Piers Haggard

Yeah, the, what is, what is Venom? It came out in 1981.

It was eventually directed by Piers Haggard, uh, stars Klaus Kinski, Oliver Reed, and, um, who played Louise? Uh, Susan George, uh, as a trio of criminals trying to, uh, take a child hostage.

Uh, but they end up getting trapped in that child's house with his granddad, played by Sterling Hayden, also in this film, and a real actual black mamba that they use to film this film.

This is a proper [laughs] there's a black mamba.

Like, "I wouldn't, I'm not being..." You know, and the understudy would have to come on and complete the rest of that evening's performance.

Whoa.

So, you know, poor Piers Haggard, um, trying to...

Uh, he, he does, in the director's commentary, he does say, you know, "Forget the black mamba, this cast was a nest of vipers."

can't believe you haven't mentioned her.

Piers Haggard.

Piers Haggard.

We've done him before.

He directed Blow Up, Conquest and Pennies from Heaven.

And then something else called Hilda.

I've heard of her, though, I'm sure.

Yeah, Piers Haggard.

And I think that's probably true.

Pierce Haggard's Venom, 1981.

We previously on this series, I believe in 2022, covered his other film, his much more famous film, Blood on Satan's Claw.

And I'll quickly start because I think the initial question is, why are we doing Venom 1981 in the realm of horror movies? The answer is quite hot.