Venomous is a 2001 horror/thriller directed by B-Movie regular Fred Olen Ray and starring Treat Williams, Mary Page Keller, Geoff Pierson, Catherine Dent, Tony Denison, Hannes Jaenicke, and Marc McClure.
In 1991, Iraqi commandos blow up a top secret US biological weapons lab, destroying everything inside except for rattlesnakes genetically engineered to be as vicious as possible and to spread a deadly virus with their bite. The rattlesnakes retreat into a den beneath the earth, and are brought to the surface by earthquakes several years later in a small Californian town and begin spreading the disease, and local doctor David Hennings (Williams) investigates, calling his ex-wife Christine (Keller), a doctor working closely with the US Military, for help in containing the plague. Unfortunately, her superiors Generals Sparks (Denison) and Manchek (Pierson) were in charge of creating the snakes, and seek to cover it up by any means possible. With the military occupying the town, the killer snakes on the loose, and Sparks scheming to have the town bombed into oblivion, David and Christine have to stop both the rattlesnakes and cure the virus.
In other words, it’s Outbreak WITH SNAKES!, and indeed uses stock footage from the film; it also takes several plot elements (and even more stock footage) from the television film Silent Predators, though the film does use tons of live rattlesnakes in original scenes.
List of tropes applying to this film:
- Asshole Victim: General Sparks, who gets done in by a mix of his own trigger happiness and the rattlesnakes.
- Cute Kitten: Sally, the adorable stray kitten that gets eaten by a rattlesnake.
- Deadpan Snarker: David, like most characters played by Treat Williams, has quite a dry wit and a sharp tongue.
- Expy: Plenty to characters from Outbreak.
- Dr. David Hennings for Dr. Sam Daniels, being the man who brings the attention of the military to the virus and tries to stop it while dealing with corrupt and cruel officials and putting himself in danger.
- Dr. Christine Edmonton-Hennings for Dr. Robby Keough, being the hero’s ex-wife and a brilliant doctor who works with the military only to catch on to their corruption, tries to help, and winds up being infected with the virus and the first person to be cured.
- General Arthur Manchek for General Billy Ford, a friend and superior of one of the heroes who played a role in the creation/spread of the virus and wants to cover it up, but is reluctant to harm innocents and ultimately turns against his far more cruel colleague for the sake of saving lives.
- General Thomas Sparks for General Donnie McClintock, both being General Rippers who had a hand in the creation/spread of the virus and tries to destroy the town that was infected, killing everyone in it, just so he doesn’t have to admit to his role in it.
- General Ripper: General Sparks.
- Heel–Face Turn: General Manchek, though General Sparks winds up shooting him for it.
- Hellish Copter: General Sparks is killed when his helicopter out of town is swarmed by snakes, and his firing at the snakes results in him killing the pilot and causing the helicopter to explode.
- Large Ham: Frank.
- Mauve Shirt: Several of the victims get their personalities fleshed out before being killed.
- Redemption Equals Death: After General Manchek refuses to bomb the town or kill Christine and David, pointing out that it’s actually really easy to kill the rattlesnakes, General Sparks shoots him.
- Success Through Insanity: Frank, who manages to escape with his brother Larry from the hospital while drunk off his ass through the powers of waving a gun around while yelling at the top of his lungs and keeps a rocket launcher in his car.
- Snakes Are Sinister: The rattlesnakes, who are mean, vicious, and highly deadly.
