You won't be disappointed!

One of my all time favorites.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

It's mainly/mostly a crime story where terrorists are trying to get money over holding a young rich boy hostage. The boy's mom went on a trip, left him with a maid and her dad at her place. The boy ordered a harmless snake but received the mamba by mistake - the mamba was suppose to have gone to the local toxicologist (the toxicologist received the boy's pet snake).Most of the film is about the crime being committed - arguing crooks! Only a little is shown of the snake - mainly the beginning of the film and the ending. This could have simply been a crime-thriller (that is mainly what it is anyway) and left out the horror aspect with the rarely shown snake.Okay film - just not great as a horror film. Good when viewed as a crime-thriller.5/10

The producer made a special credit for David Ball:"The Producers wish to extend their thanks to David Ball, overseer of reptiles at London Zoo, without whose skill and courage in the handling of the deadly Black Mamba, this film could not have been made."All of which is more important than all the CGI stuff done these days. Moreover, the tension between Klaus Kinski and Oliver Reed who did not like each other added to their roles in my opinion. If you have the DVD with the Director's commentary, by all means listen to the commentary. You will learn more about how "movie making" is the most difficult collaborative art form there is. Often times, the director has to keep the peace just to get the job done. You will be on the edge of your seats if you have never seen this flick. I gave this a high rating because it was a well executed film. Bad guys 0; Mamba 3 :-}

A movie about a kidnapping? Cool. A movie about a kidnapping that degenerates into a hostage crisis? Even better! But howzabout a movie about the kidnapping of a seriously asthmatic kid, that turns into a hostage crisis, while the victims and criminals besieged by the law in a London town house are threatened by an escaped black mamba snake, the world's swiftest and most deadly? What could be better than that? Well, as the 1982 British thriller "Venom" demonstrates, perhaps an all-star group of performers to put this fun-sounding conceit over! Thus, we have an absolutely sterling cast here, consisting, in part, of, uh, Sterling Hayden as the asthmatic boy's supercool grandfather, Klaus Kinski and Oliver Reed as the kidnappers (a terrific pair of bad guys, with Oliver's ultimate fate in the film giving new meaning to the old expression "trouser snake"), Sarah Miles as a toxicologist, Nicol Williamson as the police commander in charge of the crisis, and Michael Gough (wasted in a teensy role) as a snake expert. The picture has been directed for maximum suspense by Piers Haggard, with much of that suspense naturally arising from the fact that the viewer can never predict where or when that deadly mamba will raise its ugly head. Any opened drawer, cabinet or door in the picture can serve as a most lethal jack-in-the-box of sorts, and this knowledge keeps us primed and nervous throughout. With the exception of that final ambiguous shot of a snake in the town house's ductwork (I still can't figure out the meaning of that!), I found this film to be thoroughly satisfying and entertaining. And the further good news is that the picture has been given a great-looking treatment by the always dependable folks at Blue Underground. Thanks again, guys!

By all accounts this is basically a formulaic kidnapping flick that would be standard B-movie fare. Having a poisonous snake thrown into the mix only adds to the B-movie feel.However, it is saved by its A-cast. Klaus Kinski, Oliver Reed, and Nicol Williamson all chew the scenery as only they can (though one has to pity the director, who had to work with the 3 most ornery actors alive at the time). The only disappointment was that Sterling Hayden didn't get more material to work with for what would be his last movie.The other highlight is the fact that they used a real and professionally handled black mamba in most of the scenes. In most movies of this type, they would just throw in a harmless rat snake or something and hope that nobody would notice the difference.