March 1,2006 — The Clarion
ARTS & LIFE
Page 9
‘Venom’ a poisonously bad horror movie
by Zach Browning
Staff Writer
Venom
Directed by Jim Gillespie
(Universal, 2005)
■ki
The new release Venom
is the latest blunder to emerge
from the ever popular horror/
suspense genre.
The story takes place in
the bayous of Louisiana,
where an old voodoo priest
ess digs up a suitcase at a
construction site that con
tains the tortured souls of
several murderers and rapists
that she “cured” over the
years. The bad thing is that
“curing” these people in
volved ritualistically allowing
snakes to kill the evil inside
with their venom. If the suit
case is opened, the evil inside
will run rampant and bad
things are sure to happen. All
seems well until the suitcase
is opened by a local me
chanic.
The chaos that follows is
all too typical for the genre and
is painfully predictable. The me
chanic dies and becomes a blood
thirsty monster bent on killing
every teenager in town. The ram
*, HE NEVER HURT A SOUL UNTIL THE DAY HE DIED
' V -
page continues until the sole sur
vivor is forced to fight the mon
ster. Perhaps the most disturb
ing part of the whole movie is
the very end where they imply a
make up for the lack of plot
variation and acting ability. The
voodoo motif does add some
spice to this otherwise mind-
numbing shrine to youth
slaughter.
I was particularly im
pressed that this film managed
to get an R rating in a time when
so many other films in the hor
ror/suspense genre sit safely in
the PG-13 range.
All in all, 1 was let down by
the holes in the plot line and
the lack of originality. This
movie is mildly entertaining, but
the experience could be defi
nitely enhanced under the in
fluence of alcohol. Venom is
only worth renting if there is
nothing else on the shelf. 1 give
this flick a star and a half.
★ ★ ★ ★: Outstanding
★ * ★: Not great, but ok
★ ★: May do in a pinch
★; Don't bother
sequel.
Now that’s scary.
There arc a few special ef
fects and a few of gruesome
murder scenes, but that doesn t
\jQft Tukc ^
Plagiarism a sign of extreme laziness, lack of ethics
by Matt Rutherford
Arts & Life Editor
Plagiarism is something
that our campus has come to
know well in the past few years,
and even more just last semes
ter.
To start, according to the
University of Minnesota Glos
sary, “Plagiarism is presenting
someone else’s work as if it
were your own, whether you
mean to or not. ‘Someone elsc’s
work’ means anything that is
not your own idea, even if it is
presented in your own style. It
includes material from books,
journals or any other printed
source, the work of other stu
dents or staff, information from
the Internet, software programs
and other electronic material,
designs and ideas. It also in
cludes the organization or struc
turing of any such material.
With that being said, plagia
rism is nothing more than the
complete and utter laziness that
exudes itself through people’s
lack of originality and the lacka
daisical attitude toward having
respect for others’ work.
My freshman year at
Brevard College, one my own
papers was snatched from the
computer lab and was used in
an English 112 class. I was ac
cused of copying my own work
from an internet source. How
ever, in the end, the culprit was
captured and dealt with.
My point in all of this is,
whether it is an idea, a piece of
art, music, writmg, etc, these
works belong to people. What
you do when you plagiarize, is
stealing. And I have to say, it is
absolutely horrifying to me to
think that so many of our fresh
man students committed such an
act.
I wonder if any of you know
what this means? To me, it
shows a level of maturity that is
fit for grade school, the fact that
you cannot think for yourself,
you are ashamed of your infe
rior writing skills, and most of all
you are not to be trusted. It
baffles me that any student
would stoop this low.
There are numerous op
tions to help you if you are
having an issue with writing
on this campus. Any of the
professors of English here
would be more than willing to
sit and work through prob
lems within your paper. Also,
in the Academic Enrichment
Center there is always a writ
ing tutor on call to help with
the same problems. There is
simply no excuse for plagia
rism. This needs to stop.
Don’t be lazy, think for your
self.