Rich student Sylvie Cooper makes friends with the enigmatic girl she calls "Ivy" in the principal's office after phoning in a bomb threat to her television presenter father's station. Ivy quickly makes her move by moving in with the Coopers (she lived with her aunt in relative squalor) where she becomes friends with Sylvie's parents – the TV presenter Darryl & dying mother Georgie. But friendship is not enough for the young woman – she covers up Darryl's lust for her & kills Georgie by pushing her off the balcony. As the family's grief over Georgie's death pushes them to the mental limit, Ivy attempts to replace Georgie in Darryl's eyes by seducing him.
Poison Ivy was probably one of the most important B-grade thrillers in the early 1990s. It was one of the very first erotic thrillers of that decade, coming out around the same time as SINGLE WHITE FEMALE, which dealt with something similar, as well as the more sensationalistic likes of Fatal Attraction & Basic Instinct. It also made a name for actress Drew Barrymore, who would later go on to high acclaim in many other comedies.
Poison Ivy is something of a prototype for the B-grade erotic thriller, a genre that would be one of the 1990s' most prolific genres. The film did not make too much money in the theatrical release but picked up most of its audience on video & cable TV – something that would be fitting for a film such as this. Of course, the sex scenes in the film are so tame that the film will be something of a disappointment for those who like harder softcore fare.
Poison Ivy is, from a psychological point of view, a story about how a family that lives on extremes in the wealthy community can collapse when a free-spirited agent moves into their home. Sara Gilbert is the daughter who is prone to rebelling against the system by embracing the marginal – phoning in bomb threats to her father's workplace, smoking & so on. The father is as conservative as they come but is so tightly-wound up that his mental state is beginning to deteriorate – as evident in his drinking, while the mother is suffering from lung disease & is drugged up on painkillers & sedatives. Ivy has some inherent flaws in her character as well – she seems to be extremely lonely & only goes on her mission of seduction for personal benefit & her desire to have a family she can belong to, even if the family she is building up around her is falling apart from an old one. The character also has a clear lack of motivation for her actions.
Drew Barrymore is a great actress in her own right, but I was somewhat less than enthused about her role here. For one thing, the role was supposed to be for an adult & Barrymore was just barely underage, something that necessitated a body double for her love scenes. Sara Gilbert seems just as miscast – her passive neurotic nature should have been handled by a much more rigid actress but she does a decent job anyway. Tom Skerritt is perfect in his role as the stuffy, opinionated & formerly hard-drinking TV presenter whose forbidden lust ends up putting him in a tough position. Some of the plot twists don't seem natural – Skerritt's wound-up nature shouldn't have let him cheat on his wife with a teenager who is literally young enough to be his daughter & get so twisted around her little pinkie, so to speak. But this is a minor contrivance that doesn't go too far in ruining the picture. Whilst not a masterpiece in any way, Poison Ivy is still a pretty decent film, making the proto-softcore erotica work in a passable way.
Poison Ivy was probably one of the most important B-grade thrillers in the early 1990s. It was one of the very first erotic thrillers of that decade, coming out around the same time as SINGLE WHITE FEMALE, which dealt with something similar, as well as the more sensationalistic likes of Fatal Attraction & Basic Instinct. It also made a name for actress Drew Barrymore, who would later go on to high acclaim in many other comedies.
Poison Ivy is something of a prototype for the B-grade erotic thriller, a genre that would be one of the 1990s' most prolific genres. The film did not make too much money in the theatrical release but picked up most of its audience on video & cable TV – something that would be fitting for a film such as this. Of course, the sex scenes in the film are so tame that the film will be something of a disappointment for those who like harder softcore fare.
Poison Ivy is, from a psychological point of view, a story about how a family that lives on extremes in the wealthy community can collapse when a free-spirited agent moves into their home. Sara Gilbert is the daughter who is prone to rebelling against the system by embracing the marginal – phoning in bomb threats to her father's workplace, smoking & so on. The father is as conservative as they come but is so tightly-wound up that his mental state is beginning to deteriorate – as evident in his drinking, while the mother is suffering from lung disease & is drugged up on painkillers & sedatives. Ivy has some inherent flaws in her character as well – she seems to be extremely lonely & only goes on her mission of seduction for personal benefit & her desire to have a family she can belong to, even if the family she is building up around her is falling apart from an old one. The character also has a clear lack of motivation for her actions.
Drew Barrymore is a great actress in her own right, but I was somewhat less than enthused about her role here. For one thing, the role was supposed to be for an adult & Barrymore was just barely underage, something that necessitated a body double for her love scenes. Sara Gilbert seems just as miscast – her passive neurotic nature should have been handled by a much more rigid actress but she does a decent job anyway. Tom Skerritt is perfect in his role as the stuffy, opinionated & formerly hard-drinking TV presenter whose forbidden lust ends up putting him in a tough position. Some of the plot twists don't seem natural – Skerritt's wound-up nature shouldn't have let him cheat on his wife with a teenager who is literally young enough to be his daughter & get so twisted around her little pinkie, so to speak. But this is a minor contrivance that doesn't go too far in ruining the picture. Whilst not a masterpiece in any way, Poison Ivy is still a pretty decent film, making the proto-softcore erotica work in a passable way.