History Film / Venom1981

* {{Fingore}}: Müller gives Cmmdr. Bulloch a severed finger which he claims belongs to Dr. Stowe. It turns out he’s lying, and it belonged to some random corpse.

* BoomHeadshot: [[spoiler:The black mamba has it's head blown off by a police sniper at the climax of the film.]]

* SpecialEffectsFailure: Creator/KlausKinksi is clearly just flailing a toy rubber snake around during his balcony death scene (he even intentionally winds it around his arm at one point to simulate the snake coiling).

* PoliceAreUseless: Averted. Despite not taking Dr. Stove's warning that Philip has taken home the black mamba seriously, an officer is still dispatched to the Hopkins residence to warn them. Then further averted by Cmmdr. Bulloch, who is a ReasonableAuthorityFigure who handles the crisis as best he can, listens to Dr. Stove, and comes up with a way to free the hostages that only fails because the black mamba attacks.

* TheWorldsExpertOnGettingKilled: [[spoiler:Subverted. Despite being taken hostage by Müller, Dr. Stove manages to escape unscathed.]]

* DecoyProtagonist: The main protagonist of the film initially seems to be Howard Anderson, but it soon becomes clear it is an ensemble cast. The closest to a protagonist would be Cmmdr. William Bulloch, the police officer in charge of dealing with the hostage situation. Downplayed, as Howard still remains the most prominent of the hostages.

%% * GroinAttack: [[spoiler:Dave]]'s death is a nightmarish example.
%% * LargeHam: Dave, mainly thanks to shouting almost all the time.

''Venom'' is a 1981 British horror film [[TheFilmOfTheBook based on]] the novel of the same name by Alan Scholefield, directed by Piers Haggard and starring Creator/SterlingHayden (in his final film role), Creator/OliverReed, Creator/KlausKinski, Nicol Williamson, Sarah Miles, Susan George, and Creator/MichaelGough.

* AlasPoorVillain: [[spoiler:Dave]] was a psychotic asshole, but his death is so [[GroinAttack cringeworthy]] that its hard not to pity him.
* AxCrazy:
** Dave, to the point Creator/KlausKinski looks like the sane one in comparison.
** The black mamba, which is a naturally aggressive and paranoid snake that, when in an enclosed space, [[UpToEleven gets even more aggressive and attacks everything in sight.]] Since a house is an enclosed space, this is bad news for both the kidnappers and the hostages.
* BigBadEnsemble: Müller, the leader of the kidnappers, and the black mamba.

* BrattyHalfpint: Dr. Stowe's teenage daughter.
* {{Catchphrase}}: Dave’s “He’s a cheeky little bastard!”

* ColdHam: Müller.
* DeadpanSnarker: Howard, and to a lesser extent Commander Bulloch.

* GreatWhiteHunter: Howard used to be this, but has long since retired.
* GroinAttack: [[spoiler:Dave]]'s death is a nightmarish example.
* LargeHam: Dave, mainly thanks to shouting almost all the time.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Cmmdr. Bulloch.

[[caption-width-right:325:Not ''that'' one, Marvel fans.]]

* GreatWhiteHunter: Howard used to be this, but hasn’t long since retired.

* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: The Officer who goes to the Hopkins’ house to warn them about the black mamba is shot by Dave for his troubles.

* MsFanservice: Hello Susan George as the Hopkins' sexy maid.[[spoiler: Unfortunately she becomes a Ms. Disservice when the mamba gets her and she tries to take on her male co-stars in the [[ChewingTheScenery scenery-chewing]] department.]]

* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:The only victims the black mamba claims are the kidnappers.]]

[[caption-width-right:325:Not ''[[ComicBook/{{Venom}} that]]'' one, Marvel fans.]]

Not to be confused with the [[Film/Venom2018 2018 film adaptation]] of the Marvel comic book character.

[[caption-width-right:325:Not ''that'' one, Marvel fans.]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/venom_poster_01_9.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Not ''that'' one, Marvel fans.]]
''Venom'' is a 1981 British horror film starring Creator/SterlingHayden in his final film role, Creator/OliverReed, Creator/KlausKinski, Nicol Williamson, Sarah Miles, Susan George, and Creator/MichaelGough based off the novel of the same name by Alan Scholefield. Master criminal Jacques Müller recruits Dave and Louise, the servants of the rich Hopkins family, to kidnap 10 year-old Philip Hopkins. Unfortunately, a series of circumstances result in them kidnapping Philip's grandfather Howard Anderson and having to hole up inside of the Hopkins' home, which is now surrounded by the police. Oh, and a harmless pet snake Philip bought was accidentally swapped with a black mamba, the deadliest snake alive, which is currently loose in the house.

* AxCrazy: Dave, to the point Creator/KlausKinski looks like the sane one in comparison.

* PoliceAreUseless: Averted. Despite not taking Dr. Stove's warning that Philip has taken home the black mamba, an officer is still dispatched to the Hopkins residence to warn them. Then further averted by Cmmdr. Bulloch, who is a ReasonableAuthorityFigure who handles the crisis as best he can, listens to Dr. Stove, and comes up with a way to free the hostages that only fails because the black mamba attacks.

* {{Catchprase}}: Dave’s “He’s a cheeky little bastard!”

* DeadpanSnarker: Howard.

* BadassGrandpa: Howard is a retired GreatWhiteHunter and is played by Creator/SterlingHayden, so he definitely qualifies.

'''''Venom''''' is a 1981 British horror film starring Creator/SterlingHayden in his final film role, Creator/OliverReed, Creator/KlausKinski, Nicol Williamson, Sarah Miles, Susan George, and Creator/MichaelGough based off the novel of the same name by Alan Scholefield. Master criminal Jacques Müller recruits Dave and Louise, the servants of the rich Hopkins family, to kidnap 10 year-old Philip Hopkins. Unfortunately, a series of circumstances result in them kidnapping Philip's grandfather Howard Anderson and having to hole up inside of the Hopkins' home, which is now surrounded by the police. Oh, and a harmless pet snake Philip bought was accidentally swapped with a black mamba, the deadliest snake alive, which is currently loose in the house.

* AlasPoorVillain: [[spoiler:Dave]] was a psychotic asshole, but his death is so [[HroinAttack cringeworthy]] that its hard not to pity him.

* {{Fingore}}: Müller gives Cmmdr. Bulloch a severed finger which he claims belongs to Dr. Stowe. It turns out he’s lying, and it belonged to some random corpse.

** The black mamba, which is a naturally aggressive and paranoid snake that, when in an enclosed space, [[UpToEleven gets even ore aggressive and attacks everything in sight.]] Since a house is an enclosed space, this is bad news for both the kidnappers and the hostages.

* TheWorldsExpertOnGettingKilled: [[spoiler:Subverted. Despite being taken hostage by Müller, Dr. Stove manages to escape unscathed.]]