Sunday, October 1, 2017

Episode 111 - Kukla, Snakes and Ollie

More Oliver Reed? Yes, Please!  We turn positively reptilian this episode with two films that combine the slithery goodness of a dangerous snakes, with the sweaty power of Mr. Oliver Reed. We start off with 1981's Venom, which also includes Sarah Miles, Sterling Hayden, Nicol Williamson and the always interesting Klaus Kinski. Combining a police procedural with home invasion, and then plopping the world's most dangerous snake into the air ducts, this is a real stew of great elements.  It works,  and we recommend it.  We follow that up with 1983's Spasms, which adds Peter Fonda as a psychiatrist who is asked to study an ESP link between Oliver Reed and a huge, demonic snake. With a few brief moments of Dick Smith makeup effects and a handful of vicious snake attacks, it mostly sucks. We cannot, in good conscious, recommend Spasms, but the similarities to Venom forced us to include it in the show. Please let us know what you thought of the show by writing to flickersfrom@yahoo.com or flickersfrom@gmail.com or just leave us a message on our Facebook page.