Pretty Poison

source: Pretty Poison

Trailer—Pretty Poison

Pretty Poison

Miserable film. What was this supposed to be a continuation of Anthony Perkins in "Psycho." He made this dreadful film 8 years after "Psycho" and he was certainly building on the type of a sick person. While Perkins did make the far better "Friendly Persuasion," he did the marvelous "Fear Strikes Out," but again he seemed to be typecast as a guy with severe emotional and mental hang-ups. This picture certainly proves that poison is bad for you. Perkins is really demented here and how the Tuesday Weld character could fall for him as a secret agent is beyond me. All right, so she is supposed to be a naive 18 years of age in the film. Murder, mayhem and other misery best describe this film.

When I was in college I went to a double feature (they still had them then!). The first movie was the terrible Sinatra film The Lady in Cement (amazing I can still remember), then this incredible gem came on. I was so taken with Pretty Poison I sat through the dreadful first film again to watch Anthony Perkins and Tuesday Weld in this quirky and gripping thriller. Beverly Garland, the quintessential B-movie actress of her day, also turns in the best performance of her career as the mother everyone can hate. My other great sleeper movie, like Pretty Poison, also has never been released on DVD: Resurrection with Ellen Burstyn and Sam Shepard. If you haven't seen either of these movies, you are missing out!

This film is one of my all time favorite films. I've never really understood why Noel Black wasn't given the green light for almost anything he wanted to do after this. I suppose this film must have been ahead of it's time. It's well structured, and the performances are great. Weld is captivating. Perkins plays the whole thing perfectly. The film also has a real sense of place about it. This isn't just any old town in America, it's a very specific town. The relationship between these two characters is perfectly drawn. I was very impressed by the interplay of naive and knowing. What a great ending. Why Noel Black wasn't given more support is a mystery to me.

I just finished watching Pretty Poison, and it is a great movie worthy of recognition. I don't know why or how this movie has been somewhat obscured, I guess it wasn't so popular back in those days and it ruined it for other generations. I'm glad I found this on the movie channel, great performances by Anthony Perkins, really impressive and not exaggerated, which is what a lot of times makes people see as good acting, but this is not the case here, a deep performance is what Mr. Perkins gives us, really laid back and neutral, Kind of the characters he played through his career (Josef K on Welles adaptation of Kafka's "The Process", and his Classic Norman Bates on Psycho) and a great Tuesday Weld as the strange and evolving character Sue Ann Stepanek. It is so sad that movies like this get lost. A great Screenplay (Best Screenplay Award given by the New York Film Critics Circle Awards) and great acting should make a successful movie, I don't know what happened here. [8.5/10]

I recently got a hold of a bootleg copy of this film and liked it a lot. Why is this movie not on DVD? I'd like to see more of this director's work released on DVD with lots of extras and DVD Easter eggs! Tuesday Weld and Tony Perkins make quite the creepy couple of murderous psychos in this late 60's film noir. I guess this qualifies as an underground classic. Despite the fact it is (or was) a major studio release. With today's troubled youth as royally screwed up as they are these days, I think a lot people could still relate to these characters. This twisted murderous couple reminds me of something out of an old sexy Jim Thompson pulp novel. Go see Pretty Poison. A word to the wiseguy.

The sleeper of 1968, this little-scene film is frightening with Tuesday Weld giving her best performance as a self-centered tinderbox of passion and greed. Anthony Perkins is his usual affable set of nervous tics and equally as good. What happened to this director? What happened to this film? The script has you guessing from beginning to end and it's a great payoff eventually. A definite 9 out of 10 (the music is strictly bad tv score) in a great location in New England that hopefully will come out on DVD eventually. If you've never appreciated Ms. Weld before, this is the one you should try to track down. Strange story, wonderful cinematography, and sensitive lead performances make this one special.

Legendary critic Pauline Kael staunchly championed "Pretty Poison" which she clearly loved but her accolades did little in preventing this small, funny but decidedly evil movie from vanishing into obscurity. The pairing of Tuesday Weld and Anthony Perkins was inspired. Being actors who Hollywood never quite understood how to use, they are perfectly cast as social renegades. Both are in their prime; young, attractive, funny and fiercely intelligent. They are a joy to watch. Four years later they would be brought together for the wonderful "Play It As It Lays", but by then both tapped into a world weary disillusionment far from the playfulness of "Pretty Poison". They were an odd team, playing off each other to dazzling effect. How those two movies have been relegated to almost total obscurity remains a sad testament to the industry. Should the rare opportunity to watch "Pretty Poison" arises, don't miss it.