[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Venom (1971)

A bizarre British oddity set in Austria involving a mystical spider, a nymphet running in the woods, neo-Nazis and chemical weapons.

Thankfully filmed in the Tyrol rather than trying to pass waste ground two miles north of London as the Alps, the film has a great location and a wonderfully chilling atmosphere to it even though it doesn't quite know what sort of film it wants to be.

The story seems to take an age to get to the real plot regarding spider venom being made into deadly nerve toxin and there's a lot of running through the woods to get to this point, yet the film is never dull as there are so many random acts of sex and violence that spice up proceedings as we go along.

Stylish and yet clumsy at the same time, Venom is one of those films that definitely needs a second viewing.