kinski and sneering Bulldog Reed hamming villainy against each other, and Nicol Williamson the sorely tried bobby out in the sealed-off London street. Get the picture? There is more (by way of disgressive star turns, that is), but never enough to raise a glimmer of interest or tension in the static rituals of siege cinema.