Just when you thought it was safe to go back in swamps…..

VENOM. Was anyone aware of the fact that this movie had a wide release last weekend?! Or so Yahoo! Movies tells me. There’s a slight possibility that I might have heard of this movie, somewhere before. At least it seems familiar. Although that could also be because the trailer which I just saw for this Fall Dimension release, resonates with all the stale stereotypes of your typical creature feature.

Creature movies are a quirky little sub-genre. Usually part science fiction and part horror, these types of films run the gammet from silly B-movie fun to classy pyschological thrillers. Alien, Them!, The Thing, Lake Placid, Alligator, Jaws, Arachnaphobia, Birds, The Creature of the Black Lagoon, and that’s just for starters. The list goes on and on, but what is strking to me is the variance in style and execution. Now many people would look at Birds or Jaws and say, those are film classics –those ARE NOT creature films. But technically speaking, they are. The central plot revolves around people under seige from a creature. Creature attacks unknowning victims, protagonist discovers what the creature is about, the protagonist flees from the creature, and then eventually faces them in order to destroy them. Of course what differentiates the good, from the bad, and the ugly, is being able to create an underlying story and journey for the characters who are running and battling for their life. Even the creature flicks which are goofy and silly ---like The Blob for instance, can be perfectly entertaing if they keep some levity, and have a self-awareness about the tone they are achieving.

It doesn’t look like Venom falls into either the good or the so bad its good category. It looks just….bad. An old voodoo curse is somehow kept in a suitcase for years, but when it is opened, an evil force is unleahsed which turns a man into a killer snake humanoid monster. A bunch of scared cute teens scream and run around on cue.

Ta da!

Many people roll their eyes at creature movies, --I do not. (Who’s excited for Snakes on a Plane? Me! Me!) They can be good or at least entertaining when there’s some thought put behind them. I almost fell asleep when I was watching the Venom trailer. Been There, Done that. See for yourself .