Venom - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of Venom or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to Venom

[caroline]

Replacement director Piers Haggard thought the Black Mamba snake was the nicest person on set.

[stephanie]

Original director Tobe Hooper quit because of "creative differences". The original cinematographer Anthony B. Richmond also quit for the same reason after ten days of shooting.

[stephanie]

One of three filmed collaborations of actor Oliver Reed and actress Sarah Miles which each occurring in successive decades starting from the 1970s. The productions include The Big Sleep (1978), Venom (1981) and A Ghost in Monte Carlo (1990).

[richard]

In one scene cicadas can be heard even though they do not inhabit the British Isles.

[albert]

First of two English hostage thrillers which were released in subsequent years with The Final Option (1982) being the second. Both pictures feature a story element where the police / anti-terrorist squad break into a house through a wall and shoot at least one of the baddies.

[gerald]

Actress Cornelia Sharpe and producer Martin Bregman were married in the same 1981 year that this movie was first released.

[sandra]

A year after Alan Scholefield's book was published, another book about a Black Mamba, "The Snake" by John Godey (Morton Freedgood, who also wrote "The Taking of Pelham One Two Three") was published. In that book, a Black Mamba is smuggled into New York and escapes when the smuggler is mugged in Central Park. That book was nominated for an Edgar Award for best novel by the Mystery Writers of America.

[richard]

Leading lady Sarah Miles began to lose patience with leading man Klaus Kinski during filming. She tried to encourage both Oliver Reed and Nicol Williamson to put Kinski in his place and make the atmosphere more relaxed. However, both of them refused. Finally, Sarah Miles confronted Klaus Kinski as they passed each other on a flight of stairs. She gave the actor a piece of her mind by telling him what she thought of him. For the rest of the shoot, Kinski always greeted Miles with a "good morning" every day.

[oscar]

The reptile species of dangerous venomous snake in the movie was a "Black Mamba". It's zoological genus name is a "Dendroaspis polylepis". Website Wikipedia states that the Black Mamba "...is a highly venomous snake of the genus Dendroaspis, and is endemic to sub-Saharan Africa. It was first described in 1864 by Albert Günther. Despite its common name, the black mamba takes its name not from the colour of its scales, but from the interior of its mouth, which is inky-black. It is the longest species of venomous snake in Africa, and the second-longest venomous snake in the world after the king cobra. The adult snake's length typically ranges from 2 meters (6.6 ft) to 3 meters (9.8 ft), although larger examples have been recorded. It is also the fastest moving snake in Africa, and one of the fastest moving snakes in the world, capable of moving at 11 km/h (6.8 mph) over short distances. Black mambas breed annually and mating occurs in the early spring."

[kim]

This was originally set up by Paramount around 1977 with Sean Connery lined up to star. David Sherwin wrote the first script treatment.

[brent]

The original script title of the later blockbuster movie Snakes on a Plane (2006) was "Venom".

[fred]

Child actor Lance Holcomb received an 'introducing' credit.

[wesley]

Klaus Kinski took his role in this movie over an offer to appear in Steven Spielberg's Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) because he was offered more money. Kinski has said in his autobiography 'All I Need Is Love: A Memoir' aka 'Kinski Uncut: The Autobiography of Klaus Kinski' (1988, 1996) that he thought the screenplay for Raiders was "moronically shitty".

[manuel]

Klaus Kinski proved to be decidedly difficult during production. He was reputed to have walked off the set for little or no reason and on more than one occasion.

[sophie]

Oliver Reed also appeared in another killer snake film Spasms (1983) which was shot the same year as Venom but didn't come out for another two years.

[frederick]

Final theatrical feature film of actress Rita Webb and actors Arnold Diamond and Sterling Hayden.

[janice]

Some movie posters for the film featured a long blurb that referenced a number of earlier horror-suspense pictures. It stated: "The Mystery of 'The Birds (1963)'. The Danger of 'Psycho (1960)'. The evil of 'The Omen (1976)'. The terror of 'Jaws (1975)'. Now, the ultimate in suspense".

[camila]

Some of the key cast have played iconic characters in the horror film genre. Oliver Reed was a werewolf in The Curse of the Werewolf (1961), Nicol Williamson was an exorcist in The Exorcist III (1990) and Klaus Kinski was Dracula in Werner Herzog's Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979)

[cameron]

After US Against the World (1977) and Tomorrow Never Comes (1978), this was third and final collaboration between Oliver Reed and Susan George.