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Speaker 1: Hey, welcome to Weird House Cinema. Rewind.

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Speaker 2: This is Rob Lamb and this is Joe McCormick, and

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Speaker 2: today we're featuring an older episode of Weird House Cinema.

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Speaker 2: This one originally published November twelfth, twenty twenty one, and

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Speaker 2: this is the movie Venom, starring Oliver Reed klaus Kinski.

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Speaker 2: A bunch of snakes this is in this. It's got

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Speaker 2: a fun British cast, and it's snakes in an apartment

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Speaker 2: building or a singular snake in an apartment building.

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Speaker 1: Nicol Williamson is also in this.

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Speaker 2: That's right.

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Speaker 1: Yes, it's got a real fun cast for sure.

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Speaker 3: Welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio.

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Speaker 1: Hey, welcome to Weird House Cinema. This is Rob Lamb.

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Speaker 2: And I'm Joe McCormick, and it is the Serpentine Hour

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Speaker 2: here on Weird House Cinema. Because today Rob am I

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Speaker 2: right that this is our first snake movie.

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Speaker 1: It is. I mean, we've certainly had some snakes and

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Speaker 1: even killer snakes pop up in some of our Florida

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Speaker 1: movies that we did, including Zat and Frogs, but Venom

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Speaker 1: is going to be our first true snake movie.

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Speaker 2: Now, this movie is called Venom. But no, it's not

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Speaker 2: that Venom. No, it's not that other one either. It's

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Speaker 2: this is Venom nineteen eighty one, the original Venom.

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Speaker 1: Or well, one of the original venoms. I noticed that

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Speaker 1: there are multiple films with the title Venom, so I'm

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Speaker 1: not sure if this one is the true originator, but

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Speaker 1: it's the one that we're talking about here today.

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Speaker 2: Man, I love a good snake romp. You know, a

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Speaker 2: snake movie. Really it just gets you by the gut sometimes.

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Speaker 2: So I love, as we've discussed before, the campy supernatural

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Speaker 2: pleasures of the Layer of the White Worm to even

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Speaker 2: what I would argue is maybe the best creature feature

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Speaker 2: of all time, the nineteen ninety seven Amazon snake hunt

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Speaker 2: movie Anaconda, in which the cardinal rule of great snake

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Speaker 2: movies is observed. And this is what I would argue.

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Speaker 2: The rule is any creature movie featuring an unusually large

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Speaker 2: or unusually deadly reptile must also contain at least one

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Speaker 2: human actor who is more reptilian than the creature itself. Now,

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Speaker 2: in the case of Anaconda, you've got your giant cgi reptile,

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Speaker 2: but it is being constantly upstaged by John Voight, delivering

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Speaker 2: one of the most bizarre performances I have ever seen

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Speaker 2: in any movie. You know, you just look at him.

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Speaker 2: You can tell his blood is room temperature. When he

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Speaker 2: blinks his eyes they go horizontal, and his accent is

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Speaker 2: just radioactive weirdness. He sounds like he's trying to sort

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Speaker 2: of be Peter Lorie doing a like Spanish Count Dracula

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Speaker 2: kind of thing, but also as a ruthless jungle poacher

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Speaker 2: with a ponytail. So that movie definitely here's to the rule.

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Speaker 2: But I think today's pick also observes the rule.

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Speaker 1: That's right. Venom is a very interesting film in a

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Speaker 1: large part because it features not one, but two notoriously

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Speaker 1: difficult actors, Oliver Reid and Kloss Kinski. And there's actually

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Speaker 1: another reportedly difficult actor in this as well, so you

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Speaker 1: can really up that to three. But it's especially evident

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Speaker 1: with Reid and Kinski based on some of the stories

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Speaker 1: and the fact that they share a lot of screen

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Speaker 1: time in this film, so you can imagine if they

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Speaker 1: were constantly shouting at each other and almost coming to blows,

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Speaker 1: it would it would have been a particularly terrible working

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Speaker 1: environment for everyone on the picture.

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Speaker 2: You can feel the bad vibes through the screen.

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Speaker 1: Yes, Now, I mean luckily they're both playing villains, and

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Speaker 1: the characters are also supposed to somewhat hate each other,

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Speaker 1: so on the screen, you know, putting a setting aside

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Speaker 1: anything we know about the making of and these actors themselves,

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Speaker 1: you know, it ends up working. But yeah, both Kinsky

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Speaker 1: and Reed were kind of larger than life figures. Both

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Speaker 1: were noted hedonists in their own ways, and they were

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Speaker 1: both highly talented actors whose careers were damaged by their

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Speaker 1: difficult behavior. So I think it's fair to say that,

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Speaker 1: you know, at the very least, they were both very

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Speaker 1: problematic figures.

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Speaker 2: Well, if you're talking about their personal lives, I think,

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Speaker 2: especially in the case of Kinsky, that's sort of an understatement.

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Speaker 1: Oh yes, yeah, I feel like every time I learned

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Speaker 1: something new about Kinski, I regret it. Now, you know,

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Speaker 1: we're not going to focus that guess too much on

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Speaker 1: their personal lives, but you know, I admit that I

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Speaker 1: don't necessarily have the stomach for too much of that

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Speaker 1: sort of thing. But you know, some argue that Reed

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Speaker 1: sort of played up this hell raiser image for the press,

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Speaker 1: though there seems no denying his alcoholism and his also

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Speaker 1: kind of like brute, macho demeanor. Kinsky, on the other hand,

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Speaker 1: was prone to outbursts and tantrums, it seems, and seems

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Speaker 1: to have suffered from mental illness. He also was apparently

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Speaker 1: just reviled by many people who had to work with him,

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Speaker 1: and I think Werner Herzog kind of stands apart as

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Speaker 1: really the only filmmaker to have been able to work

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Speaker 1: with him multiple times for a total of five different films.

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Speaker 1: It's interesting to me though, that Kinski played a vampire

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Speaker 1: in two different Nosferato films and Reed played a werewolf

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Speaker 1: in one Hammer film. So you know, to a large extent,

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Speaker 1: we have vampires versus werewolves in this movie, and behind

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Speaker 1: the scenes on this movie, the vampire and the werewolf

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Speaker 1: really do seem like monstrous reflections of the individual energies

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Speaker 1: of these two actors.

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Speaker 2: Okay, so we know we're dealing with Klaus Kinski and

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Speaker 2: Oliver Reed both in a snake movie. But the weird

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Speaker 2: thing is it's not just a snake movie. Really. What

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Speaker 2: this is is a genre hybrid. This is a realistic

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Speaker 2: crime thriller plus snake.

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Speaker 1: Yes, another elevator pitch on at give it is a

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Speaker 1: deadly game of cat and mouse, but mostly snake.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Or home alone but with snake.

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Speaker 2: All good ways of summing it up. Another way you

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Speaker 2: could sum it up is bad at crime, good at

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Speaker 2: dying by snake.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. The bad at crime note is good. And this

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Speaker 1: is one of those where those films where the criminal

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Speaker 1: enterprise is perhaps not entirely well thought out and or

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Speaker 1: bad and or mistakes are made that just lead to catastrophe.

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Speaker 1: So it's, you know, in a way, it's more in

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Speaker 1: sort of the Fargo realm of crime cinema, Like these

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Speaker 1: are guys who really screw up and make mistakes that

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Speaker 1: are just catastrophic for their venture.

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Speaker 2: I also want to note that in terms of boo mechanics,

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Speaker 2: I think there are basically two kinds of snake movies.

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Speaker 2: So you could have like a big snake movie and

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Speaker 2: a stealth snake movie. So big snake movies would be

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Speaker 2: more like anaconda. They focus on the scale of snake

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Speaker 2: in order to intimidate, and this is either by having

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Speaker 2: a single very large snake or by having a large

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Speaker 2: quantity of regular sized snakes. But your stealth snake movies

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Speaker 2: have a snake instead that is regular sized, maybe especially deadly,

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Speaker 2: but it hides in places you don't expect and pops

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Speaker 2: out at you. And this is a film in the

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Speaker 2: latter camp. This is a stealth snake movie. This is

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Speaker 2: a movie about opening up the liquor cabinet and oops,

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Speaker 2: there's a black mamba and it bits you on the face.

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Speaker 2: Though it would be hilarious to try to imagine doing

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Speaker 2: the same premises this movie like a realistic crime thriller

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Speaker 2: involving a kidnapping plot plus snake with like a giant

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Speaker 2: snake or a million snakes.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, I guess you could do a million snakes.

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Speaker 1: It could be like the a million snakes are set

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Speaker 1: loose in the house. I mean, isn't snakes on a

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Speaker 1: plane essentially that It's like there's something else going on, right,

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Speaker 1: It's not just snakes on the plane and they're like

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Speaker 1: a hostage scenario or something.

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Speaker 2: Can I confess something. I've never seen all of Snakes

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Speaker 2: on a Plane. I started watching it and never finished it.

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Speaker 1: I have to assume there's something else going on beside snakes.

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Speaker 2: So yeah, I think there is a perfunctory crime element,

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Speaker 2: like somebody it's like a witness in a mob case

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Speaker 2: or something is being transported on a plane. But I

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Speaker 2: would say snakes on a plane goes big snake because

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Speaker 2: the issue is there are many snakes on the plane.

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Speaker 1: This film, with the single snake threat, it reminds me

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Speaker 1: a lot of the Sherlock Holmes adventure, The Adventure of

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Speaker 1: the Speckled Band, which concerns like a very deadly, venomous

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Speaker 1: snake that is responsible for a death. And I wouldn't

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Speaker 1: be surprised if that was ultimately one of the inspirations

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Speaker 1: on this story.

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Speaker 2: Well, I think it's got a lot of actors who

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Speaker 2: were in Sherlock Holmes movies and TV series in Britain.

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Speaker 1: Right, Yeah, Yeah, we have more than more than one

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Speaker 1: Sherlock Holmes connection here for sure. Well let's go ahead

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Speaker 1: and jump right into the trailer.

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Speaker 4: Here venom, the kidnap that became a murder, that became

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Speaker 4: a siege, that became a death trap. Venom.

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Speaker 5: The fear explodes, trapping their hostages and kidnappers in its grip.

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Speaker 5: The panic spreads, sending an entire police force into action.

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Speaker 5: But this is a terror unlike anything anyone has ever faced.

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Speaker 5: And when it uncoils to strike, your blood will run cold. Venom.

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Speaker 1: Whatever you feel you will fear.

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Speaker 4: Venom.

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Speaker 2: Dude, this is classic creature feature narration trailer, narration. I

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Speaker 2: absolutely love it. What does he say, venom, the kidnap

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Speaker 2: that became a murder, that became a sea, that became

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Speaker 2: a death trap. Venom.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. They do a really good job of selling this

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Speaker 1: movie in that trailer.

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Speaker 2: Uh huh. And he also says this line. I kept

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Speaker 2: thinking about it. I was like, what does it mean?

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Speaker 2: He says, whatever you feel you will fear. Does that

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Speaker 2: mean that once you start thinking about snakes, Like anytime

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Speaker 2: something touches your body, I don't know, you brush against

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Speaker 2: the doorframe as you're walking through it, or I don't know,

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Speaker 2: like a leaf falls on your shoulder, you're always gonna

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Speaker 2: think it's a snake.

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Speaker 1: I guess. So, if we're being generous, I guess that's

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Speaker 1: maybe what the ad copy here is trying to say.

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Speaker 2: What else would it mean? That's a weird line.

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Speaker 1: Whatever you feel you will fear. I don't know, it

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Speaker 1: doesn't really make much sense in the context of the film.

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Speaker 2: I feel happy.

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Speaker 1: Oh no, maybe it was the director of the actors.

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Speaker 1: They just said like they're like, well, what's my character,

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Speaker 1: what's my motivation? And the director's just I don't know,

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Speaker 1: whatever you feel you'll fear, And they're like, okay, because

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Speaker 1: it does seem like, for the most part, a lot

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Speaker 1: of these actors were just kind of turned loose to

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Speaker 1: just do their thing with the character, and there's not

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Speaker 1: really necessarily a great sense of who the underlying character

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Speaker 1: is supposed to be.

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Speaker 2: Do you remember how did you come across this movie?

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Speaker 2: What's the origin story here?

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Speaker 1: I have a couple of different blu rays of just

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Speaker 1: trailers from like the seventies and eighties, and I was

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Speaker 1: watching a compilation and this one popped up and I

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Speaker 1: was like, oh, now this looks interesting.

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Speaker 2: I suspected that because this is very much one where

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Speaker 2: if you see the trailer, you're like, yep, okay, gotta

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Speaker 2: see that one.

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Speaker 1: Well, let's jump right in and talk about the various

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Speaker 1: humans and the snakes involved in this film. So the

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Speaker 1: director is Peers Haggard born nineteen thirty nine. Interestingly enough,

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Speaker 1: Toby Hooper was going to direct this picture originally, and

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Speaker 1: I think may have been working on it a little bit,

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Speaker 1: but then he had to bow out for some reason.

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Speaker 1: And I think they're varying accounts as to why, and

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Speaker 1: then enters Haggard here, who had previously directed the nineteen

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Speaker 1: seventy one British horror film The Blood on Satan's Claw,

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Speaker 1: A Divorce, The Quartermass Conclusion, also the Peter Sellers comedy

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Speaker 1: The fiendish plot of Doctor Fu Manchu, which everyone seemed

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Speaker 1: to hate in nineteen eighty and did still very much

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Speaker 1: hated today, seemingly with good reason. And he also directed

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Speaker 1: various TV episodes. He went on to do more TV

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Speaker 1: and a potentially interesting looking sci fi film, a TV

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Speaker 1: film titled The Life Force Experiment in nineteen ninety four.

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Speaker 1: Another interesting thing about him is he was dialogue assistant

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Speaker 1: on the nineteen sixty six film blow Up.

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Speaker 2: So he did the Life Force Experiment and he was

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Speaker 2: He came in to direct a movie that Toby Hooper

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Speaker 2: was going to direct, and Toby Hooper directed Life Force.

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Speaker 1: Right. I don't know that there's any connection between Life

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Speaker 1: Force and the Life Force Experiment, but certainly the names

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Speaker 1: are similar. Now, this is an adaptation of a novel,

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Speaker 1: it's worth stressing. The original novel, Venom, was written by

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Speaker 1: Alan Scholfield, who lived nineteen thirty one through twenty seventeen,

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Speaker 1: a South African author who I think lived most of it,

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Speaker 1: may have lived most of his life in England. I

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Speaker 1: think it was like London based or something. But this

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Speaker 1: book came out in nineteen seventy seven and it still

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Speaker 1: seems to be in print. You can go obtain this

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Speaker 1: book and read it. I've never read any of his novels,

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Speaker 1: but he was quite prolific. He also wrote a nineteen

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Speaker 1: eighty one horror novel called Cat's Eyes under the name

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Speaker 1: Lee Jordan, and it seems like he was seems like

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Speaker 1: he was reasonably well regarded and often worked African history

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Speaker 1: and culture into his works. Apparently best known for his

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Speaker 1: McCrae and Silver novels, which were London based detective books. Now,

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Speaker 1: the screenplay was written by Robert Carrington born nineteen twenty eight,

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Speaker 1: who wrote such films as Wait Until Dark and Fear

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Speaker 1: Is the Key, and he was active in the sixties,

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Speaker 1: seventies and eighties. All right, let's move on to the actors.

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Speaker 1: So our reptilian humanoid in this film is, of course Kloskinski,

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Speaker 1: who lived nineteen twenty six through nineteen ninety one. He

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Speaker 1: plays the character Jack.

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Speaker 2: Mel So this is one of our main trio of criminals.

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Speaker 1: Yes, I guess he's kind of the mastermind. He's supposed

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Speaker 1: to be. I think we mentioned at one point that

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Speaker 1: he's a member of the German Underworld. He's like a

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Speaker 1: German Underworld figure, and he has of course flown in

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Speaker 1: to London to mastermind the sort of I'm not sure

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Speaker 1: if he's the Mastermind or not, but anyway, he's going

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Speaker 1: to be one of the main operatives in this kidnapping plot. Yeah.

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Speaker 2: I think he's played as the Mastermind because there are

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Speaker 2: a lot of scenes of him pointing a gun at

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Speaker 2: Oliver Reed and being like, remember, you know you don't

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Speaker 2: drink whiskey until I tell you.

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Speaker 1: To, all right. So. Kinsky, of course a German born actor,

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Speaker 1: perhaps best remembered today for his smoldering presence in some

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Speaker 1: of Werner Herzog's best known works, such as Geary, The

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Speaker 1: Wrath of God was Zek, Nosferatu, the Vampire, Fitzgeraldo and

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Speaker 1: Cobra Verde. He also had a small but memorable role

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Speaker 1: in Doctor Shivago in nineteen sixty five, and accounts of

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Speaker 1: anyone who had to work with Kinsky they tend to

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Speaker 1: revolve around two different things. His raw talent, you know

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Speaker 1: that undeniably like there's something electric in a klos Kinsky performance,

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Speaker 1: but also intense difficulty and displeasure of working with him.

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Speaker 1: It seems to be a common theme. Herzog managed it,

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Speaker 1: but also had a just legendarily explosive relationship with Kinski,

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Speaker 1: and at times from you know, stuff I've watched, you know,

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Speaker 1: documentaries and so forth, it seems like he was able

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Speaker 1: to get his the best stuff out of Kinski by

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Speaker 1: sort of manipulating him, like, for instance, wearing him out

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Speaker 1: with takes. In the case of a Gira like, Kinsky

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Speaker 1: has this monologue at the end of it, and Kinsky

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Speaker 1: thought he needed to rage through it, and Herzog reportedly

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Speaker 1: just had him do it over and over again until

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Speaker 1: he was just worn out and could only deliver it

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Speaker 1: at the energy that Herzog wanted. So, you know, I

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Speaker 1: thought that was an insightful story about working with Kinski.

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Speaker 2: It seems like he was raging a lot.

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Speaker 1: Yes, yes, certainly behind the scenes. So Kinsky did a

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Speaker 1: number of spaghetti westerns as well, including for a few

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Speaker 1: dollars more, as well as various European genre films. He

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Speaker 1: played a vampire in Herzog's nineteen seventy nine nos Faratu film,

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Speaker 1: as well as the nineteen eighty eight film Vampire in Venice.

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Speaker 1: This was supposed to, I think be a sequel to

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Speaker 1: Nosfaratu in some respects, but kinskyly refused to wear any

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Speaker 1: vampire makeup for it, and so he doesn't look like

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Speaker 1: Nosfatu in it per se. After a career of butting

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Speaker 1: heads with various directors, he finally directed himself in nineteen

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Speaker 1: eighty nine's Paganini, which he also wrote, and this was

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Speaker 1: his final film. Now a couple of interesting facts. Allegedly,

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Speaker 1: Kinsky turned down the role of Major Tat and Raiders

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Speaker 1: of the Lost Arc because he hated the script, and

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Speaker 1: Venom is the picture he did instead.

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Speaker 2: Oh, both snake centric movies.

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Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, And of course Ronald Lacey wound up doing

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Speaker 1: the character of Major Tots, which I think he's so

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Speaker 1: great in it. This is the best thing that could

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Speaker 1: have happened. As for Kinsky's performance in Venom, here, I'd

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Speaker 1: say what we see on the screen is very good.

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Speaker 1: He's menacing, he exudes evil very much, plays to his strengths.

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Speaker 1: Though there is a scene where he has to fight

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Speaker 1: a rubber snake, and let's be honest, that's a tall

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Speaker 1: order for any actor.

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Speaker 2: I think his snake wrestled scene is a highlight of

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Speaker 2: the film, especially because it turns into a gunfight with

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Speaker 2: a snake.

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Speaker 1: Yes, yeah, a lot happy. Yeah, it's a great climax.

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Speaker 2: You just wouldn't think that if a snake is wrapping

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Speaker 2: around you and you're trying to fight it off, the

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Speaker 2: solution you would come to is trying to shoot the

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Speaker 2: snake in the head with a pistol.

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Speaker 1: Right. Yeah, it's a wonderful scene, though I think Herzog

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Speaker 1: could have gotten a better, better take out of him.

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Speaker 1: He just like worn him down until he got the

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Speaker 1: right energy.

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Speaker 2: Okay, So Kinsky is playing our lead reptilian criminal in this,

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Speaker 2: but then we've also got a more brutal criminal.

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Speaker 1: Right that is Dave, the chauffeur, played by Oliver Reed.

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Speaker 1: Oliver Reed lived nineteen thirty eight through nineteen ninety nine,

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Speaker 1: English actor with piercing eyes. Really his as far as

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Speaker 1: like eyes first acting goes, Reed was a master of this,

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Speaker 1: you know, just setting there smoldering and looking at you

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Speaker 1: with murder eyes. Oh.

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Speaker 2: He uses the murderized in this film. Part of The

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Speaker 2: problem though, is like there's really not any surprise so

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Speaker 2: as the plot is revealed, because we first see Oliver Reed,

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Speaker 2: I don't know, thirty seconds into the film, just acting

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Speaker 2: in his capacity as a chauffeur, and he already looks

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Speaker 2: like he is not just getting ready to do murders,

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Speaker 2: but has already done them. He looks like he just

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Speaker 2: came back in a hurry from doing murders.

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Speaker 1: Yes. Absolutely, he always had a knack for playing brute,

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Speaker 1: macho characters, and of course he increasingly earned a reputation

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Speaker 1: for hell raising, drinking, and being difficult to work with.

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Speaker 1: He had his first big leading role in the hammer

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Speaker 1: film The Curse of the Werewolf from Terrence Fisher, came

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Speaker 1: out in nineteen sixty one, and he landed some huge

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Speaker 1: roles in such films as nineteen sixty eight's Oliver, in

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Speaker 1: which he plays the villain Bill Sikes. He played Athos

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Speaker 1: in Three Musketeers in seventy three and its sequel in

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Speaker 1: seventy four, and he continued to do a lot of

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Speaker 1: villain roles and roles in horror film. He worked with

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Speaker 1: Ken Russell several times, including Women in Love and of

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Speaker 1: course The Devils in which he really delivers a memorable performance.

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Speaker 1: He played the god Vulcan and Terry Gilliams The Adventures

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Speaker 1: of Baron Muchausen in eighty eight. Other notable roles, at

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Speaker 1: least to me, include Disney's Condor Man in nineteen eighty one,

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Speaker 1: in which he plays this the villain in this ridiculous

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Speaker 1: kind of superhero James Bond kind of film, he plays

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Speaker 1: the I guess he's the hero and David Cronenberg's The Brood.

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Speaker 2: No, no, he is not the hero.

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Speaker 1: He's not the hero. Oh no, I guess I've forgotten

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Speaker 1: most of that film. He's the villain. He's the manipulating

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Speaker 1: psychiatrist sort of, yeah, psychologist.

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Speaker 2: He plays an unorthodox psychiatrist who has like a retreat

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Speaker 2: where he leads people through these strange exercises and gets

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Speaker 2: them to to sort of like turn their their psychic

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Speaker 2: pain and trauma into like physical external manifestations like I

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Speaker 2: don't know. He leads people through these exercises where like

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Speaker 2: their pain is turned into in the case of one character,

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Speaker 2: like a physical tumor, but in the case of other

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Speaker 2: characters like like literal like little like beings or monsters

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Speaker 2: that run around the Brude is a gross movie. Be forewarned.

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Speaker 2: If you're gonna if you're gonna venture there.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, Samantha Egger, isn't that and I have to I

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Speaker 1: have to look it up. Let's see what Oliver Reid's

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Speaker 1: character's name. What was this weird Kronenbergian character, doctor Hal Raglin. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: not that weird as far as cronenberg names go.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, my memory is just that he's like a weird,

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Speaker 2: sort of unethical, unorthodox psychiatrist who's doing a combination of

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Speaker 2: something like you know, like scientology auditing at the alongside,

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Speaker 2: like creating tulpas and stuff.

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Speaker 1: Mm hmm, okay, yeah, it's been been a while since

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Speaker 1: I've seen that one.

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Speaker 2: Oh.

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Speaker 1: We should also mention Oliver Reid was, of course in

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Speaker 1: Ridley Scott's Gladiator in two thousand and This was his

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Speaker 1: final film. He died during the filming of it in Malta.

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Speaker 1: I believe. Now here's a fun fact. Venom is not

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Speaker 1: the only Oliver Reed snake movie. He also appeared in

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Speaker 1: nineteen eighty three Spasms alongside Peter Fonda. And this one,

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Speaker 1: Joe is a giant snake movie.

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Speaker 2: Okay, big snake instead of Stealth snake.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, so you can look up various stories about the

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Speaker 1: production of Venom. Basically, yeah, Reid and Kinsky famously did

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Speaker 1: not get along on the film, reportedly hated each other,

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Speaker 1: and Read allegedly kept intentionally setting Kinsky off, which sounds

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Speaker 1: absolutely dreadful. You know, you already have Kinsky, who is

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Speaker 1: you know, has a reputation for being Satan, Yes, Satan,

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Speaker 1: and you have and then you have Oliver Reed provoking

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Speaker 1: Satan and like pranking Satan and you know, just to

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Speaker 1: get a ryle out of him. So yeah, this sounds

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Speaker 1: absolutely dreadful for everybody else on the production. That being said,

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Speaker 1: much like we said with Kinsky, Read, I feel like

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Speaker 1: he's good in this. I don't know. I feel like

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Speaker 1: at times maybe they weren't sure exactly who this character

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Speaker 1: was supposed to be. Sometimes he just seems to be

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Speaker 1: like loud and abusive because he needed to do something

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Speaker 1: in the scene. But also, I guess the better parts

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Speaker 1: of the performance they drive home that this is a

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Speaker 1: guy who yes, has signed on to be part of

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Speaker 1: a kidnapping plot, but also has misgivings about it. And

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Speaker 1: there are times where you see like maybe his gentler

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Speaker 1: nature shine through just a little bit, as if to

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Speaker 1: give you hope that he might turn good guy and

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Speaker 1: strangle Klaskinsky's character, Jock Mail, though of course that doesn't

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Speaker 1: come to pass. He remains a bad guy throughout. Yeah.

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Speaker 2: It never really has the face turn. Yeah, mainly you

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Speaker 2: get the idea that the moments where he's showing misgivings

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Speaker 2: are actually just like when it would it would be

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Speaker 2: bad to go to prison. I don't want that.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, he doesn't have a true change of heart.

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Speaker 1: I will say this as well, though Reid has a

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Speaker 1: wonderful mustache in this film. Often he had wonderful mustaches,

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Speaker 1: and this is no exception.

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Speaker 2: But actually, the star power in the movie doesn't really

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Speaker 2: stop there with with the criminals, because this movie has

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Speaker 2: a number of other actors who were well known and

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Speaker 2: quite respected. This is something I remember. I watched the

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Speaker 2: Ciskel and Ebert review of this movie, in which Ebert

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Speaker 2: did not like it, but Ciskel did, and oh did

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Speaker 2: he Okay, Yeah, you know, occasionally, Geene Ciskel, you could

431
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Speaker 2: see there was like a ridiculous creature horror movie, and

432
00:24:36,080 --> 00:24:38,320
Speaker 2: you could just tell he just kind of liked it

433
00:24:38,400 --> 00:24:41,000
Speaker 2: and had a hard time explaining why But he just

434
00:24:41,320 --> 00:24:44,280
Speaker 2: liked it. He just will like to be like, yeah, yeah,

435
00:24:44,320 --> 00:24:46,800
Speaker 2: I thought Wes Craven's Shocker it was fun. You know,

436
00:24:47,000 --> 00:24:50,920
Speaker 2: it was interesting. Maybe it's not interesting, but you liked it.

437
00:24:50,960 --> 00:24:54,000
Speaker 2: Come on, admit you liked it. And I don't know

438
00:24:54,000 --> 00:24:56,000
Speaker 2: why I'm talking like that, because he did. He recommended

439
00:24:56,040 --> 00:24:58,920
Speaker 2: it on the show and he did with like. I

440
00:24:59,000 --> 00:25:02,919
Speaker 2: think he also liked Rod Corman's Carnosaur and and stuff

441
00:25:02,960 --> 00:25:05,520
Speaker 2: like that. So occasionally he just had a soft spot

442
00:25:05,560 --> 00:25:08,399
Speaker 2: for creature films. But one thing that a lot of

443
00:25:08,440 --> 00:25:10,719
Speaker 2: critics talked about was how wow, you really got an

444
00:25:10,760 --> 00:25:14,000
Speaker 2: a level cast in this movie. And so the casting

445
00:25:14,040 --> 00:25:15,480
Speaker 2: goes on with Sterling Hayden.

446
00:25:16,080 --> 00:25:19,719
Speaker 1: Yeah, Sterling Hayden. Oftentimes it looks like he has top billing.

447
00:25:19,720 --> 00:25:21,760
Speaker 1: I don't know why. I don't really know how billing

448
00:25:21,840 --> 00:25:24,960
Speaker 1: order it goes, especially over the decades of a film

449
00:25:24,960 --> 00:25:30,240
Speaker 1: that's come out. But yeah, Sterling Hayden plays Grandpa Howard

450
00:25:30,280 --> 00:25:33,600
Speaker 1: Anderson aka Grandpa Safari. That's what I kept thinking of

451
00:25:33,680 --> 00:25:37,320
Speaker 1: him as. But he this is this guy was a

452
00:25:37,320 --> 00:25:37,760
Speaker 1: big name.

453
00:25:37,960 --> 00:25:40,040
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, yeah, I mean Sterling Hayden. He was in

454
00:25:40,760 --> 00:25:43,040
Speaker 2: He was a villain in the Godfather. He plays a

455
00:25:44,080 --> 00:25:47,560
Speaker 2: corrupt police chief who is helping one of the other

456
00:25:47,640 --> 00:25:51,080
Speaker 2: families with their with their schemes. He gets shot in

457
00:25:51,119 --> 00:25:52,520
Speaker 2: the forehead by al Pacino.

458
00:25:53,240 --> 00:25:56,560
Speaker 1: Oh yes, and that that very memorable scene in the restaurant, right.

459
00:25:56,760 --> 00:26:00,520
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah. But he also he also plays a great

460
00:26:00,640 --> 00:26:04,960
Speaker 2: villain role in Doctor Strangelove Is. He plays General Jack

461
00:26:05,040 --> 00:26:09,359
Speaker 2: d Ripper. He's the guy who initiates the sneak attack

462
00:26:09,400 --> 00:26:11,600
Speaker 2: on the Soviet Union that sets off the whole chain

463
00:26:11,640 --> 00:26:14,600
Speaker 2: of events on the plot because he has quite clearly

464
00:26:14,920 --> 00:26:18,160
Speaker 2: consumed a lot of anti communist propaganda and lost his mind.

465
00:26:18,200 --> 00:26:21,159
Speaker 2: He's the character who believes that fluorination is stealing our

466
00:26:21,200 --> 00:26:22,800
Speaker 2: precious bodily fluids.

467
00:26:24,840 --> 00:26:28,080
Speaker 1: He was also in Asphalt Jungle. He was in Robert

468
00:26:28,160 --> 00:26:32,080
Speaker 1: Altman's The Long Goodbye Now. He lived nineteen sixteen through

469
00:26:32,160 --> 00:26:35,080
Speaker 1: nineteen eighty six, and this was his last feature film role,

470
00:26:35,119 --> 00:26:37,720
Speaker 1: but it kepped off a long career full of a

471
00:26:37,760 --> 00:26:41,480
Speaker 1: lot of leading man roles, especially westerns and noir films.

472
00:26:42,880 --> 00:26:46,200
Speaker 1: He is I was not prepared to enjoy his performance

473
00:26:46,200 --> 00:26:48,520
Speaker 1: as much as I did, But I feel like he's

474
00:26:48,600 --> 00:26:51,920
Speaker 1: a lot of fun as Grandpa Safari here in part

475
00:26:51,960 --> 00:26:54,199
Speaker 1: because maybe it comes down to the fact that I

476
00:26:54,240 --> 00:26:57,440
Speaker 1: do feel like most of the actors in this film

477
00:26:57,480 --> 00:26:59,680
Speaker 1: were just kind of turned loose in the house, much

478
00:26:59,720 --> 00:27:02,440
Speaker 1: like a wild beast and just like do whatever. And

479
00:27:03,000 --> 00:27:05,760
Speaker 1: I like the strange energy he brings to this performance

480
00:27:05,760 --> 00:27:06,400
Speaker 1: at times.

481
00:27:07,160 --> 00:27:09,680
Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree. So the other two characters we've talked

482
00:27:09,720 --> 00:27:14,240
Speaker 2: about already are criminals and bring a lot of menace.

483
00:27:14,840 --> 00:27:18,120
Speaker 2: Grandpa Safari here is he's just like a big old

484
00:27:18,119 --> 00:27:22,280
Speaker 2: ball of fun and he plays this character like an

485
00:27:22,400 --> 00:27:24,240
Speaker 2: old rough and tumble rascal.

486
00:27:24,720 --> 00:27:26,879
Speaker 1: Yeah. And also, I mean he's the grandpa and the

487
00:27:26,880 --> 00:27:29,720
Speaker 1: grandson is one of the main characters there. And like

488
00:27:29,760 --> 00:27:32,679
Speaker 1: the grandson seems to suffer from some severe form of

489
00:27:32,720 --> 00:27:35,000
Speaker 1: asthma which requires the house to be at a constant

490
00:27:35,040 --> 00:27:37,640
Speaker 1: seventy five degrees and he has to have like a humidifier,

491
00:27:37,920 --> 00:27:39,879
Speaker 1: and his mom seems very much of the mindset like

492
00:27:39,920 --> 00:27:41,920
Speaker 1: he needs to be kept in the house. But Grandpa

493
00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:44,119
Speaker 1: is like, oh, what you need, soney, I'm gonna get

494
00:27:44,160 --> 00:27:46,480
Speaker 1: you a cab right across town to buy yourself a

495
00:27:46,520 --> 00:27:49,320
Speaker 1: new snake. Get to do it all by yourself.

496
00:27:49,680 --> 00:27:49,960
Speaker 2: Yep.

497
00:27:50,320 --> 00:27:52,159
Speaker 1: And of course that becomes central to the plot.

498
00:27:52,480 --> 00:27:54,480
Speaker 2: Now, maybe we should specify in the plot that there

499
00:27:54,560 --> 00:27:57,840
Speaker 2: is a mix up. Grandpa did not buy his grandson

500
00:27:57,920 --> 00:27:59,520
Speaker 2: a black bomba on purpose.

501
00:28:00,080 --> 00:28:01,760
Speaker 1: Yeah, I thought that's where it was going, because I

502
00:28:01,840 --> 00:28:03,840
Speaker 1: knew that a black mamba was going to be introduced

503
00:28:03,840 --> 00:28:05,840
Speaker 1: into the house, and I was like, oh, man, Grandpa's

504
00:28:05,880 --> 00:28:08,359
Speaker 1: this is a little bit reckless. But now it was

505
00:28:08,400 --> 00:28:11,000
Speaker 1: supposed to be a normal like non venomous snakes, some

506
00:28:11,040 --> 00:28:14,120
Speaker 1: sort of a you know, acceptable pet species. And there

507
00:28:14,200 --> 00:28:14,920
Speaker 1: is a mix up.

508
00:28:15,359 --> 00:28:17,240
Speaker 2: But the a list cast continues.

509
00:28:17,640 --> 00:28:20,840
Speaker 1: Yes, because we've we've talked about the criminals, we also

510
00:28:20,920 --> 00:28:23,879
Speaker 1: have to have a representative of law and order, and

511
00:28:23,920 --> 00:28:27,640
Speaker 1: in this case we have Scotland Yards Commander William Bullock,

512
00:28:27,680 --> 00:28:31,600
Speaker 1: played by Nicol Williamson, who lived nineteen thirty six through

513
00:28:31,640 --> 00:28:35,520
Speaker 1: twenty eleven. I knew him best. I think a lot

514
00:28:35,560 --> 00:28:38,200
Speaker 1: of listeners, a lot of viewers of films would probably

515
00:28:38,200 --> 00:28:42,440
Speaker 1: know him best as Merlin in the Endlessly Shiny nineteen

516
00:28:42,520 --> 00:28:47,280
Speaker 1: eighty one Camelot film ex Caliber, which is a super

517
00:28:47,320 --> 00:28:48,120
Speaker 1: fun performance.

518
00:28:48,160 --> 00:28:49,959
Speaker 2: As I remember, I've never seen it.

519
00:28:50,240 --> 00:28:54,480
Speaker 1: Oh it's good. It's very shiny, like the armor gleams

520
00:28:55,640 --> 00:28:58,640
Speaker 1: like it's you know, it's reflecting the light of the sun.

521
00:28:58,720 --> 00:29:01,520
Speaker 1: At all times. So it's very stylish and has a

522
00:29:01,560 --> 00:29:04,960
Speaker 1: wonderful cast. He also plays a similar role in nineteen

523
00:29:05,040 --> 00:29:09,920
Speaker 1: ninety seven Spawn. He plays this character Cagliostro, who's kind

524
00:29:09,960 --> 00:29:12,400
Speaker 1: of like, I think, basically portrayed as like a wizard

525
00:29:12,480 --> 00:29:16,400
Speaker 1: character that helps Spawn, helps him fight demons, trains him

526
00:29:16,480 --> 00:29:19,080
Speaker 1: or something. He's kind of his mentor character. Oh and

527
00:29:19,160 --> 00:29:20,480
Speaker 1: that was his final film role.

528
00:29:21,000 --> 00:29:23,760
Speaker 2: He's kind of like, what does he wear, like a

529
00:29:23,800 --> 00:29:25,080
Speaker 2: cowboy hat and a coat?

530
00:29:25,280 --> 00:29:28,840
Speaker 1: Kind of yeah, I remember it correctly. They wanted him

531
00:29:29,040 --> 00:29:30,760
Speaker 1: to grow a beard and he's like, no, I'm not

532
00:29:30,800 --> 00:29:34,280
Speaker 1: doing that, Like they wanted him to be more of

533
00:29:34,320 --> 00:29:38,240
Speaker 1: a wizard. But he was a highly regarded actor on

534
00:29:38,280 --> 00:29:42,080
Speaker 1: the stage and screen. Other credits include The Exorcist three,

535
00:29:43,000 --> 00:29:45,480
Speaker 1: The Seven Percent Solution. He played in that he plays

536
00:29:45,480 --> 00:29:49,160
Speaker 1: Sherlock Holmes. This is the film adaptation of the Nicholas

537
00:29:49,200 --> 00:29:52,480
Speaker 1: Meyer novel. And you know Nicholas Meyer we talked about

538
00:29:52,640 --> 00:29:56,480
Speaker 1: in terms of time after time. Well, you know we

539
00:29:56,560 --> 00:29:59,040
Speaker 1: mentioned that he wrote the novel The Seven Percent Solution

540
00:29:59,120 --> 00:30:00,800
Speaker 1: and it was made into the Well, this was the

541
00:30:00,840 --> 00:30:04,840
Speaker 1: Sherlock Oh okay, he was in So Williamson was also

542
00:30:04,880 --> 00:30:07,880
Speaker 1: in Robin and Marion. He was in nineteen sixty nine's

543
00:30:07,920 --> 00:30:12,680
Speaker 1: Hamlet playing Hamlet. He was in a TV movie version

544
00:30:12,720 --> 00:30:16,640
Speaker 1: of of Mice and Men playing Lenny, and while very

545
00:30:16,640 --> 00:30:19,040
Speaker 1: talented on both stage and screen, he was also known

546
00:30:19,040 --> 00:30:21,640
Speaker 1: to be a bit erratic, was a heavy drinker later

547
00:30:21,680 --> 00:30:27,200
Speaker 1: in life, and was said to be difficult to work with. So,

548
00:30:27,320 --> 00:30:29,400
Speaker 1: you know, so we have Reid, we have Kinski, and

549
00:30:29,440 --> 00:30:32,800
Speaker 1: we also have Williamson. Though I guess the situation is

550
00:30:33,320 --> 00:30:37,560
Speaker 1: Red and Kinski were working together together, like they shared

551
00:30:37,560 --> 00:30:40,360
Speaker 1: so much screen time, and for the most part, Williamson's

552
00:30:40,440 --> 00:30:44,040
Speaker 1: character is just standing outside like shouting. We're not even

553
00:30:44,160 --> 00:30:46,840
Speaker 1: quite shouting. It's one of those movies where where his

554
00:30:46,960 --> 00:30:49,400
Speaker 1: character is using just a normal speaking voice but can

555
00:30:49,440 --> 00:30:52,920
Speaker 1: be heard inside a house a good distance away.

556
00:30:53,280 --> 00:30:56,280
Speaker 2: Yeah, they spend a lot of There are multiple scenes

557
00:30:56,320 --> 00:30:59,479
Speaker 2: where they're negotiating, like we need a car and we

558
00:30:59,520 --> 00:31:02,000
Speaker 2: need money, and then he goes away, and then he

559
00:31:02,040 --> 00:31:04,680
Speaker 2: has like a meeting with all his little police lieutenants,

560
00:31:04,920 --> 00:31:07,000
Speaker 2: and then he comes back and they talk again about

561
00:31:07,000 --> 00:31:08,760
Speaker 2: how they need a car and they need money.

562
00:31:09,200 --> 00:31:12,560
Speaker 1: Yeah. I'd say, well, Williamson is good in this, but

563
00:31:13,040 --> 00:31:15,520
Speaker 1: there's not a lot to this particular character. He's just

564
00:31:15,600 --> 00:31:19,760
Speaker 1: that sensible British cop on the scene. You know, he's

565
00:31:19,800 --> 00:31:22,800
Speaker 1: our embodiment of British working class law and order.

566
00:31:23,040 --> 00:31:26,200
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's got a nice accent in it. I mean,

567
00:31:26,240 --> 00:31:29,600
Speaker 2: but this character doesn't have a whole lot to do. Now.

568
00:31:29,680 --> 00:31:33,320
Speaker 2: The next character, I would say, though, brings a surprising

569
00:31:33,360 --> 00:31:36,880
Speaker 2: amount of weird energy that also makes this movie come alive,

570
00:31:37,040 --> 00:31:40,440
Speaker 2: and that is Sarah Miles playing the snake expert doctor

571
00:31:40,480 --> 00:31:43,160
Speaker 2: Mary in Stowe. I really liked her. She had a

572
00:31:43,160 --> 00:31:48,800
Speaker 2: certain kind of distracted electricity kind of coming off of

573
00:31:48,840 --> 00:31:50,840
Speaker 2: her head in all of her scenes, if you know

574
00:31:50,880 --> 00:31:51,280
Speaker 2: what I mean.

575
00:31:51,800 --> 00:31:56,120
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, no, she was good in this. Sarah Miles

576
00:31:56,160 --> 00:31:59,600
Speaker 1: was born nineteen forty one and another connection to nineteen

577
00:31:59,600 --> 00:32:04,560
Speaker 1: sixty blow Up, So Miles had actually had a major

578
00:32:04,680 --> 00:32:10,760
Speaker 1: role in this adaptation of Julio Cordeesar's story Well but

579
00:32:10,760 --> 00:32:13,960
Speaker 1: I can't remember the novella short story offhand Pa was

580
00:32:13,960 --> 00:32:17,719
Speaker 1: adapted into this film in nineteen sixty six. Other titles

581
00:32:17,720 --> 00:32:21,160
Speaker 1: on her filmography include Ryan's Daughter, Hope and Glory, White,

582
00:32:21,200 --> 00:32:22,080
Speaker 1: Mischief and more.

583
00:32:22,440 --> 00:32:24,280
Speaker 2: There are a lot of good scenes of her talking

584
00:32:24,320 --> 00:32:27,720
Speaker 2: to the police about snakes and so, you know, Coppled.

585
00:32:28,000 --> 00:32:31,480
Speaker 2: She'll just be like, I am a toxicologist, and the

586
00:32:32,160 --> 00:32:35,560
Speaker 2: Copple be like, what's that poisons?

587
00:32:37,040 --> 00:32:42,080
Speaker 1: Yeah, she's good. The other great performance in this, in

588
00:32:42,080 --> 00:32:46,760
Speaker 1: my opinion, is our third kidnapper who The character is

589
00:32:47,600 --> 00:32:52,560
Speaker 1: Louise Andrews, played by Susan George. So. George was born

590
00:32:52,640 --> 00:32:55,800
Speaker 1: nineteen fifty, probably best known for playing Amy in Sam

591
00:32:55,800 --> 00:33:01,719
Speaker 1: Peckinpa's straw Dogs. Other titles include Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry Mandingo,

592
00:33:01,840 --> 00:33:06,200
Speaker 1: and Enter the Ninja, as well as Tintor Rhea, Killer Shark,

593
00:33:06,640 --> 00:33:11,680
Speaker 1: the Sorceress starring Boris Karloff and doctor Jekyline. Mister Hyde

594
00:33:11,680 --> 00:33:15,520
Speaker 1: from nineteen seventy two, a musical starring Kirk Douglass.

595
00:33:16,000 --> 00:33:18,800
Speaker 2: Uh. Yeah, Susan George is good in this so yeah.

596
00:33:18,840 --> 00:33:21,000
Speaker 2: Like you say, she's our third criminal in the trio.

597
00:33:21,080 --> 00:33:23,000
Speaker 2: So you got Kinski, you got Oliveried, and you got

598
00:33:23,000 --> 00:33:26,400
Speaker 2: Susan George and they're scheming to do this kidnapping plot

599
00:33:26,440 --> 00:33:29,520
Speaker 2: to get a bunch of ransom money. Of course, the

600
00:33:29,560 --> 00:33:32,160
Speaker 2: criminals in this movie are bad at crime, so they

601
00:33:32,240 --> 00:33:35,760
Speaker 2: keep failing. But you can, I don't know, it's fun

602
00:33:35,800 --> 00:33:37,920
Speaker 2: the way you see her like struggling with things not

603
00:33:38,040 --> 00:33:40,680
Speaker 2: going their way. And she also, I gotta say, really

604
00:33:40,720 --> 00:33:43,840
Speaker 2: sells a snake bite to the face death scene quite well.

605
00:33:44,560 --> 00:33:48,080
Speaker 1: Yes, I would say perhaps the greatest death by snake

606
00:33:48,480 --> 00:33:51,080
Speaker 1: bite scene in any motion picture. It's a tour toive

607
00:33:51,120 --> 00:33:55,560
Speaker 1: force in which she used thrashes around, she cries out

608
00:33:55,840 --> 00:33:59,080
Speaker 1: and basically goes just full exorcist towards the end, like

609
00:33:59,720 --> 00:34:03,440
Speaker 1: all the into like wheel pose or you know, reverse

610
00:34:03,520 --> 00:34:04,520
Speaker 1: crab or something.

611
00:34:04,800 --> 00:34:07,040
Speaker 2: She turns blue. There's a lot of blood coming out

612
00:34:07,040 --> 00:34:07,560
Speaker 2: of her mouth.

613
00:34:07,960 --> 00:34:13,399
Speaker 1: Yeah, she's a lot of fun in passing. I'll say

614
00:34:13,400 --> 00:34:16,640
Speaker 1: that the mother in this so this would be Grandpa

615
00:34:16,719 --> 00:34:20,319
Speaker 1: Safari's daughter, yeah, or is it his daughter in law?

616
00:34:20,360 --> 00:34:23,320
Speaker 1: I can't remember his daughter at any rate. Ruth Hopkins

617
00:34:23,360 --> 00:34:26,080
Speaker 1: played by Cornelia Sharp born nineteen forty three, probably best

618
00:34:26,120 --> 00:34:30,120
Speaker 1: known for Cerpico. She also appeared in the Reincarnation of

619
00:34:30,160 --> 00:34:35,040
Speaker 1: Peter Proud, The Next Man opposite Sean Connery, Open Season,

620
00:34:35,200 --> 00:34:39,560
Speaker 1: and of Hey, The Adventures of Pluto Nash.

621
00:34:39,680 --> 00:34:41,400
Speaker 2: She's just sort of in the beginning in the end

622
00:34:41,480 --> 00:34:43,200
Speaker 2: of this movie, though, because a lot of it's like

623
00:34:43,280 --> 00:34:46,080
Speaker 2: she's gone and the son has been left there with

624
00:34:46,120 --> 00:34:49,720
Speaker 2: Grandpa played by Sterling Hayden and that's when the crime

625
00:34:49,760 --> 00:34:50,840
Speaker 2: is supposed to take place.

626
00:34:51,800 --> 00:34:53,440
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean the whole thing. It's kind of a

627
00:34:53,480 --> 00:34:57,640
Speaker 1: home alone movie. It's also it's weird. I don't know

628
00:34:57,640 --> 00:35:00,359
Speaker 1: if you had this experience, but I felt like this

629
00:35:00,520 --> 00:35:04,400
Speaker 1: movie felt like an adaptation of like a Simpson's Treehouse

630
00:35:04,440 --> 00:35:08,360
Speaker 1: of Horror episode that doesn't exist, you know, like or

631
00:35:08,400 --> 00:35:10,959
Speaker 1: maybe it's just that a Treehouse of Horror episode would

632
00:35:11,000 --> 00:35:13,200
Speaker 1: be perfect based on this film. You could have Grandba

633
00:35:13,320 --> 00:35:17,319
Speaker 1: Simpson in there, you have Bart, and I don't know

634
00:35:17,360 --> 00:35:20,440
Speaker 1: who else would be involved. Who you would cast as

635
00:35:20,520 --> 00:35:22,040
Speaker 1: our kidnappers?

636
00:35:22,520 --> 00:35:26,719
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, so I guess Snake, Oh Snake, I mean,

637
00:35:27,160 --> 00:35:29,520
Speaker 2: let's see to play for Oliver Reed, you need to

638
00:35:29,520 --> 00:35:32,560
Speaker 2: be sort of a cross between Snake and groundskeeper Willie.

639
00:35:34,480 --> 00:35:36,520
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, I don't know exactly how it would work out.

640
00:35:36,600 --> 00:35:38,920
Speaker 2: Was so Kinsky is sort of mister Burns, But I

641
00:35:38,920 --> 00:35:40,680
Speaker 2: guess he wouldn't need the money, but I don't know

642
00:35:40,719 --> 00:35:46,640
Speaker 2: he'd want it anyway. Yeah, yeah, it would work out somehow.

643
00:35:47,840 --> 00:35:50,440
Speaker 2: Oh but hey, this movie also has Michael Goff in it.

644
00:35:50,800 --> 00:35:57,879
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, in a strange role. Because Okay, so, first

645
00:35:57,920 --> 00:36:01,160
Speaker 1: of all, if you're forgetting who this act is it's

646
00:36:01,200 --> 00:36:04,799
Speaker 1: Alfred from Tim Burton's nineteen eighty nine Batman film and

647
00:36:04,840 --> 00:36:08,560
Speaker 1: the Batman sequels through Batman Forever. He's a guy who

648
00:36:08,560 --> 00:36:11,319
Speaker 1: did a lot of work prior to that, including performances

649
00:36:11,320 --> 00:36:14,680
Speaker 1: in The Boys from Brazil, Satan Slave, Crucible of Horror,

650
00:36:15,120 --> 00:36:19,200
Speaker 1: trog Women in Love, How, Horror of Dracula, and titles

651
00:36:19,200 --> 00:36:21,680
Speaker 1: going all the way back into the nineteen forties. And

652
00:36:21,719 --> 00:36:25,520
Speaker 1: in this he plays like an expert snake catcher who

653
00:36:25,640 --> 00:36:26,560
Speaker 1: never does anything.

654
00:36:27,080 --> 00:36:29,920
Speaker 2: Yeah, he shows up later in the movie. So this

655
00:36:30,000 --> 00:36:32,400
Speaker 2: movie has multiple snake experts. There's the one played by

656
00:36:32,440 --> 00:36:37,920
Speaker 2: Sarah Miles who is the toxicologist and you meet her

657
00:36:37,960 --> 00:36:40,880
Speaker 2: early on, but then she eventually also gets taken hostage

658
00:36:40,920 --> 00:36:43,839
Speaker 2: by the criminals. And then so the police after that

659
00:36:43,960 --> 00:36:46,640
Speaker 2: are working with this character played by Michael Goff. But

660
00:36:46,760 --> 00:36:48,760
Speaker 2: he's just got sort of like one of those snake

661
00:36:48,800 --> 00:36:51,560
Speaker 2: hooks and he's standing there beside the police as they're

662
00:36:52,239 --> 00:36:53,600
Speaker 2: trying to bust into the house.

663
00:36:54,000 --> 00:36:56,080
Speaker 1: Yeah, and you keep thinking, well, he's going to be

664
00:36:56,160 --> 00:36:58,799
Speaker 1: called upon for more than his expertise, but no, he's not.

665
00:37:00,360 --> 00:37:03,279
Speaker 1: The fun part of this though, is his character's name

666
00:37:03,320 --> 00:37:07,719
Speaker 1: is David Ball and the real David Ball, an overseer

667
00:37:07,800 --> 00:37:10,760
Speaker 1: of reptiles at the London Zoo, was the snake wrangler

668
00:37:10,880 --> 00:37:14,400
Speaker 1: and snake advisor on this film, so I guess Goff's

669
00:37:14,480 --> 00:37:18,320
Speaker 1: character is kind of just a nod to his help

670
00:37:18,360 --> 00:37:20,640
Speaker 1: with the film. I was reading about this in a

671
00:37:20,640 --> 00:37:25,080
Speaker 1: New York Times article about about the snake wrangling in Venom,

672
00:37:25,880 --> 00:37:28,279
Speaker 1: and it was titled in Venom, the Snake Steals the

673
00:37:28,320 --> 00:37:32,400
Speaker 1: Show and it shares a number of interesting production facts.

674
00:37:33,320 --> 00:37:35,719
Speaker 2: I love that there is an article in the New

675
00:37:35,800 --> 00:37:39,560
Speaker 2: York Times in nineteen eighty two about Venom that is

676
00:37:39,600 --> 00:37:42,719
Speaker 2: not just a review of the movie. It's like, yeah,

677
00:37:42,719 --> 00:37:44,800
Speaker 2: our readers need more Venom content.

678
00:37:45,239 --> 00:37:48,440
Speaker 1: Yeah, But it did just share some fun stuff, like

679
00:37:48,560 --> 00:37:51,400
Speaker 1: apparently they shot ten hours of snake footage for the film,

680
00:37:51,400 --> 00:37:55,239
Speaker 1: and of course that gets reduced down to just, you know,

681
00:37:55,520 --> 00:37:58,800
Speaker 1: very little of that, just minutes of footage. They used

682
00:37:58,920 --> 00:38:03,040
Speaker 1: five different actsual black mambas in the picture, so when

683
00:38:03,080 --> 00:38:08,120
Speaker 1: you see black mambas striking at the camera and slithering about,

684
00:38:08,200 --> 00:38:11,839
Speaker 1: it's the real thing, the real snake for the most part.

685
00:38:11,880 --> 00:38:14,960
Speaker 1: They also apparently had one non venomous rat snake that

686
00:38:15,000 --> 00:38:18,919
Speaker 1: they used for some scenes. They had plastic snakes made

687
00:38:18,960 --> 00:38:23,680
Speaker 1: from actual casts of mambas. That's of course what Kloskinski

688
00:38:23,760 --> 00:38:26,200
Speaker 1: winds up fighting at the end. And they also had

689
00:38:26,200 --> 00:38:30,080
Speaker 1: one hundred thousand dollars robot snake that apparently looked terrible,

690
00:38:30,200 --> 00:38:32,080
Speaker 1: so we barely see it in the final film.

691
00:38:32,520 --> 00:38:34,640
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think the sentence in the article is something

692
00:38:34,719 --> 00:38:38,440
Speaker 2: like the robot snake could rear up and open its mouth.

693
00:38:38,520 --> 00:38:40,839
Speaker 2: It cost one hundred thousand dollars to make and it

694
00:38:40,880 --> 00:38:43,880
Speaker 2: appears for one third of one second in the final cut.

695
00:38:44,120 --> 00:38:49,320
Speaker 1: Now, according to David Ball in this article, black mambas

696
00:38:49,680 --> 00:38:52,280
Speaker 1: are very high strung and they feel threatened by anything

697
00:38:52,280 --> 00:38:54,720
Speaker 1: within six feet of them. They have really potent venom

698
00:38:55,120 --> 00:38:58,560
Speaker 1: and they're very effective at delivering it, usually via multiple bites,

699
00:38:59,000 --> 00:39:02,640
Speaker 1: which is something we see in the film. It is

700
00:39:02,680 --> 00:39:05,520
Speaker 1: a very impressive snake. There's one at Zoo Atlanta and

701
00:39:05,680 --> 00:39:08,560
Speaker 1: I've seen it many times. They can reach lengths of

702
00:39:08,719 --> 00:39:11,560
Speaker 1: fourteen feet. Yeah, they tend to be nervous. They pack

703
00:39:11,680 --> 00:39:15,440
Speaker 1: tremendous venom. It's the largest venomous snake in Africa and

704
00:39:15,480 --> 00:39:18,560
Speaker 1: the second largest venomous snake in the world, right behind

705
00:39:18,560 --> 00:39:22,480
Speaker 1: the King Cobra. It's not actually black but the inside

706
00:39:22,520 --> 00:39:25,200
Speaker 1: of its mouth is black, and that's what it flares

707
00:39:25,800 --> 00:39:29,640
Speaker 1: as a warning to anyone who makes it nervous.

708
00:39:30,040 --> 00:39:34,400
Speaker 2: Now a bit of monster science on this. The movie

709
00:39:34,440 --> 00:39:38,920
Speaker 2: repeatedly emphasizes that the black mamba is the most I

710
00:39:38,920 --> 00:39:41,200
Speaker 2: think it actually uses the word poisonous. I think you

711
00:39:41,239 --> 00:39:44,279
Speaker 2: would want to say venomous instead. But whichever one they

712
00:39:44,280 --> 00:39:48,520
Speaker 2: say poisonous or venomous snake in the world, which I mean,

713
00:39:48,680 --> 00:39:51,000
Speaker 2: it's difficult. There are different ways you can measure that.

714
00:39:51,120 --> 00:39:54,240
Speaker 2: But just by your standard like pure LD fifty ratings

715
00:39:54,239 --> 00:39:56,240
Speaker 2: of snake, venom and mice, this is not true.

716
00:39:57,120 --> 00:40:00,440
Speaker 1: I should also point out, as with pretty much any snake, reptile,

717
00:40:00,480 --> 00:40:04,880
Speaker 1: amphibian sort of movie, it's always worth going to californiaherbs

718
00:40:04,960 --> 00:40:08,319
Speaker 1: dot com. They have a section about snake films in

719
00:40:08,360 --> 00:40:12,600
Speaker 1: which they weigh in on different snakes and different films,

720
00:40:12,600 --> 00:40:16,640
Speaker 1: and they have a They have an article on venom here,

721
00:40:16,760 --> 00:40:21,040
Speaker 1: and basically they applaud the use of real black mambas,

722
00:40:21,600 --> 00:40:24,120
Speaker 1: but they add quote oddly enough, the snake doesn't try

723
00:40:24,120 --> 00:40:26,200
Speaker 1: to get out or hide as you'd expect a snake

724
00:40:26,239 --> 00:40:29,080
Speaker 1: to do. All it wants to do is kill people.

725
00:40:30,400 --> 00:40:33,480
Speaker 1: It just sort of hunts the people in the house. Yeah, yeah, Yeah,

726
00:40:33,520 --> 00:40:38,320
Speaker 1: It's one of the most ludicrous things about this movie

727
00:40:38,480 --> 00:40:42,359
Speaker 1: is that, yes, I totally believe everything I've read about

728
00:40:42,360 --> 00:40:46,440
Speaker 1: the black mamba being a potentially dangerous snake that you

729
00:40:46,520 --> 00:40:50,360
Speaker 1: absolutely don't want running around in your house. You wouldn't

730
00:40:50,400 --> 00:40:53,719
Speaker 1: want to, you know, go poking around haphazardly where you

731
00:40:53,800 --> 00:40:56,520
Speaker 1: knew they might be. But on the other hand, I

732
00:40:56,560 --> 00:40:58,719
Speaker 1: mean it's implied in this film where like, if you

733
00:40:58,760 --> 00:41:01,320
Speaker 1: were to call the police and say there's a black

734
00:41:01,320 --> 00:41:03,040
Speaker 1: Momba in my house, the police would just be like,

735
00:41:03,080 --> 00:41:06,200
Speaker 1: we are legally declaring everyone in the house dead because

736
00:41:06,200 --> 00:41:08,200
Speaker 1: there's no way you're going to survive.

737
00:41:08,840 --> 00:41:11,879
Speaker 2: Yeah, as you're saying, I do want to reemphasize, given

738
00:41:11,880 --> 00:41:14,080
Speaker 2: what I said a minute ago, by these like LD

739
00:41:14,239 --> 00:41:17,600
Speaker 2: fifty charts, it is not necessarily the most venomous snake

740
00:41:17,640 --> 00:41:20,360
Speaker 2: in the world. But as you are correct that you

741
00:41:20,440 --> 00:41:22,960
Speaker 2: absolutely don't want to be bitten by one. These are

742
00:41:23,960 --> 00:41:27,760
Speaker 2: people do die from black mamba bites all the time.

743
00:41:36,520 --> 00:41:39,360
Speaker 1: Now, we don't always mention the cinematographer on films, but

744
00:41:40,000 --> 00:41:43,760
Speaker 1: on this film we have Gilbert Taylor, who lived nineteen

745
00:41:43,800 --> 00:41:47,959
Speaker 1: fourteen through twenty thirteen. He was a cinematographer on such

746
00:41:47,960 --> 00:41:51,959
Speaker 1: films as Star Wars, Flash, Gordon, the Omen, The Frank

747
00:41:52,040 --> 00:41:58,080
Speaker 1: Langela Dracula Film, Polanski's Macbeth and Repulsion, Hitchcock's Frenzy, Doctor Strangelove,

748
00:41:58,160 --> 00:42:01,160
Speaker 1: and various other titles. Did a bit of TV, including

749
00:42:01,200 --> 00:42:02,640
Speaker 1: episodes of The Avengers.

750
00:42:03,080 --> 00:42:06,760
Speaker 2: This movie doesn't really stand out to me in terms

751
00:42:06,760 --> 00:42:10,520
Speaker 2: of a lot of cinematography choices, but though there is

752
00:42:10,520 --> 00:42:13,600
Speaker 2: something that happens quite a bit, which is mambacam where

753
00:42:13,640 --> 00:42:15,600
Speaker 2: you are seeing from the snake's point of view as

754
00:42:15,640 --> 00:42:20,320
Speaker 2: it like crawls through heating ducts, and so yeah, okay,

755
00:42:20,760 --> 00:42:21,280
Speaker 2: that's fun.

756
00:42:22,880 --> 00:42:24,759
Speaker 1: Well, and then you know, we do have I guess

757
00:42:24,800 --> 00:42:28,799
Speaker 1: the shots of the snake often feel very well executed.

758
00:42:29,640 --> 00:42:31,879
Speaker 1: You know, at times they're basically doing the Raiders thing,

759
00:42:31,960 --> 00:42:34,200
Speaker 1: I think, where they have some sort of plexiglass screen

760
00:42:34,640 --> 00:42:38,120
Speaker 1: so that the snake can jump out and leap at

761
00:42:38,360 --> 00:42:40,360
Speaker 1: the camera and you don't have to worry about it

762
00:42:40,400 --> 00:42:44,760
Speaker 1: actually biting anyone. As for the music on this picture,

763
00:42:45,080 --> 00:42:48,359
Speaker 1: it is Michael Kammon who lived nineteen forty eight through

764
00:42:48,360 --> 00:42:51,040
Speaker 1: two thousand and three. We've mentioned him on the show

765
00:42:51,040 --> 00:42:53,880
Speaker 1: before because he scored Free Jack and Tales from the

766
00:42:53,920 --> 00:42:57,200
Speaker 1: Crypt Demon Night, as well as such movies as Highlander,

767
00:42:57,360 --> 00:43:01,320
Speaker 1: Robin Hood, Prints of Thieves, Brazil Bill, The Dead Zone,

768
00:43:02,000 --> 00:43:05,880
Speaker 1: Event Horizon, which he did with the orb so a

769
00:43:06,000 --> 00:43:11,640
Speaker 1: known commodity in various genre films. I'd say that for me, anyway,

770
00:43:11,719 --> 00:43:14,400
Speaker 1: I felt like the score in this movie was traditional.

771
00:43:14,800 --> 00:43:17,440
Speaker 1: It was fine. It did everything you'd want a score

772
00:43:17,480 --> 00:43:21,520
Speaker 1: to do. It helped drive home these thrilling moments and

773
00:43:21,560 --> 00:43:24,520
Speaker 1: snake scares. But other than that, it's not the kind

774
00:43:24,560 --> 00:43:26,239
Speaker 1: of thing I would want to seek out.

775
00:43:26,520 --> 00:43:29,160
Speaker 2: I thought there was some strange choices in terms of scoring,

776
00:43:29,200 --> 00:43:31,319
Speaker 2: not because the music was bad, but I thought like

777
00:43:31,560 --> 00:43:34,480
Speaker 2: sort of oddly placed. Maybe we can talk about those

778
00:43:34,480 --> 00:43:36,360
Speaker 2: a little bit when we break down the plot.

779
00:43:36,560 --> 00:43:38,680
Speaker 1: Well, let's go ahead and get into the plot, all right.

780
00:43:38,760 --> 00:43:41,640
Speaker 2: So the movie begins with a shot of a schoolhouse.

781
00:43:41,800 --> 00:43:45,520
Speaker 2: Kind of a weird choice for a crime thriller plus

782
00:43:45,600 --> 00:43:49,120
Speaker 2: snake movie, but I guess you know, it's about an

783
00:43:49,120 --> 00:43:52,040
Speaker 2: attempted kidnapping of a rich boy, so we got to

784
00:43:52,040 --> 00:43:53,719
Speaker 2: see the boy getting out of school. I guess there's

785
00:43:53,719 --> 00:43:56,759
Speaker 2: an American flag flying out on the balcony in front

786
00:43:56,760 --> 00:43:59,319
Speaker 2: of the school. But it is clearly in Britain, and

787
00:43:59,560 --> 00:44:02,400
Speaker 2: we see a sign later saying it's the American Academy

788
00:44:02,440 --> 00:44:04,800
Speaker 2: of London. So I think this is a school for

789
00:44:04,920 --> 00:44:08,160
Speaker 2: American children, the children of diplomats and stuff like that

790
00:44:09,280 --> 00:44:12,920
Speaker 2: in London. And so Philip is going to the school

791
00:44:12,920 --> 00:44:15,360
Speaker 2: and we meet him on the stairs reading a book

792
00:44:15,760 --> 00:44:18,160
Speaker 2: and his mom runs up to him saying, oh, this

793
00:44:18,320 --> 00:44:21,239
Speaker 2: is the limit you'll catch cold, and he's, you know,

794
00:44:21,560 --> 00:44:24,200
Speaker 2: he's clearly like, oh, I don't want to be safe.

795
00:44:24,239 --> 00:44:26,840
Speaker 2: I don't want to bundle up. I want adventure. So

796
00:44:27,160 --> 00:44:28,560
Speaker 2: you know, he's like, oh, mom.

797
00:44:29,440 --> 00:44:31,719
Speaker 1: I will say that the actor they have playing the boy,

798
00:44:32,480 --> 00:44:35,120
Speaker 1: Lance Holcombe, he was really good in this, Like he

799
00:44:35,160 --> 00:44:37,360
Speaker 1: has kind of a kind of a Charlie and Chocolate

800
00:44:37,440 --> 00:44:38,799
Speaker 1: factory sort of vibe to him.

801
00:44:39,000 --> 00:44:42,600
Speaker 2: Okay, But so his mom takes him away to a

802
00:44:42,640 --> 00:44:46,920
Speaker 2: waiting sedan where Oliver Reed is just looming nearby in

803
00:44:46,960 --> 00:44:51,479
Speaker 2: a comically brutish fashion. And I love the very first

804
00:44:51,480 --> 00:44:53,319
Speaker 2: time we see him. It's less than a minute into

805
00:44:53,320 --> 00:44:56,480
Speaker 2: the movie. He is dressed in a formal chauffeur's uniform

806
00:44:56,840 --> 00:45:00,440
Speaker 2: with a cap and everything, and even in this Guberrie outfit,

807
00:45:01,080 --> 00:45:03,920
Speaker 2: he looks I mean like he often does, like he

808
00:45:04,239 --> 00:45:06,720
Speaker 2: just came back in a hurry from doing a series

809
00:45:06,760 --> 00:45:11,560
Speaker 2: of things that are all illegal. You know, he looks like, oh,

810
00:45:11,600 --> 00:45:15,520
Speaker 2: he just ran a bunch of errands, including purchasing illegal

811
00:45:15,560 --> 00:45:18,439
Speaker 2: whale gonads on the black market, and like getting into

812
00:45:18,440 --> 00:45:20,600
Speaker 2: a fight, like you know, somebody looked at him wrong

813
00:45:20,640 --> 00:45:23,120
Speaker 2: and he kicked them in the neck. And now he's

814
00:45:23,160 --> 00:45:25,560
Speaker 2: back here to drive this kid home, do you know

815
00:45:25,600 --> 00:45:28,239
Speaker 2: what I mean? Like he's got this Even apart from

816
00:45:28,239 --> 00:45:30,960
Speaker 2: whatever he's acting out in the scene, he just almost

817
00:45:31,000 --> 00:45:34,560
Speaker 2: always looks kind of sweaty and like he has just

818
00:45:34,840 --> 00:45:38,719
Speaker 2: been caught or almost been caught doing something he wasn't

819
00:45:38,760 --> 00:45:39,319
Speaker 2: supposed to.

820
00:45:39,960 --> 00:45:42,320
Speaker 1: Yeah, and constantly, like if he were a Dungeons and

821
00:45:42,360 --> 00:45:45,680
Speaker 1: Dragon's character, it would be constantly doing intimidation checks on

822
00:45:45,960 --> 00:45:49,800
Speaker 1: everybody around him. He's constantly busting out that that cold,

823
00:45:51,040 --> 00:45:52,400
Speaker 1: intimidating stare.

824
00:45:52,840 --> 00:45:55,240
Speaker 2: And like I said earlier, there's really no suspense about

825
00:45:55,239 --> 00:45:57,160
Speaker 2: what's going to go on with this character, because as

826
00:45:57,200 --> 00:45:59,960
Speaker 2: soon as the mother and son get into the car,

827
00:46:00,440 --> 00:46:02,680
Speaker 2: we just see Oliver Reed looking at them in the

828
00:46:02,680 --> 00:46:05,880
Speaker 2: rear view mirror with absolute murder eyes. I mean, he

829
00:46:06,640 --> 00:46:09,719
Speaker 2: looks like he should be weeping blood. But then so

830
00:46:09,920 --> 00:46:12,239
Speaker 2: after that we just cut to a driving scene. God

831
00:46:12,239 --> 00:46:14,360
Speaker 2: to Love a driving scene at the beginning of a movie.

832
00:46:14,440 --> 00:46:17,560
Speaker 2: So we're just watching the car navigate the streets of London.

833
00:46:18,200 --> 00:46:21,000
Speaker 2: The title comes up and the music gets all hopeful

834
00:46:21,000 --> 00:46:23,160
Speaker 2: and peppy. Do you remember this. I thought this was

835
00:46:23,760 --> 00:46:26,439
Speaker 2: a weird choice because the opening music makes it sound

836
00:46:26,480 --> 00:46:28,360
Speaker 2: like it's going to be a movie about a jaunty

837
00:46:28,480 --> 00:46:31,600
Speaker 2: sea voyage and teamwork and friendship.

838
00:46:32,000 --> 00:46:34,960
Speaker 1: Yeah, it has strange energy. This was I think the

839
00:46:35,000 --> 00:46:37,280
Speaker 1: point too where I really didn't know what the score

840
00:46:37,400 --> 00:46:39,160
Speaker 1: was going to be, and I was still maybe holding

841
00:46:39,200 --> 00:46:42,000
Speaker 1: out hope that it would be, you know, electronic or something,

842
00:46:42,160 --> 00:46:43,800
Speaker 1: and I was like, oh, no, it's not gonna be.

843
00:46:44,000 --> 00:46:45,160
Speaker 1: It's going to be very traditional.

844
00:46:45,680 --> 00:46:48,280
Speaker 2: But whatever they're going for, it has a funny effect.

845
00:46:48,320 --> 00:46:50,480
Speaker 2: So we get this driving scene in the beginning, Philip

846
00:46:50,520 --> 00:46:53,560
Speaker 2: and his mom getting driven around London by Oliver Reed.

847
00:46:54,000 --> 00:46:56,799
Speaker 2: He's just like drilling holes into them through the rear

848
00:46:56,880 --> 00:47:00,480
Speaker 2: view mirror. And then the music is just rousing strings

849
00:47:00,520 --> 00:47:04,080
Speaker 2: and brass. It's trying to warm your blood. And then

850
00:47:04,280 --> 00:47:06,960
Speaker 2: they get home and they meet Louise, the housekeeper and

851
00:47:07,360 --> 00:47:10,800
Speaker 2: she's like, ah, Young Master Phillip, two whole days off school. Ah.

852
00:47:11,320 --> 00:47:14,120
Speaker 2: And of course this is Louise is played by Susan George.

853
00:47:14,560 --> 00:47:16,920
Speaker 2: And so we learn a bit about the situation that

854
00:47:16,960 --> 00:47:20,640
Speaker 2: these are Americans living in London, that the boy's father

855
00:47:20,760 --> 00:47:23,640
Speaker 2: has been gone for a while, and that he is

856
00:47:23,719 --> 00:47:27,640
Speaker 2: there with his mother, Ruth, and his grandfather. And so

857
00:47:27,719 --> 00:47:30,359
Speaker 2: we learned that Ruth, the mother has to leave town soon.

858
00:47:30,480 --> 00:47:33,920
Speaker 2: But Young Master Phillip wants to go see his zoo.

859
00:47:34,080 --> 00:47:36,399
Speaker 2: That's what he calls it. He's like my zoo. And

860
00:47:36,680 --> 00:47:38,719
Speaker 2: so what does this mean. Well, he gets up to

861
00:47:38,760 --> 00:47:43,560
Speaker 2: his room and oh, my god, his bedroom is straight

862
00:47:43,560 --> 00:47:46,719
Speaker 2: out of Dante's Inferno. It is like a dungeon for

863
00:47:46,840 --> 00:47:50,799
Speaker 2: small animals. It is just crates and cages stacked up

864
00:47:50,840 --> 00:47:55,080
Speaker 2: to the ceiling with rabbits and hamsters and god knows

865
00:47:55,080 --> 00:47:55,560
Speaker 2: what else.

866
00:47:56,040 --> 00:47:59,200
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, he's definitely they're definitely overdoing it here

867
00:47:59,239 --> 00:48:03,160
Speaker 1: in my opinion. But on the other hand, my son

868
00:48:03,520 --> 00:48:06,440
Speaker 1: has a leopard gecko, and I know that like just

869
00:48:06,520 --> 00:48:08,879
Speaker 1: having a leopard gecko that means, oh, well, you don't

870
00:48:08,920 --> 00:48:11,400
Speaker 1: just have a pet leopard gecko. You also have pet

871
00:48:11,400 --> 00:48:14,719
Speaker 1: crickets and some people actually go to the level of

872
00:48:14,719 --> 00:48:17,320
Speaker 1: like raising their own crickets, so maybe that's part of

873
00:48:17,360 --> 00:48:18,840
Speaker 1: what we're seeing here. It's like, well, he's got a

874
00:48:18,840 --> 00:48:20,839
Speaker 1: bunch of snakes and so forth, Well that means he's

875
00:48:20,840 --> 00:48:21,840
Speaker 1: also raising mice.

876
00:48:22,239 --> 00:48:24,600
Speaker 2: Oh I didn't think about that. But so you think

877
00:48:24,640 --> 00:48:28,280
Speaker 2: the mice in his room are there to feed his snakes.

878
00:48:29,680 --> 00:48:31,520
Speaker 1: I don't know. Maybe, but then again, yeah, his things

879
00:48:31,560 --> 00:48:34,239
Speaker 1: like rabbits in there, so I guess it is just

880
00:48:34,480 --> 00:48:38,880
Speaker 1: an extended, you know, zoological collection here and not just

881
00:48:38,920 --> 00:48:40,840
Speaker 1: about feeding the animals.

882
00:48:41,400 --> 00:48:45,440
Speaker 2: I keep these rabbits to feed to my pet hyena. Well, anyway,

883
00:48:45,600 --> 00:48:48,360
Speaker 2: we meet Sterling Hayden, we find out he is Ruth's dad,

884
00:48:48,560 --> 00:48:50,600
Speaker 2: and he's staying with them. I think because of some

885
00:48:50,719 --> 00:48:53,080
Speaker 2: kind of injury. Am I right about that?

886
00:48:54,160 --> 00:48:58,280
Speaker 1: I was a little foggy on this. I mean, we've

887
00:48:58,440 --> 00:49:00,840
Speaker 1: learned that he's what some sort of like great explore

888
00:49:01,080 --> 00:49:06,480
Speaker 1: safari type guy and a photographer. Maybe yeah, yeah, I guess. So,

889
00:49:06,719 --> 00:49:09,840
Speaker 1: you know, he's kind of you know, the you know

890
00:49:10,160 --> 00:49:13,240
Speaker 1: safari guy in the classic sense where he's he's studying,

891
00:49:14,000 --> 00:49:17,000
Speaker 1: you know the world and probably writing about it and

892
00:49:17,000 --> 00:49:20,320
Speaker 1: taking photos. But there's a sense that like his adventuring

893
00:49:20,400 --> 00:49:21,960
Speaker 1: days are perhaps over right.

894
00:49:22,280 --> 00:49:24,560
Speaker 2: Yeah, sort of. I mean I think they're trying to

895
00:49:24,560 --> 00:49:26,400
Speaker 2: give him Ernest Hemingway energy.

896
00:49:27,360 --> 00:49:30,480
Speaker 1: Okay, he has enormous shotguns on the wall.

897
00:49:30,600 --> 00:49:34,640
Speaker 2: Yes, yes, yeah, with like shells the size of soda cans.

898
00:49:35,640 --> 00:49:37,880
Speaker 2: So I think these are meant for elephants or something.

899
00:49:38,800 --> 00:49:41,640
Speaker 2: But so after we meet these characters, Oh, and of

900
00:49:41,680 --> 00:49:45,640
Speaker 2: course Grandpa and and Ruth talk about how she's got

901
00:49:45,680 --> 00:49:48,800
Speaker 2: to leave town soon, and she's worried about leaving, leaving

902
00:49:48,840 --> 00:49:51,000
Speaker 2: the young boy there with him because she's like, oh,

903
00:49:51,040 --> 00:49:55,000
Speaker 2: he's got asthma, but I don't know, it seems like

904
00:49:55,040 --> 00:49:57,520
Speaker 2: it's gonna be fine. So so she's like, okay, I

905
00:49:57,719 --> 00:50:01,360
Speaker 2: got a head out. And then things immediately start getting

906
00:50:01,400 --> 00:50:05,200
Speaker 2: juicy because we start seeing the conspiracy Oliver Reed and

907
00:50:05,239 --> 00:50:08,800
Speaker 2: Susan George. You know, the housekeeper Louise. When they're talking

908
00:50:08,880 --> 00:50:15,160
Speaker 2: in private, she is washing Ruth's jewelry. That's interesting, washing

909
00:50:15,200 --> 00:50:17,080
Speaker 2: the jewelry. I don't know if that's supposed to say

910
00:50:17,080 --> 00:50:21,000
Speaker 2: something about about Ruth being really really fussy about fancy

911
00:50:21,040 --> 00:50:24,919
Speaker 2: things or something, but that's what she's doing. And then

912
00:50:25,520 --> 00:50:28,920
Speaker 2: they're talking about something coming up. They're plotting in secret

913
00:50:28,920 --> 00:50:32,200
Speaker 2: about something, and Oliver Reed appears to be having misgivings.

914
00:50:32,280 --> 00:50:35,120
Speaker 2: He's like, look, this isn't just stealing cars. If something

915
00:50:35,160 --> 00:50:37,239
Speaker 2: goes wrong, they're going to lock us up and throw

916
00:50:37,280 --> 00:50:41,719
Speaker 2: away the key. And he's wondering, will jack Mel come through,

917
00:50:42,320 --> 00:50:46,879
Speaker 2: and Louise assures him, yes, Jackmel will come through. Now,

918
00:50:46,920 --> 00:50:48,560
Speaker 2: there was a thing I note. I don't know if

919
00:50:48,560 --> 00:50:51,200
Speaker 2: you noticed this, but as Ruth is leaving the house,

920
00:50:51,400 --> 00:50:55,439
Speaker 2: she's giving instructions to Louise, and she's saying, Okay, while

921
00:50:55,480 --> 00:50:57,479
Speaker 2: I'm out of town, the house must be kept at

922
00:50:58,040 --> 00:51:01,280
Speaker 2: no less than seventy five degrees. So the heat always

923
00:51:01,320 --> 00:51:05,839
Speaker 2: turned up to seventy five or higher, which I don't know.

924
00:51:06,040 --> 00:51:09,160
Speaker 2: Maybe my senses are off, but obviously they'll be normal

925
00:51:09,200 --> 00:51:11,200
Speaker 2: in the summer. But like turning the heat in the

926
00:51:11,239 --> 00:51:14,480
Speaker 2: winter up to seventy five, that sounds insanely high.

927
00:51:14,719 --> 00:51:17,440
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, I feel a little guilty if I

928
00:51:16,920 --> 00:51:20,200
Speaker 1: set it for seventy, you know, And I'll feel really

929
00:51:20,239 --> 00:51:22,120
Speaker 1: guilty if I'm like, that's it. I'm going up to

930
00:51:22,160 --> 00:51:24,920
Speaker 1: seventy one. But even that'll be like but just for

931
00:51:24,960 --> 00:51:28,040
Speaker 1: a few minutes, So I start feeling, you know, my

932
00:51:28,120 --> 00:51:31,480
Speaker 1: toes again that sort of thing. Seventy five seems like

933
00:51:31,480 --> 00:51:33,160
Speaker 1: it would be just like it'd be like a jungle

934
00:51:33,200 --> 00:51:33,680
Speaker 1: in there.

935
00:51:33,880 --> 00:51:37,040
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, because yeah, like heat or heat feels very

936
00:51:37,120 --> 00:51:40,280
Speaker 2: different than natural heat. Like if it's seventy five degrees outside,

937
00:51:40,600 --> 00:51:43,279
Speaker 2: that's nice weather, but if it's seventy five degrees from

938
00:51:43,360 --> 00:51:46,040
Speaker 2: a heater, that's like, you know, you're going under the gates,

939
00:51:46,080 --> 00:51:47,799
Speaker 2: abandon all hope you who enter here.

940
00:51:48,120 --> 00:51:49,799
Speaker 1: Well, I think we see it now that I think

941
00:51:49,840 --> 00:51:51,719
Speaker 1: about it, It looks like it's gas, right, So they're

942
00:51:51,719 --> 00:51:54,560
Speaker 1: probably just completely dried out in there, which I guess

943
00:51:54,680 --> 00:51:57,319
Speaker 1: is why we also see the reliance on the humidifiers.

944
00:51:57,400 --> 00:51:59,839
Speaker 2: Oh that's right, yes, so they keep it at seventy five.

945
00:51:59,840 --> 00:52:02,360
Speaker 2: But also the kid sleeps with the humidifier. The humidier.

946
00:52:02,640 --> 00:52:04,719
Speaker 2: I think the idea is he's got asthma and the

947
00:52:04,800 --> 00:52:09,560
Speaker 2: humidifier maybe delivering some kind of medication in the steam.

948
00:52:09,040 --> 00:52:12,320
Speaker 1: M Yeah, because there is that I would say effectively

949
00:52:12,360 --> 00:52:16,200
Speaker 1: creepy scene where we see that Jock Mel jumping ahead

950
00:52:16,200 --> 00:52:18,920
Speaker 1: a little bit here, but where Jack Mel checks on

951
00:52:18,960 --> 00:52:20,960
Speaker 1: the house that they have set up the place they

952
00:52:21,000 --> 00:52:23,359
Speaker 1: want to take the boy after they kidnap him. And

953
00:52:23,400 --> 00:52:26,160
Speaker 1: they have the same machinery there. Like they're intended to

954
00:52:26,200 --> 00:52:30,239
Speaker 1: have like a long stay at the kidnapping house, which

955
00:52:30,360 --> 00:52:31,280
Speaker 1: was creepy.

956
00:52:31,160 --> 00:52:33,080
Speaker 2: Right, But of course they never get to that house

957
00:52:33,160 --> 00:52:35,920
Speaker 2: because the criminals in this movie are bad at crime.

958
00:52:37,000 --> 00:52:40,040
Speaker 2: So Oliver Reed takes Ruth to the airport, so the

959
00:52:40,080 --> 00:52:43,680
Speaker 2: mother leaves town, and then at about eleven minutes into

960
00:52:43,680 --> 00:52:47,479
Speaker 2: the movie, the two devils collide. Oliver Reed meets Jack Mel,

961
00:52:47,560 --> 00:52:50,319
Speaker 2: who is klaus Kinski. They meet at the airport, they

962
00:52:50,360 --> 00:52:53,080
Speaker 2: come face to face. It's clear from the very first

963
00:52:53,080 --> 00:52:55,239
Speaker 2: moment that they do not like each other, but they're

964
00:52:55,440 --> 00:52:57,840
Speaker 2: they're locked into this conspiracy together now.

965
00:52:58,040 --> 00:53:00,919
Speaker 1: Yes, And Louise is the sensual gloe holding the whole

966
00:53:00,920 --> 00:53:04,120
Speaker 1: thing together, And of course that's gonna be one of

967
00:53:04,160 --> 00:53:07,880
Speaker 1: the great complicating situations of the plot is that she

968
00:53:08,120 --> 00:53:10,160
Speaker 1: is the one who dies first, right.

969
00:53:10,040 --> 00:53:12,000
Speaker 2: And I think it's implied that she's been having love

970
00:53:12,040 --> 00:53:15,080
Speaker 2: affairs with both of them, right. Oh, And as soon

971
00:53:15,120 --> 00:53:16,520
Speaker 2: as they get in the so they go off to

972
00:53:16,600 --> 00:53:19,560
Speaker 2: the car, and of course Oliver Reed has a gun

973
00:53:19,640 --> 00:53:22,160
Speaker 2: for Jack Mel, and he drops him off at a

974
00:53:22,160 --> 00:53:24,480
Speaker 2: house in the country that they've rented ahead of time.

975
00:53:24,520 --> 00:53:26,759
Speaker 2: And this is where they're going to stash the kid

976
00:53:26,800 --> 00:53:29,120
Speaker 2: while they're holding him for ransom. So we get to

977
00:53:29,120 --> 00:53:32,480
Speaker 2: see Jacmel going around the house pulling the curtains aside

978
00:53:32,880 --> 00:53:37,399
Speaker 2: inspecting the rooms and when oh, and then Louise shows

979
00:53:37,480 --> 00:53:39,400
Speaker 2: up at the house and the two of them are conspiring.

980
00:53:39,480 --> 00:53:42,800
Speaker 2: So Klaus Kinsky and Susan George are, you know, checking

981
00:53:42,840 --> 00:53:45,839
Speaker 2: in on how the plot is coming along, and jaq

982
00:53:45,920 --> 00:53:48,640
Speaker 2: Mel says he doesn't trust the chauffeur. He says his

983
00:53:48,880 --> 00:53:52,319
Speaker 2: hands sweat, which I love it. It's like, oh, he's

984
00:53:52,360 --> 00:53:53,200
Speaker 2: not cool like you.

985
00:53:55,920 --> 00:53:59,040
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, you get the sense that Kinski's character Jacmel

986
00:53:59,120 --> 00:53:59,960
Speaker 1: does not sweat it off.

987
00:54:00,640 --> 00:54:04,200
Speaker 2: But so jack Mel lures Sterling Hayden out of the house.

988
00:54:04,640 --> 00:54:07,759
Speaker 2: I think they're trying to get They're trying to find

989
00:54:07,800 --> 00:54:09,640
Speaker 2: a way to get him away so that they can

990
00:54:10,000 --> 00:54:12,960
Speaker 2: take the kid. And so they lure him away by

991
00:54:12,960 --> 00:54:16,640
Speaker 2: pretending to be a filmmaker who wants Grandpa's help on

992
00:54:17,000 --> 00:54:19,680
Speaker 2: a film shoot in Central Africa, and he tells him

993
00:54:19,719 --> 00:54:22,120
Speaker 2: to come meet for a cocktail at the Tower Hotel.

994
00:54:23,160 --> 00:54:26,080
Speaker 2: But of course Grandpa goes to meet with the filmmaker,

995
00:54:26,120 --> 00:54:28,840
Speaker 2: who will in fact never show up because it's Klauskinsky

996
00:54:29,040 --> 00:54:31,160
Speaker 2: just pretending to be somebody else is just a ruse

997
00:54:31,160 --> 00:54:34,319
Speaker 2: to get him out of the house. Meanwhile, Philip is

998
00:54:34,719 --> 00:54:37,960
Speaker 2: off in a taxi to the pet shop and here

999
00:54:38,080 --> 00:54:40,920
Speaker 2: is the scene where things finally really kick off, I

1000
00:54:40,960 --> 00:54:42,880
Speaker 2: think because he acquires his snake.

1001
00:54:43,320 --> 00:54:46,919
Speaker 1: Yeah, supposed to get just a normal, non venomous petsmith snake.

1002
00:54:46,960 --> 00:54:49,799
Speaker 1: I forget what variety was supposed to be. But there's

1003
00:54:49,960 --> 00:54:52,400
Speaker 1: a mix up. The black mamba that is supposed to

1004
00:54:52,440 --> 00:54:56,200
Speaker 1: go to what the London Zoological Society or something. It's

1005
00:54:56,239 --> 00:54:59,360
Speaker 1: going to end up being studied or something. Yeah, it

1006
00:54:59,440 --> 00:55:01,640
Speaker 1: instead goes to this boy. It's put in a box

1007
00:55:02,200 --> 00:55:04,880
Speaker 1: for Philip and he is taking it home on a taxi.

1008
00:55:05,320 --> 00:55:08,799
Speaker 2: Right, So, and then we the plot is exposed when

1009
00:55:08,800 --> 00:55:12,000
Speaker 2: we cut to it's the London Institute of Toxicology and

1010
00:55:12,040 --> 00:55:16,919
Speaker 2: that's where Sarah Miles works. So they're checking on there.

1011
00:55:17,320 --> 00:55:19,759
Speaker 2: She and a couple of researchers there are checking out

1012
00:55:19,800 --> 00:55:22,959
Speaker 2: their new live specimen of the black mamba, this would

1013
00:55:22,960 --> 00:55:27,360
Speaker 2: be dinderro Aspis polylepis, and they're like, this isn't the

1014
00:55:27,400 --> 00:55:31,440
Speaker 2: right snake at all, So something's wrong here, And on

1015
00:55:31,560 --> 00:55:34,759
Speaker 2: closer inspection they discover it as a harmless species of

1016
00:55:34,760 --> 00:55:37,600
Speaker 2: snake commonly sold as a pet, and there must have

1017
00:55:37,640 --> 00:55:39,799
Speaker 2: been some kind of mix up. So they quickly trace

1018
00:55:39,880 --> 00:55:42,040
Speaker 2: this back to I don't know why they were getting

1019
00:55:42,239 --> 00:55:46,480
Speaker 2: a black mamba from a London pet shop, but they were,

1020
00:55:47,239 --> 00:55:49,960
Speaker 2: and so they trace it back to the pet shop

1021
00:55:49,960 --> 00:55:52,319
Speaker 2: and they realized there must have been a mix up there,

1022
00:55:52,800 --> 00:55:56,720
Speaker 2: and she immediately calls the police and she's like, hello,

1023
00:55:56,800 --> 00:55:59,279
Speaker 2: I'm calling from the you know, the toxicology Institute, and

1024
00:55:59,320 --> 00:56:03,680
Speaker 2: the policeman like toxicology. That's poisons, isn't it, And she

1025
00:56:03,800 --> 00:56:06,479
Speaker 2: explains that there's been this mix up and some kid

1026
00:56:06,560 --> 00:56:08,360
Speaker 2: must have just walked out of the shop with a

1027
00:56:08,360 --> 00:56:11,080
Speaker 2: black mamba. And they really play up the danger of

1028
00:56:11,120 --> 00:56:13,440
Speaker 2: the snake. It is the most deadly thing on the planet.

1029
00:56:13,560 --> 00:56:15,480
Speaker 2: It might as well be a nuclear bomb.

1030
00:56:16,000 --> 00:56:17,600
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean there are moments later in the film

1031
00:56:17,600 --> 00:56:20,320
Speaker 1: where it's like, there's a black mamba upstairs. You should

1032
00:56:20,360 --> 00:56:23,920
Speaker 1: absolutely not go upstairs, Like going upstairs is just a

1033
00:56:24,000 --> 00:56:26,040
Speaker 1: no go. You will die if you go up there.

1034
00:56:26,280 --> 00:56:29,560
Speaker 2: Now. Meanwhile, the crime plot is already getting screwed up.

1035
00:56:30,200 --> 00:56:32,120
Speaker 2: As we said, this is a movie about criminals who

1036
00:56:32,120 --> 00:56:35,640
Speaker 2: are quite bad at crime. So Philip was supposed to

1037
00:56:35,640 --> 00:56:37,839
Speaker 2: stay home so Louise could put him in a car

1038
00:56:37,880 --> 00:56:40,680
Speaker 2: with Jack Mel who would kidnap him for ransom. But

1039
00:56:40,920 --> 00:56:42,680
Speaker 2: he didn't stay home. He went to the store to

1040
00:56:42,680 --> 00:56:46,080
Speaker 2: get his snake. So eventually he comes back with his

1041
00:56:46,120 --> 00:56:50,239
Speaker 2: snake and she's frantic and she's like, hello, I need

1042
00:56:50,280 --> 00:56:52,520
Speaker 2: you to get directly into a car with this man

1043
00:56:52,560 --> 00:56:55,960
Speaker 2: who you've never met before and is klaus Kinski. And

1044
00:56:57,200 --> 00:57:00,200
Speaker 2: the kid is like, no, I will not be doing that.

1045
00:57:00,360 --> 00:57:03,319
Speaker 2: I have to put my snake into its vivarium. So

1046
00:57:03,360 --> 00:57:06,479
Speaker 2: he runs inside to do that, and then Oliver Reed

1047
00:57:06,600 --> 00:57:09,440
Speaker 2: is there, and Oliver Reed's just angry. He's angry at

1048
00:57:09,440 --> 00:57:11,440
Speaker 2: this child for failing to be kidnapped.

1049
00:57:12,320 --> 00:57:15,640
Speaker 1: And yeah, he's just like insulting the child, which was weird.

1050
00:57:15,680 --> 00:57:17,760
Speaker 1: He's like, he's like he's such a brat or something,

1051
00:57:17,800 --> 00:57:20,400
Speaker 1: you know. It's the total outburst.

1052
00:57:20,680 --> 00:57:24,280
Speaker 2: Yeah, and then Louise chases Young Master Philip up to

1053
00:57:24,320 --> 00:57:27,760
Speaker 2: his room where they open the snake box and she

1054
00:57:27,920 --> 00:57:30,280
Speaker 2: is just immediately bitten in the face a bunch of

1055
00:57:30,320 --> 00:57:32,200
Speaker 2: times by the black Mamba. Yeah.

1056
00:57:32,240 --> 00:57:33,520
Speaker 1: It's a frightening scene too.

1057
00:57:33,760 --> 00:57:38,200
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, and then the snake slithers away into the shadows. Meanwhile,

1058
00:57:38,440 --> 00:57:41,560
Speaker 2: Sterling Hayden arrives back home, so the rue I guess

1059
00:57:41,600 --> 00:57:44,200
Speaker 2: he's given up on waiting for the German filmmaker at

1060
00:57:44,240 --> 00:57:47,880
Speaker 2: the cocktail lounge. He wasn't supposed to be there, but

1061
00:57:48,000 --> 00:57:52,280
Speaker 2: he arrives and Philip's still there. Louise, who's been bitten

1062
00:57:52,320 --> 00:57:53,800
Speaker 2: on the face by the snake a bunch of times,

1063
00:57:53,880 --> 00:57:56,800
Speaker 2: is like, I am dying, and everybody's like, oh, you'll

1064
00:57:56,800 --> 00:57:59,640
Speaker 2: be fine. It's just a harmless house snake. And then

1065
00:57:59,760 --> 00:58:04,040
Speaker 2: all Reed just starts punching Grandpa, and Jack mal points

1066
00:58:04,080 --> 00:58:06,200
Speaker 2: a gun at him and is like, you know, I'm

1067
00:58:06,240 --> 00:58:08,560
Speaker 2: in charge. It is not time to punch Grandpa until

1068
00:58:08,560 --> 00:58:12,400
Speaker 2: I say it's time to punch grandpa. So they lock

1069
00:58:12,480 --> 00:58:15,040
Speaker 2: Sterling Hayden in the cellar, and then we see Oliver

1070
00:58:15,120 --> 00:58:17,160
Speaker 2: Reed loading a gun and this is the one you

1071
00:58:17,200 --> 00:58:19,080
Speaker 2: were talking about earlier, Like it must be an elephant

1072
00:58:19,120 --> 00:58:22,480
Speaker 2: gun or something because the shells are enormous. And then

1073
00:58:22,680 --> 00:58:26,440
Speaker 2: the badness at crime just continues, like a policeman arrives

1074
00:58:26,480 --> 00:58:29,680
Speaker 2: and knocks at the door. I guess because the toxicology

1075
00:58:29,760 --> 00:58:33,040
Speaker 2: lab figured out that this is the address of the

1076
00:58:33,080 --> 00:58:36,960
Speaker 2: boy who accidentally took home the super Snake, and the

1077
00:58:37,000 --> 00:58:41,240
Speaker 2: policeman knocks Philip shouts for help from inside the house,

1078
00:58:41,880 --> 00:58:44,320
Speaker 2: and then the officer opens the front door to just

1079
00:58:44,560 --> 00:58:49,560
Speaker 2: see this tableau of Oliver Reed holding a shotgun, klaus

1080
00:58:49,640 --> 00:58:53,560
Speaker 2: Kinski clutching a terrified child, Susan George with her face

1081
00:58:53,640 --> 00:58:57,360
Speaker 2: turning purple and she's gasping for air, and then Oliver

1082
00:58:57,400 --> 00:59:01,080
Speaker 2: Reed just shoots the police officer and the kid, and

1083
00:59:01,160 --> 00:59:04,360
Speaker 2: so like everything is screwed up now. So now they

1084
00:59:04,360 --> 00:59:07,440
Speaker 2: are in the house, having shot a police officer outside,

1085
00:59:07,960 --> 00:59:10,240
Speaker 2: and they are not going to escape to their hiding

1086
00:59:10,280 --> 00:59:12,960
Speaker 2: place with the kid for ransom. Now they're just in

1087
00:59:13,040 --> 00:59:16,720
Speaker 2: the house with the cops outside and it's a siege.

1088
00:59:24,280 --> 00:59:26,240
Speaker 1: Yeah, so at this point we're very much and like

1089
00:59:27,280 --> 00:59:29,360
Speaker 1: they say, the best laid plans of mice and men

1090
00:59:30,520 --> 00:59:34,240
Speaker 1: and go astray. This was not a very well laid

1091
00:59:34,280 --> 00:59:37,760
Speaker 1: plan and it has definitely gone astray. But this is

1092
00:59:37,960 --> 00:59:40,640
Speaker 1: a common feature in a lot of crime shows and

1093
00:59:40,680 --> 00:59:43,480
Speaker 1: crime stories. You know, it's like the heightst doesn't go

1094
00:59:43,840 --> 00:59:45,400
Speaker 1: as it's supposed to, and now we have to deal

1095
00:59:45,440 --> 00:59:48,080
Speaker 1: with the consequences of that, and then here come the police.

1096
00:59:48,560 --> 00:59:50,600
Speaker 1: That's going to be our next big movement in the plot.

1097
00:59:50,920 --> 00:59:53,720
Speaker 1: And I will say that one of the things I

1098
00:59:53,840 --> 00:59:55,400
Speaker 1: liked about the film that I thought made it very

1099
00:59:55,400 --> 00:59:58,600
Speaker 1: watchable is that it has very strong procedural bones, you know,

1100
01:00:00,200 --> 01:00:03,480
Speaker 1: out like what the the the the you know, poorly

1101
01:00:03,480 --> 01:00:07,240
Speaker 1: thought out criminal enterprise seems to be like what their

1102
01:00:07,320 --> 01:00:09,880
Speaker 1: plan is. And then there's a lot in the film

1103
01:00:09,960 --> 01:00:13,680
Speaker 1: about the police officers responding and getting advice and trying

1104
01:00:13,680 --> 01:00:16,760
Speaker 1: to figure out, like what is the proper strategic move

1105
01:00:16,880 --> 01:00:20,720
Speaker 1: to make? And it really helps to you know, drive

1106
01:00:20,760 --> 01:00:23,800
Speaker 1: the film along in a way that I thought was

1107
01:00:23,880 --> 01:00:27,920
Speaker 1: ultimately entertaining. Like I was reading Ebert's review off the film,

1108
01:00:28,040 --> 01:00:31,080
Speaker 1: and Ebert was like, despite all these actors, this film's boring.

1109
01:00:31,160 --> 01:00:33,680
Speaker 1: And I disagree. I don't think this film is ever boring.

1110
01:00:34,960 --> 01:00:38,520
Speaker 1: It falls short in some notable areas, but it's never boring.

1111
01:00:38,920 --> 01:00:42,400
Speaker 2: Oh, i'd agree, And yeah, you're right about the procedural stuff. Wait,

1112
01:00:42,720 --> 01:00:44,760
Speaker 2: you made this comparison off Mike. Did you say it

1113
01:00:44,800 --> 01:00:46,880
Speaker 2: on Mike that it's kind of like Shin Godzilla in

1114
01:00:46,880 --> 01:00:47,480
Speaker 2: that regard.

1115
01:00:47,880 --> 01:00:51,160
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, it's kind of like the Shin Godzilla of

1116
01:00:51,360 --> 01:00:54,480
Speaker 1: Loose Snake movies in that you know, there's a lot

1117
01:00:54,480 --> 01:00:56,200
Speaker 1: of well, let's talk to the expert and see what

1118
01:00:56,240 --> 01:00:58,960
Speaker 1: they think we should do. Okay, let's talk to another expert.

1119
01:00:59,000 --> 01:01:01,360
Speaker 1: What did they think and and so forth.

1120
01:01:01,640 --> 01:01:05,000
Speaker 2: Shin Godzilla is the best movie ever made about meetings.

1121
01:01:05,600 --> 01:01:09,120
Speaker 2: And this is this is a very good movie about yeah,

1122
01:01:09,480 --> 01:01:13,360
Speaker 2: little strategy sessions where people are talking out their next plans.

1123
01:01:14,800 --> 01:01:16,960
Speaker 2: Oh oh, I should have mentioned after all that last

1124
01:01:16,960 --> 01:01:19,960
Speaker 2: stuff happens like around the you know, one third of

1125
01:01:19,960 --> 01:01:23,120
Speaker 2: the way into the movie, Louise dies, so, you know,

1126
01:01:23,240 --> 01:01:25,600
Speaker 2: they thought she'd just been bitten by this harmless house snake,

1127
01:01:25,640 --> 01:01:28,320
Speaker 2: but then she turns completely blue, there's blood coming out

1128
01:01:28,320 --> 01:01:31,040
Speaker 2: of her mouth, and she's dead. And the other crime

1129
01:01:31,080 --> 01:01:34,280
Speaker 2: boys are like, oh, whoops, maybe there is something bad

1130
01:01:34,320 --> 01:01:38,800
Speaker 2: about the snake. And and so then the the police arrive,

1131
01:01:38,840 --> 01:01:42,080
Speaker 2: and this is when we really meet Nicol Williamson. He arrives,

1132
01:01:42,120 --> 01:01:45,120
Speaker 2: he sets up outside. He's trying to do negotiations with

1133
01:01:45,240 --> 01:01:49,919
Speaker 2: Jack Mel. These negotiations will continue throughout the middle third

1134
01:01:49,920 --> 01:01:53,200
Speaker 2: of the movie. Of course, of course, klaus Kinski he

1135
01:01:53,240 --> 01:01:56,040
Speaker 2: wants a car and money in exchange for the kid's safety,

1136
01:01:56,160 --> 01:01:57,720
Speaker 2: and they're not going to get that yet. So the

1137
01:01:57,720 --> 01:02:00,200
Speaker 2: act to set up is complete, and from here it

1138
01:02:00,280 --> 01:02:02,320
Speaker 2: goes on to a lot of you know, the standard

1139
01:02:02,320 --> 01:02:04,520
Speaker 2: fun and games part of a creature movie, where there's

1140
01:02:04,520 --> 01:02:07,400
Speaker 2: a lot of mamba cam and like hunting around for

1141
01:02:07,440 --> 01:02:10,440
Speaker 2: the snake. They send Grandpa up to hunt for the

1142
01:02:10,440 --> 01:02:12,720
Speaker 2: snake and he's holding like a lamp with the shade

1143
01:02:12,760 --> 01:02:13,520
Speaker 2: taken off.

1144
01:02:14,400 --> 01:02:18,120
Speaker 1: And there are some some false positives in his search

1145
01:02:18,160 --> 01:02:20,880
Speaker 1: for the snake that the work pretty well on the screen.

1146
01:02:21,240 --> 01:02:23,840
Speaker 2: But he knows what it is because he's, you know,

1147
01:02:23,880 --> 01:02:27,200
Speaker 2: from all his safari experiences, he's familiar with black mambas

1148
01:02:27,280 --> 01:02:29,400
Speaker 2: and and the fact that they can be dangerous. So

1149
01:02:29,880 --> 01:02:33,040
Speaker 2: he's like, okay, we you know, we're really in trouble

1150
01:02:33,080 --> 01:02:34,080
Speaker 2: with this thing in the house.

1151
01:02:34,480 --> 01:02:35,160
Speaker 1: Mm hm.

1152
01:02:35,200 --> 01:02:37,320
Speaker 2: And you know, one scene I thought was pretty good

1153
01:02:37,440 --> 01:02:39,720
Speaker 2: was the one with Sterling Hayden hunting around for the

1154
01:02:39,720 --> 01:02:41,400
Speaker 2: snake in the in the empty room.

1155
01:02:41,840 --> 01:02:44,320
Speaker 1: I wonder if this is perhaps something that maybe worked

1156
01:02:44,600 --> 01:02:47,920
Speaker 1: better in the book, like if the book allowed the

1157
01:02:48,280 --> 01:02:51,680
Speaker 1: author more room to sort of ruminate over like tales

1158
01:02:51,720 --> 01:02:54,800
Speaker 1: of the mamba from from Africa that Grandpa would be

1159
01:02:54,800 --> 01:02:58,000
Speaker 1: familiar with, and maybe Grandpa thinking about like just how

1160
01:02:58,240 --> 01:03:01,240
Speaker 1: intensely dangerous the situation is like maybe it was able

1161
01:03:01,320 --> 01:03:04,840
Speaker 1: to drive home this idea of the mamba being such

1162
01:03:04,840 --> 01:03:07,640
Speaker 1: a threat in ways that the film maybe struggled to

1163
01:03:07,640 --> 01:03:08,480
Speaker 1: do at times.

1164
01:03:08,840 --> 01:03:10,480
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean a lot of what we know about

1165
01:03:10,520 --> 01:03:14,320
Speaker 2: the mamba in the movie gets filled in by these scientists,

1166
01:03:14,360 --> 01:03:16,840
Speaker 2: so like it around. Like, you know, there's a lot

1167
01:03:16,880 --> 01:03:18,960
Speaker 2: of the sort of cat and mouse games in the

1168
01:03:18,960 --> 01:03:21,840
Speaker 2: middle third of the movie, and somewhere like an hour

1169
01:03:21,920 --> 01:03:26,520
Speaker 2: in there's this meeting between Nicol Williamson and Mary and Stowe,

1170
01:03:26,560 --> 01:03:29,080
Speaker 2: the snake scientist, and this is where they talk about

1171
01:03:29,120 --> 01:03:31,760
Speaker 2: you know, he's like, how dangerous is it because she's

1172
01:03:31,840 --> 01:03:33,960
Speaker 2: finally gotten the information to him that there's a killer

1173
01:03:34,000 --> 01:03:37,959
Speaker 2: snake inside, and she says it's the most dangerous snake

1174
01:03:38,000 --> 01:03:41,600
Speaker 2: in the whole world. But she gives it all these

1175
01:03:41,600 --> 01:03:45,720
Speaker 2: sort of anthropomorphic qualities. She says, like they're very aggressive,

1176
01:03:45,720 --> 01:03:48,600
Speaker 2: but they tend to be a little awkward paranoid really,

1177
01:03:49,960 --> 01:03:52,400
Speaker 2: And she says they happen to be the fastest snake

1178
01:03:52,440 --> 01:03:56,000
Speaker 2: in the world. And she says unless the bite victim

1179
01:03:56,040 --> 01:03:59,920
Speaker 2: gets antidote immediately or anti venom immediately, mamba bites are

1180
01:04:00,080 --> 01:04:02,720
Speaker 2: one hundred percent fatal. But she says if you get

1181
01:04:02,920 --> 01:04:05,840
Speaker 2: the antidote to the venom. It's a fifty to fifty chance,

1182
01:04:05,920 --> 01:04:08,160
Speaker 2: provided that the victim is not allergic to it.

1183
01:04:08,440 --> 01:04:12,080
Speaker 1: I'll go ahead and mention again that California Herb's website

1184
01:04:12,880 --> 01:04:17,000
Speaker 1: reminds us that there are some some suspect mamba facts

1185
01:04:17,000 --> 01:04:21,400
Speaker 1: in this movie. So don't watch Venom just for your

1186
01:04:21,520 --> 01:04:24,720
Speaker 1: education on black mambas, go to other sources. Right.

1187
01:04:24,800 --> 01:04:27,360
Speaker 2: But also, I mean, it is certainly true that the

1188
01:04:27,360 --> 01:04:29,840
Speaker 2: black mamba is one of the more dangerous snakes on

1189
01:04:29,880 --> 01:04:32,560
Speaker 2: Earth in terms of interactions with humans. Like, if you

1190
01:04:32,560 --> 01:04:34,680
Speaker 2: see one, don't go anywhere near it. You know, that thing,

1191
01:04:35,320 --> 01:04:37,200
Speaker 2: it probably doesn't want anything to do with you, but

1192
01:04:37,240 --> 01:04:38,840
Speaker 2: you do not want to be bitten by it.

1193
01:04:39,200 --> 01:04:42,080
Speaker 1: Right, But can it smell crime? Does it own the night?

1194
01:04:42,600 --> 01:04:44,520
Speaker 1: I mean these are questionable.

1195
01:04:44,840 --> 01:04:47,720
Speaker 2: Yeah, Now there's a there's a fun scene where they

1196
01:04:47,840 --> 01:04:52,440
Speaker 2: send out Sarah Miiles to deliver a snake science lecture

1197
01:04:52,520 --> 01:04:54,800
Speaker 2: to the people in the house. So, you know, the

1198
01:04:54,840 --> 01:04:58,000
Speaker 2: house is besieged by cops and she just goes out

1199
01:04:58,040 --> 01:04:59,800
Speaker 2: in front of it to like tell them about the

1200
01:05:00,360 --> 01:05:03,160
Speaker 2: the mamba and its venom. So they do keep saying

1201
01:05:03,200 --> 01:05:05,760
Speaker 2: poisonous snake. By the way, the pedantic part of my

1202
01:05:05,800 --> 01:05:10,640
Speaker 2: brain couldn't let that go, and through some devious trickery,

1203
01:05:10,720 --> 01:05:14,160
Speaker 2: klaus Kinski eventually manages to get the snake scientist or

1204
01:05:14,200 --> 01:05:18,880
Speaker 2: the toxicologist doctor Stowe into the into the house by

1205
01:05:18,880 --> 01:05:22,520
Speaker 2: pulling a gun on her that he tricks her into

1206
01:05:22,520 --> 01:05:25,520
Speaker 2: thinking that she can administer an antidote to someone who

1207
01:05:25,560 --> 01:05:27,880
Speaker 2: has been bitten, but really it's just him pointing a

1208
01:05:27,880 --> 01:05:30,800
Speaker 2: gun in her face. So she's a hostage now as well.

1209
01:05:31,520 --> 01:05:34,360
Speaker 1: Uh, And I love how basically Jack mel is approaching

1210
01:05:34,360 --> 01:05:37,800
Speaker 1: this situation. It's like, what got us into this problem, kidnapping,

1211
01:05:38,400 --> 01:05:41,880
Speaker 1: we'll get us out of this situation more kidnapping.

1212
01:05:41,440 --> 01:05:45,520
Speaker 2: Right exactly. And so there's a bunch of stuff with

1213
01:05:45,560 --> 01:05:48,760
Speaker 2: the police scheming about maybe back entrances to the house.

1214
01:05:48,840 --> 01:05:51,320
Speaker 2: This I think is part of the shin Godzilla quality.

1215
01:05:51,360 --> 01:05:53,640
Speaker 2: You were talking about little strategy sessions where they're like

1216
01:05:53,680 --> 01:05:56,400
Speaker 2: consulting the building plans of the house. They're like, there

1217
01:05:56,480 --> 01:05:58,480
Speaker 2: used to be a back entrance, we could maybe bust

1218
01:05:58,480 --> 01:06:02,400
Speaker 2: through there. And then meanwhile inside the house, there's a

1219
01:06:02,440 --> 01:06:05,280
Speaker 2: great scene where everybody's just sitting around. It's Oliver Reed

1220
01:06:05,320 --> 01:06:08,320
Speaker 2: and Sarah Miles, and Oliver Reed's like, I'm thirsty. I

1221
01:06:08,440 --> 01:06:09,919
Speaker 2: fancy a drink, how about you?

1222
01:06:10,240 --> 01:06:12,840
Speaker 1: Yeah? And this is a I love this moment because

1223
01:06:14,040 --> 01:06:16,560
Speaker 1: Reid's character Dave, he kind of enters into this comfort

1224
01:06:16,640 --> 01:06:19,320
Speaker 1: zone offering the drink, and he's listing all the different

1225
01:06:19,360 --> 01:06:21,760
Speaker 1: liquors that are available, and he's like, we've got most things.

1226
01:06:23,000 --> 01:06:26,800
Speaker 1: And it puts you completely at ease because then when

1227
01:06:26,800 --> 01:06:29,000
Speaker 1: he opens up the drink cabinet and you find yourself

1228
01:06:29,040 --> 01:06:32,280
Speaker 1: just You're like, I want to see these bottles. I

1229
01:06:32,320 --> 01:06:33,760
Speaker 1: am curious. Maybe I'll have a drink too.

1230
01:06:33,840 --> 01:06:36,200
Speaker 2: Oliver he's going to make a white Russian.

1231
01:06:36,280 --> 01:06:39,720
Speaker 1: Yeah, But then he opens it up and what is

1232
01:06:39,760 --> 01:06:42,200
Speaker 1: in the liquor cabinet but the mamba.

1233
01:06:42,720 --> 01:06:45,680
Speaker 2: There you go. It's a snake pop out scare. It's

1234
01:06:45,720 --> 01:06:47,880
Speaker 2: a great snake pop out scare. I gotta say I

1235
01:06:47,920 --> 01:06:51,560
Speaker 2: really enjoyed it. It is and the special horror of

1236
01:06:51,640 --> 01:06:54,720
Speaker 2: like Oliver Reed realizes that the snake is in there

1237
01:06:54,800 --> 01:06:55,800
Speaker 2: with the alcohol.

1238
01:06:56,160 --> 01:06:57,800
Speaker 1: Yeah, at first I thought that was going to be

1239
01:06:57,800 --> 01:07:00,280
Speaker 1: the thing. It's almost like a Simpson's moment. I don't know,

1240
01:07:00,360 --> 01:07:02,800
Speaker 1: the beer is locked up with a snake. No one

1241
01:07:02,840 --> 01:07:05,240
Speaker 1: can get the beer now, that sort of thing. But

1242
01:07:05,280 --> 01:07:07,560
Speaker 1: then Yeah, there's this scene where they then pull the

1243
01:07:07,600 --> 01:07:10,640
Speaker 1: liquor cabinet away from the wall and we see the

1244
01:07:10,720 --> 01:07:14,560
Speaker 1: snake slither through like a crack in the back of

1245
01:07:14,560 --> 01:07:16,760
Speaker 1: the liquor cabinet into the wall.

1246
01:07:16,840 --> 01:07:17,360
Speaker 2: It's a duck.

1247
01:07:17,440 --> 01:07:19,120
Speaker 1: Did you understand this. It's a duck.

1248
01:07:19,200 --> 01:07:21,800
Speaker 2: It is a duct. I did not know. Well, I mean,

1249
01:07:21,840 --> 01:07:23,920
Speaker 2: I think I understood what I was looking at. But

1250
01:07:25,240 --> 01:07:27,320
Speaker 2: so it's not like built into the wall. It's a

1251
01:07:27,320 --> 01:07:29,960
Speaker 2: liquor cabinet that is a separate piece of furniture. It's

1252
01:07:30,000 --> 01:07:32,600
Speaker 2: like a chest or a wardrobe kind of thing, almost

1253
01:07:32,680 --> 01:07:35,040
Speaker 2: as a cabinet opens up. It's got all the liquor inside.

1254
01:07:35,400 --> 01:07:37,280
Speaker 2: But there is a hole in the back of it

1255
01:07:37,320 --> 01:07:40,640
Speaker 2: where there's a duct leading into the wall, like connecting it.

1256
01:07:41,320 --> 01:07:44,120
Speaker 2: I don't know. I don't know what that was supposed

1257
01:07:44,120 --> 01:07:46,440
Speaker 2: to be or if that's normal. I mean, do you

1258
01:07:46,520 --> 01:07:49,400
Speaker 2: normally have a duct going from the wall to a

1259
01:07:49,440 --> 01:07:52,160
Speaker 2: separate piece of furniture containing liquor bottles.

1260
01:07:52,600 --> 01:07:56,240
Speaker 1: I can't imagine you would. But then again, it's necessary

1261
01:07:56,280 --> 01:07:59,560
Speaker 1: for this scare to work because otherwise, oh, the snake

1262
01:07:59,640 --> 01:08:01,800
Speaker 1: is just in the liquor cabinet now, and okay, he's

1263
01:08:01,800 --> 01:08:04,560
Speaker 1: in there. Now we've won. Now we can just nail

1264
01:08:04,600 --> 01:08:07,960
Speaker 1: the liquor cabinet shut. But no, it gets away. It's

1265
01:08:08,000 --> 01:08:10,400
Speaker 1: back in the walls. It goes wherever it wants to

1266
01:08:10,520 --> 01:08:11,200
Speaker 1: in this house.

1267
01:08:11,560 --> 01:08:14,920
Speaker 2: Now, So the police are scheming about ways to breach

1268
01:08:15,040 --> 01:08:18,160
Speaker 2: the house to get in there and save the hostages.

1269
01:08:18,560 --> 01:08:20,760
Speaker 2: But I think the funny thing is that ultimately the

1270
01:08:20,800 --> 01:08:23,479
Speaker 2: police fail in this regard, and it is the snake

1271
01:08:23,640 --> 01:08:25,440
Speaker 2: in fact, that defeats the criminals.

1272
01:08:25,840 --> 01:08:28,759
Speaker 1: Yeah, the snake is ultimately the hero of the picture,

1273
01:08:29,160 --> 01:08:34,240
Speaker 1: dispensing with all three kidnappers and never I mean threatening,

1274
01:08:34,280 --> 01:08:37,320
Speaker 1: I guess, but never actually harming any of the non

1275
01:08:37,360 --> 01:08:38,439
Speaker 1: criminals in the picture.

1276
01:08:38,560 --> 01:08:40,560
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a lawful good snake.

1277
01:08:41,320 --> 01:08:42,599
Speaker 1: Can smell crime, I think.

1278
01:08:42,800 --> 01:08:45,800
Speaker 2: Yes. I don't know how much detail we want to

1279
01:08:45,800 --> 01:08:49,240
Speaker 2: go into about the particular demise of Oliver Reed or

1280
01:08:49,320 --> 01:08:53,800
Speaker 2: klaus Kinski's characters. Oliver Reed, they're like down in the

1281
01:08:53,840 --> 01:08:57,639
Speaker 2: basement and suddenly the police bust in through the wall

1282
01:08:58,400 --> 01:09:01,320
Speaker 2: and they're having a stand off. They're shooting at each other,

1283
01:09:01,360 --> 01:09:04,000
Speaker 2: but then there's a snake and the police are like

1284
01:09:04,120 --> 01:09:06,920
Speaker 2: snake and they have to run away and go back

1285
01:09:06,960 --> 01:09:09,920
Speaker 2: out the you know, the breach in the wall. It

1286
01:09:09,960 --> 01:09:12,400
Speaker 2: was like you were more scared of the snake than

1287
01:09:12,439 --> 01:09:12,840
Speaker 2: the gun.

1288
01:09:13,240 --> 01:09:16,040
Speaker 1: I know, it's like a xenomorph in this thing. But

1289
01:09:17,320 --> 01:09:20,479
Speaker 1: Reid's character Dave is shot. He's like shot on the shoulder,

1290
01:09:20,520 --> 01:09:24,479
Speaker 1: so he's he's heavily injured. He can't quite crawl up

1291
01:09:24,520 --> 01:09:27,519
Speaker 1: the stairs. And that's when the mamba comes for him.

1292
01:09:27,960 --> 01:09:31,320
Speaker 2: In a in a quite gratuitous scene of like Creature

1293
01:09:31,400 --> 01:09:34,720
Speaker 2: Revenge against Human Evil, Oliver Reed is bitten in the

1294
01:09:34,760 --> 01:09:36,080
Speaker 2: crotch by the snake and.

1295
01:09:36,439 --> 01:09:38,720
Speaker 1: Yeah, it goes right up the pants leg. Yeah, and

1296
01:09:38,760 --> 01:09:40,160
Speaker 1: now it's just Jack Mel.

1297
01:09:40,400 --> 01:09:44,280
Speaker 2: Right, but I'm imagining like the writing that scene, you know,

1298
01:09:44,400 --> 01:09:47,559
Speaker 2: like what did that look like on the page? The

1299
01:09:47,600 --> 01:09:49,840
Speaker 2: snake slithers slowly up his thigh.

1300
01:09:50,320 --> 01:09:52,680
Speaker 1: Oliver Reid's great in this scene though he totally sells it.

1301
01:09:53,080 --> 01:09:55,080
Speaker 2: But then, of course the snake in the end also

1302
01:09:55,160 --> 01:09:58,599
Speaker 2: has to attack the one remaining criminal, Jack Mel. We

1303
01:09:58,640 --> 01:10:02,720
Speaker 2: see it like creeping up through curtains behind him as

1304
01:10:02,760 --> 01:10:05,960
Speaker 2: the music builds, and then it like it springs out

1305
01:10:06,000 --> 01:10:09,280
Speaker 2: and attacks him and literally, like the final conflict of

1306
01:10:09,320 --> 01:10:12,519
Speaker 2: the movie is is klaus Kinski wrestling a snake and

1307
01:10:12,640 --> 01:10:14,439
Speaker 2: engaging in a gunfight with a snake.

1308
01:10:14,840 --> 01:10:18,200
Speaker 1: Yeah, like thrashing around in the like the living upstairs,

1309
01:10:18,280 --> 01:10:21,240
Speaker 1: living room or whatever it happens to be, Yeah, trying

1310
01:10:21,280 --> 01:10:23,719
Speaker 1: to shoot the snake's head off with his own gun.

1311
01:10:25,000 --> 01:10:27,960
Speaker 1: Eventually the fight goes out onto the balcony, and the

1312
01:10:28,000 --> 01:10:30,759
Speaker 1: whole time like it's clearly a rubber snake. It's Kinsky

1313
01:10:30,920 --> 01:10:34,200
Speaker 1: of battling this rubber snake. And then especially when he

1314
01:10:34,240 --> 01:10:37,080
Speaker 1: fires the gun, that's when the snipers start firing. The

1315
01:10:37,080 --> 01:10:41,439
Speaker 1: police snipers start firing. So Kinsky's character and the snake

1316
01:10:41,760 --> 01:10:45,200
Speaker 1: die in a hail of bullets and then fall off

1317
01:10:45,240 --> 01:10:50,040
Speaker 1: the balcony. And my only criticism is that the body

1318
01:10:50,080 --> 01:10:53,160
Speaker 1: does not become impaled on the the like the spiked

1319
01:10:53,400 --> 01:10:55,200
Speaker 1: fence at the bottom that I think would have been

1320
01:10:55,400 --> 01:10:57,040
Speaker 1: would have made it a little more perfect, But maybe

1321
01:10:57,040 --> 01:10:59,000
Speaker 1: they thought that would that would just be overdoing it.

1322
01:10:59,080 --> 01:10:59,479
Speaker 1: I don't know.

1323
01:10:59,720 --> 01:11:02,560
Speaker 2: I think it should have ended with the snake slithering

1324
01:11:02,720 --> 01:11:06,880
Speaker 2: down klaus Kinski's throat and biting him from the inside.

1325
01:11:06,680 --> 01:11:07,920
Speaker 1: Like going right to the heart.

1326
01:11:08,479 --> 01:11:11,240
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, it coils around his heart and bites it

1327
01:11:11,320 --> 01:11:12,240
Speaker 2: a hundred times.

1328
01:11:14,240 --> 01:11:17,559
Speaker 1: But basically that's the big finish. Yeah, Now, all of

1329
01:11:17,600 --> 01:11:21,880
Speaker 1: the kidnappers are dead, the Black Mamba itself is dead,

1330
01:11:22,320 --> 01:11:26,840
Speaker 1: and everybody is safe once again. Or are they?

1331
01:11:27,240 --> 01:11:30,559
Speaker 2: Oh that's right, because we get a delightful stinger in

1332
01:11:30,600 --> 01:11:32,920
Speaker 2: which you go into the heating ducks and you see

1333
01:11:32,960 --> 01:11:35,760
Speaker 2: some eggs, some snake eggs up in there. I guess

1334
01:11:35,800 --> 01:11:38,679
Speaker 2: they're being incubated by the gas heat.

1335
01:11:39,120 --> 01:11:41,640
Speaker 1: Not only that they've hatched, there's like a baby mamba

1336
01:11:41,920 --> 01:11:45,200
Speaker 1: crawling out of one. So it's not only mamba time

1337
01:11:45,280 --> 01:11:48,560
Speaker 1: once more in this house, but it's also going to

1338
01:11:48,600 --> 01:11:51,680
Speaker 1: be like double mambas. So you know, set up for

1339
01:11:51,720 --> 01:11:53,120
Speaker 1: the sequel here, I guess.

1340
01:11:53,160 --> 01:11:55,559
Speaker 2: Is that like it's Miller time, it's Mamba time.

1341
01:11:56,880 --> 01:11:59,759
Speaker 1: Yeah? Yeah, I mean they could have done a sequel.

1342
01:11:59,800 --> 01:12:02,200
Speaker 1: I mean, they were able to make all those taken movies.

1343
01:12:02,240 --> 01:12:04,639
Speaker 1: It's it's I think you could come up with another

1344
01:12:04,720 --> 01:12:09,439
Speaker 1: scenario in which you have kidnappers or terrorists or something

1345
01:12:09,840 --> 01:12:11,040
Speaker 1: taking over the house.

1346
01:12:11,160 --> 01:12:14,000
Speaker 2: The exact same family, the exact same house, and it's

1347
01:12:14,080 --> 01:12:17,760
Speaker 2: two snakes this time, two snakes. Yeah, okay, who would

1348
01:12:17,760 --> 01:12:20,880
Speaker 2: have to play the criminals in the sequel? It would

1349
01:12:20,920 --> 01:12:25,280
Speaker 2: be how about Gary Busey and Robert mitcham.

1350
01:12:25,439 --> 01:12:29,000
Speaker 1: Ooh yeah, well was Robert Mitcham still alive at that point.

1351
01:12:29,160 --> 01:12:30,160
Speaker 1: I can't remember when.

1352
01:12:30,120 --> 01:12:33,280
Speaker 2: He died nineteen ninety seven, Okay, yeah.

1353
01:12:33,120 --> 01:12:35,720
Speaker 1: He could have done it. Sure, I don't know. I

1354
01:12:35,760 --> 01:12:38,439
Speaker 1: don't know if I want to see like mid eighties

1355
01:12:38,560 --> 01:12:41,360
Speaker 1: Robert Mitcham wrestling a snake, though, I don't know I

1356
01:12:41,600 --> 01:12:45,200
Speaker 1: want to see that at any rate. It never came

1357
01:12:45,240 --> 01:12:47,800
Speaker 1: to be. We never got a sequel to Venom. But

1358
01:12:48,320 --> 01:12:50,040
Speaker 1: you know, like I say, I feel like it's a

1359
01:12:50,600 --> 01:12:53,240
Speaker 1: it is a movie that is essentially ludicrous. Like the

1360
01:12:53,479 --> 01:12:55,680
Speaker 1: premise at the center of this movie is he is

1361
01:12:55,800 --> 01:12:58,680
Speaker 1: just ridiculous. I mean, the idea that this snake is

1362
01:12:58,720 --> 01:13:02,200
Speaker 1: just so dangerous and wants to kill people, wants to

1363
01:13:02,320 --> 01:13:06,479
Speaker 1: kill criminals or anybody that gets near it. You know,

1364
01:13:06,520 --> 01:13:10,519
Speaker 1: it's just ultimately, I never really bought it in the film,

1365
01:13:10,560 --> 01:13:14,360
Speaker 1: you know, like I'm quick to give something credit if

1366
01:13:14,360 --> 01:13:16,280
Speaker 1: it works within the context of the film, and this

1367
01:13:16,479 --> 01:13:18,880
Speaker 1: never quite did that. But we still have some great

1368
01:13:18,880 --> 01:13:23,120
Speaker 1: snake scares, we have some fun performances, and we have

1369
01:13:23,240 --> 01:13:27,479
Speaker 1: this procedural energy kind of driving things along. All right, Well,

1370
01:13:27,479 --> 01:13:30,439
Speaker 1: you're probably wondering, well, where can I watch Venom? Well,

1371
01:13:30,760 --> 01:13:34,280
Speaker 1: Lucky for you, it's widely available for digital rental or purchase,

1372
01:13:34,640 --> 01:13:37,679
Speaker 1: and also Blue Underground put out a nice looking blu

1373
01:13:37,840 --> 01:13:40,640
Speaker 1: ray of it as well with restored two K transfer,

1374
01:13:41,720 --> 01:13:45,439
Speaker 1: so you can watch this movie yourself via those means. Also,

1375
01:13:45,520 --> 01:13:48,759
Speaker 1: I'll stress again the novel is out there in digital

1376
01:13:48,840 --> 01:13:52,400
Speaker 1: and physical form, So I would love to hear from

1377
01:13:52,400 --> 01:13:55,160
Speaker 1: anyone who's read the novel Venom and can chime in

1378
01:13:55,200 --> 01:13:57,280
Speaker 1: on it. And you might be wondering, well, I haven't

1379
01:13:57,320 --> 01:13:59,240
Speaker 1: read it, but could I read it and then tell

1380
01:13:59,520 --> 01:14:02,120
Speaker 1: robin Ja what it's all about and give my review. Yes,

1381
01:14:02,200 --> 01:14:05,400
Speaker 1: you can absolutely do that. I would love to have

1382
01:14:05,479 --> 01:14:08,599
Speaker 1: some insight into the novel that came before here.

1383
01:14:08,840 --> 01:14:10,680
Speaker 2: Now, wouldn't it be great if Venom was one of

1384
01:14:10,720 --> 01:14:13,960
Speaker 2: those films that had a novel and then a movie,

1385
01:14:14,120 --> 01:14:16,680
Speaker 2: and then a novelization of the movie separate from the

1386
01:14:16,720 --> 01:14:17,559
Speaker 2: original novel.

1387
01:14:18,040 --> 01:14:20,720
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, you see that sometimes for me, the most

1388
01:14:20,720 --> 01:14:26,519
Speaker 1: notable example being Francis Ford Coppola's Bromstoker's Dracula and which,

1389
01:14:26,560 --> 01:14:29,240
Speaker 1: of course it is an adaptation of Dracula, but there

1390
01:14:29,280 --> 01:14:33,519
Speaker 1: is also a novelization of the film Genius Yeah, which

1391
01:14:33,720 --> 01:14:36,400
Speaker 1: I aways found outrageous because it's not like Dracula. The

1392
01:14:36,479 --> 01:14:39,559
Speaker 1: original is an unreadable text, Like did it really need

1393
01:14:39,600 --> 01:14:43,599
Speaker 1: to be updated, you know, in terms of the written version?

1394
01:14:43,880 --> 01:14:44,360
Speaker 1: I don't know.

1395
01:14:45,240 --> 01:14:48,519
Speaker 2: No, I mean so it was so it could say,

1396
01:14:48,560 --> 01:14:52,400
Speaker 2: you know, Jonathan Arker, who looked like the American actor

1397
01:14:52,479 --> 01:14:57,840
Speaker 2: Keanu Reeves, arrived in Where Does He Go? You know budhams.

1398
01:14:59,040 --> 01:15:03,439
Speaker 1: Oh doesn't I'll have a mustache in the original Bromstoker's Dracula.

1399
01:15:03,520 --> 01:15:06,000
Speaker 2: Maybe that was it in the movie or in the novel.

1400
01:15:06,280 --> 01:15:08,160
Speaker 1: In the novel, I don't recall.

1401
01:15:08,360 --> 01:15:09,920
Speaker 2: I don't recall how he's described.

1402
01:15:10,200 --> 01:15:12,400
Speaker 1: I could be wrong on that, but wouldn't it have

1403
01:15:12,439 --> 01:15:15,479
Speaker 1: been funny though? If they were like, okay, standard operating procedure,

1404
01:15:15,479 --> 01:15:18,000
Speaker 1: we need a novelization of this film and they assign

1405
01:15:18,040 --> 01:15:20,080
Speaker 1: it to somebody, And what if they just turned down

1406
01:15:20,080 --> 01:15:24,040
Speaker 1: a copy of Bromstoker's Dracula and they're like, it was

1407
01:15:24,120 --> 01:15:26,439
Speaker 1: just it was such a great adaptation, like as it

1408
01:15:26,520 --> 01:15:30,639
Speaker 1: just as it worked out, the novelization of the film

1409
01:15:30,760 --> 01:15:31,839
Speaker 1: is the original novel.

1410
01:15:32,040 --> 01:15:33,160
Speaker 2: That's just smart. Yeah.

1411
01:15:33,360 --> 01:15:36,479
Speaker 1: I didn't even realize that I had completely reproduced the

1412
01:15:36,520 --> 01:15:41,519
Speaker 1: original Bromstoker's Dracula. I was just adapting the film.

1413
01:15:41,680 --> 01:15:43,200
Speaker 2: Well, if you're gonna do it with any film. I

1414
01:15:43,240 --> 01:15:47,639
Speaker 2: will say the Coppola adaptation is unusually faithful to the novel,

1415
01:15:47,880 --> 01:15:51,439
Speaker 2: much more so than most other adaptations I can think of.

1416
01:15:51,880 --> 01:15:54,519
Speaker 1: Yeah, and also has some really fun performances in it.

1417
01:15:55,000 --> 01:15:55,520
Speaker 2: Yeah.

1418
01:15:55,720 --> 01:15:57,599
Speaker 1: All right, Well, we're going to go ahead and close

1419
01:15:57,840 --> 01:16:01,080
Speaker 1: the liquor cabinet on this serpent, but we will be

1420
01:16:01,160 --> 01:16:03,759
Speaker 1: back with other episodes of Weird House Cinema. They publish

1421
01:16:03,760 --> 01:16:07,080
Speaker 1: every Friday in the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast feed.

1422
01:16:07,080 --> 01:16:10,880
Speaker 1: We're primarily science and culture podcast, with core episodes on

1423
01:16:10,960 --> 01:16:14,559
Speaker 1: Tuesdays and Thursdays. We have listener mail on Mondays and

1424
01:16:14,800 --> 01:16:17,600
Speaker 1: artifact episodes. Those are shorties on Wednesdays.

1425
01:16:18,240 --> 01:16:21,080
Speaker 2: Huge thanks as always to our excellent audio producer Seth

1426
01:16:21,160 --> 01:16:23,679
Speaker 2: Nicholas Johnson. If you would like to get in touch

1427
01:16:23,720 --> 01:16:25,880
Speaker 2: with us with feedback on this episode or any other,

1428
01:16:25,960 --> 01:16:27,800
Speaker 2: to suggest a topic for the future, or just to

1429
01:16:27,880 --> 01:16:30,639
Speaker 2: say hello, you can email us at contact at stuff

1430
01:16:30,680 --> 01:16:39,320
Speaker 2: to Blow your Mind dot com.

1431
01:16:39,400 --> 01:16:42,360
Speaker 3: Stuff to Blow Your Mind is production of iHeartRadio. For

1432
01:16:42,439 --> 01:16:45,240
Speaker 3: more podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app,

1433
01:16:45,400 --> 01:16:48,600
Speaker 3: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.