Genres

Visitors Review

Chris Hicks 2012-05-17 02:23:07

...so over the top it can hardly be taken seriously.

chris-474 2012-05-16 11:12:09

Cool Thriller

Drew Barrymore is the best in this movie playing a seducing bitch! Herslutty outfits make her even more perfect in a role which is perfect forher. Sara Gilbert does a good job also as the girl who tries to stopDrew'scharacter and her run in with the tree is excellent and well executed byDrew Barrymore's character. Mad thriller which is a mustsee!

moonspinner55 2012-05-08 19:03:50

"Lolita" in the '90s

Nabokov's Lolita used the affections of a fawning, elderly man (herstepfather) for her own purposes--which never amounted to much morethan sex and cash. It only figures that today's Lolita would be dressedto kill, literally. As Drew Barrymore plays her here, she's a sexyhomicidal figure with maternal delusions. "Poison Ivy" begins ratherendearingly, with high school outcast Sara Gilbert (looking like themodern equivalent of a teen beatnik) befriended by a striking blondestudent with lots o' leg and a fake tattoo. This wanton woman-child hasno name; Gilbert calls her "Ivy" and Barrymore likes that ("It gives methe opportunity to start over," she says). The tone of the pictureshifts however before the midway point, with Ivy infiltrating Gilbert'sdysfunctional household and seducing dad Tom Skerritt (doing terrificwork). Gilbert's narration--and the surreal jumble which becomes thehectic climax--is rather off-putting, but there's a great deal of worthin Barrymore's solid performance. The film is stylish on a low-budgetand is actually steamier than "Nine 1/2 Weeks". Yet, it's really twodifferent pictures struggling within the context of one. A strongerscreenplay might've brought the two halves together, although, as thedirector, Katt Shea Ruben manages to come up with a commendable amountof incidents both amusing and titillating. ** from ****

callanvass 2012-05-08 06:04:52

Great teenage thriller, that's quite enjoyable, with a very good story and one hell of a sexy performance from Drew Barrymore!

This is a great teenage thriller, that's quite enjoyable,with a verygood story and one hell of a sexy performance from Drew Barrymore!. Allthe characters are cool, and while I always found Drew Barrymore to beadorable, I never knew she could be this hot, as she is simply amazingin this!. It has a beautiful score, and it's pretty unpredictable forthe most part as well, plus Tom Skerritt is great as the father!. Butwhat I was most surprised about was the very good performance by SaraGilbert, as I hated her character on Rosanne, but I really liked herhere, as she had excellent chemistry with Barrymore, plus the ending isvery good and somewhat shocking!. It's very well made and written, andit has some very suspenseful moments as well, plus I loved howunpredictable Ivy's character was!. This movie is quite underrated, andshould be higher then 5.2 in my opinion, plus all the characters areextremely likable!. Cheryl Ladd gives an impressive performance as theIll mother and there is a very tense scene involving Barrymore andLadd, plus the car crash made me cringe a little bit!. This is a greatteenage thriller, that's quite enjoyable, with a very good story andone hell of a sexy performance from Drew Barrymore, I highly recommendthis one!. The Direction is great!. Katt Shea does a great! job herewith very good camera work, creating moody atmosphere, some cool anglesand keeping the film at an engaging pace. The Acting is awesome!. DrewBarrymore is incredibly gorgeous in this and is amazing as always, sheis incredibly sexy as Ivy, had excellent chemistry with Sara Gilbert,was unpredictable, charming, give one of her best performances, and waswonderfully devious, I adored her performance! (Barrymore Rules!!!!!).Sara Gilbert surprised me here by giving a very good performance, shewas quite likable, had excellent chemistry with Barrymore, wasvulnerable, and didn't annoy me at all. Tom Skerritt is excellent asthe Father, he plays an emotional wreck here, and he did a very goodjob at it, this guy is full of class!. Cheryl Ladd is beautiful, anddid very well as the very Ill mother, I felt sorry for her, and whileit was sad what happened to her in a way I was glad she was put out ofher misery, she played a tough role and nailed it perfectly!. Rest ofthe cast do fine. Overall I highly recommend this one!. ***1/2 out of 5

jazz-45 2012-05-07 08:13:13

NO WAY worth it's paychecks

MORBIDITY and Weirdness is NOT intrigue, it's S-T-U-P-I-D-I-T-Y. This type movie OF WHICH THERE ARE TOO MANY, is the reason Hollywood isTURNED INTO "T R A S H-wood" It's why the 1940's STARS CAN NEVER BE duplicated. IT'S BECAUSE THERE IS TOO MUCH MONEY BEING PAID perfectly good actors FORLESS than quality films. IT'S NOT THE ACTRESSES I have issue with EXCEPT that they choose NASTYfilm vehicles to make money. IT'S REALLY THE WRITERS OF TRASH THAT SHOULD BE STRUNG UP OVER THE Huge"O" in the Hollywood Sign on the Calif. Mt. AND the producers who encourage& Pay the TRASH-Writers. Enough said. Thanks

Paul Andrews 2012-05-06 15:05:19

Tepid thriller with no edge.

Poison Ivy is set in Los Angeles where Sylvie Cooper (Sara Gilbert) hasbeen summoned to the principal's office at school for phoning in a bombthreat to her father's television station, there she meets & talks tothe mysterious & alluring Ivy (Drew Barrymore). Almost completeopposites the mild mannered & unadventurous Sylvie & the overt &sexually active Ivy strike up a firm relationship & quickly become bestfriends, Ivy practically moves into Sylvie's giant mansion where hersuicidal mother Georgie (Cheryl Ladd) is very ill with emphysema. Ivystarts to take control of the Cooper's lives, Ivy starts to seduceSylvie's rich father Daryl (Tom Skerritt) & begins to rip the Cooperfamily apart...Co-written & directed by Katt Shea I have to say that I thought PoisonIvy was a really limp thriller that offered no surprises or genuinetension, why exactly has it spawned three sequels & counting? I supposethe biggest problem with Poison Ivy is the lethargic & uninvolvingscript that has wafer thin character's you don't care about sleepwalkthrough the film. There's no passion here, no excitement, nothing toget the pulse racing, there are no big twists or turns & the entirething is very predictable. It's never clear why Ivy targets theCooper's, why she befriends Sylvie (before she finds out her dad's megarich), nothing about Ivy's background is ever mentioned other than shelived with an Aunt & quite why Ivy wanted to ruin a good thing bywrecking the career of Daryl, killing Georgie & betraying Sylie is acomplete mystery to me, I mean she had been all but adopted by theCooper's as part of the family so why ruin it with no obvious benefitother than breaking a family up & making everyone hate her. With nobackground on Ivy & no apparent source of motivation it's hard to careto be quite honest. The sacking of Daryl from his job gets one shortscene that feels like an afterthought & didn't seem to affect the storythat much at all. Then there's the slow pace, things only start to pickup towards the end & it's not until past the hour mark when things turnreally nasty & by then the films almost over. There's some poorattempts at psychology as Sylvie has to deal with her ill mothercomplete with ghostly hallucinations, there's the issue of peerpressure, betrayal, the idea that family is the most important thing inlife & teenage rebellion but it's all just padding with little thoughtor effort going into it. I mean if the most extreme thing Ivy does toSylvie for the first hour is pamper her dog too much then you know yourin trouble.I must admit that I found Poison Ivy really tiresome to watch on avisual level as well, the opening scene of Ivy swinging through the airwhere she flicks her hair away from her face looks like it belongs in acheap shampoo commercial. None of it is erotic or sexy & simplydressing Drew Barrymore up in a few tight outfits doesn't cut it, thesex scenes are tame & I am pretty sure Barrymore got a body double.There's one breast shot & one naked male butt & that's your lot.Personally I didn't find Barrymore attractive in this at all, hershallow pointless character & wooden acting combined to send me tosleep rather than send shivers down my spine. There's no violence tospeak of & even the 'Unrated' version doing the rounds on DVD is verytame by todays standards as teen flicks such as American Pie (1999) &The Hangover (2009) are far more explicit.With a supposed budget of about $3,000,000 this flopped at thebox-office & you can see why, there's nothing here other than for DrewBarrymore fans & considering this was one of her first films sheprobably didn't have many at the time. The acting is pretty poor, Ithought Barrymore was very wooden with no menace or sexuality about herperformance at all while Tom Skerritt looks bored.Poison Ivy is a terrible erotic thriller that is neither erotic orthrilling in any way as far as I am concerned, a real damp squib of alimp wristed film that delivers nothing. Followed by Poison Ivy II(1996), Poison Ivy: The New Seduction (1997) & Poison Ivy: The SecretSociety (2008).

2012-05-05 13:46:31

Typical B movie, well acted but stupid plot

Don't watch it for the plot. Overall, there is little characterization other than the two main actresses. If you're lookign for an erotic movie, there is too much violence and not enough sex. Its true, Sara Gilbert and Drew Barrymore act well in this, and if you are a Drew fan this may be worth watching. I saw the rated version of this.

2012-05-04 19:59:52

A really sexy, creepy flick.

Basic Instinct it wasn't, but Drew is one of the hottest stars to ever hit the screen and it's worth it just for her seductive and evil character. As far as erotic thrillers go, this is pretty darn good. Tom Skeritt is just a bit too old which makes my stomach turn, but Drew is so sexy you can almost overlook that fact. Good stuff.

2012-04-29 12:36:00

Bad Girl

I just watched "Poison Ivy" recently, and after all these years, it still stands the test of time as being a great film. Drew Barrymore gives an intense performance, I love her character in this, and I will go as far as saying this is my favourite performance by her (if not her best?). I love the haunting score with the whole saxophone thing playing whenever something naughty is about to take place. It gives "Poison Ivy" sort of a campy, "red shoe diaries" type of feel. The stroy is also interesting and gripping, and you really want to know what Ivy is going to do next. Drew Barrymore has come a long way, and "Poison Ivy" was the film that launced her mature career to a great start. Footnote: I saw Leo Di Caprio's name in the credits, but don't remember seeing him in the movie, strange.....

BansheeCreature 2012-04-28 15:14:16

Flappy Legs

Y'know, this movie once seemed as a great movie at one point oranother. Now, I realize I was going through a sensual peak, and intotal denial. I was under the impression that this film was a classic,but the only thing I was really impressed with, was the David MichaelFrank score, which to this day, I still feel is good work. The rest ofthe film, however, is somewhat less than amusing. A young misfit namedSilvia Cooper is desperate for a friend, so she jumps at the chancewhen a whorish looking teen known as "Ivy" speaks to her in theprincipals office at school, not that you even see any workers, adultsare almost invisible...almost. Soon after, this "Ivy" is worming herlegs into the Cooper family, with designs on the worn out father.Eventually, more than sex comes around the bend. Katt Shea is an awfulwriter, and it shows as Sarah Gilberts' narrations are almost nonsense,and the dialogue is cheap. This film is almost unbelievable. Littlebrats with flappy legs that jiggle like jello can't very well do toomuch with out getting caught. In any case, the direction is almostworkable. The acting isn't too bad...by the adults. I know, Tom Skerritand Cheryl Ladd needed the loot. But Gilbert and Barrymore are soforced and overgeneralized. It's just not that good. +and anothernote+-SUPERGIRL does NOT wear tights! Think about that before writinganother mushy film Katt Shea!

2012-04-26 21:54:40

a word of advice

watch poison ivy 1 & 2 but skip the new seduction. trust me, you'll thank me later. of all the erotic thrillers in the nineties, poison ivy comes off clean as one of the most original & well-made of the entire genre. surely there have been many imitiations of poison ivy but none hold up quite so well after nearly 12 years unfortunately as the one which started thegreat trend. who is ivy? is she a very lonely girl whose never had much of a life & simply desires the friendship of another rebellious young girl? or is she a greedy, evil snake in the grass? perhaps both? i'll have to admit it's hard to know exactly how to feel when you first watch this film & even harder to completely hate the character of ivy despite the evil things she does. drew barrymore gives a slick, seductive performance which is only rivaled by her companion coop(played by sara gilbert) & matched through the brilliant performance of verteran actor tom skerrit(who plays coops father). poison ivy, is suspenseful, sad, & often sensual although never really reaches the level of a softcore film like the rating might suggest. there are 2-3 implied sex scenes which may be considered objectionable for viewers under the age of 16. parents may wish to either view this film with their younger children or to screen it first before allowing for mixed family viewing. if you've seen poison ivy & loved it, go ahead & try the sequel which has alyssa milano. the 2nd poison ivy is quite good too although the first one is still the classic. go out & get your copy of poison ivy today on dvd & vote for me!! forget the tnt televsion edit & pick up the new line cinema dvd.

Dan Jardine 2012-04-26 10:41:00

Aanybody hoping to be titillated by it will almost certainly be terribly disappointed.

DigitalRevenantX7 2012-04-26 00:28:05

Stylish effort.

Poison Ivy was the film that kick-started the erotic thriller genre inthe 1990s. It was overlooked during its theatrical release butsurprisingly gained a cult audience thanks to video sales & broadcastson late night television.Sylvie Cooper, a rich kid going to an exclusive private school,befriends a free-spirited orphan who she calls "Ivy". Ivy moves intothe Cooper household & in no time at all seduces Sylvie's father,Darryl, as well as playing the family members against each other.Things escalate when Sylvie's terminally-ill mother dies in mysteriouscircumstances.The main thing I noticed when watching Poison Ivy is how stylish itlooks. Indeed, director Katt Shea Ruben brings her own style to theproceedings. The love scenes between Tom Skerritt & Drew Barrymore'sbody double (she was barely underage when the film was shot) look verygood, although verge on the pretentious – one scene has them making outright next to a comatose Cheryl Ladd! That said, these love scenes arethe film's whole reason for existence, the plot coming up with allsorts of ways for them to go on.Love scenes aside, there's not much in the film's plot – all it isabout a girl who destroys a family with her seductions, with the aim ofgaining a family of her own since she suffers from loneliness – notmuch in the way of motivation, believe me. Plus the script suffers fromnot being thoroughly thought out, with the characters suffering from analmost wilful lack of judgement – real people would see right throughIvy's lies.The film's main strength is with its acting. Tom Skerritt proves onceagain that he's a great actor, playing a role with subtle emotions verywell. Sara Gilbert grounds the film with her candidness while CherylLadd chews the scenery with her portrayal of a pill-poppinghypochondriac. But the main star is Drew Barrymore, who effortlesslyshed her childish E.T. image, turning herself into a more matureactress. However, as many critics pointed out, the film would haveworked better if Barrymore & Gilbert switched roles – Gilbert has anastiness that Barrymore lacks while she also is too innocent for therole.

2012-04-25 15:53:42

Clean Erotic

This review is from: Poison Ivy (DVD) I watched this movie years ago, i loved it the 1st time I watched it. i havent forgotten about it so i had to watch it again, and i still love it!

MuggySphere 2012-04-22 16:56:31

Not Quite How I Remembered It

I remember seeing this a very long time ago when it was first releasedand being enchanted with a younger Drew Barrymore but more recently Isaw this again on a DVD and all I can say is that it's not quite theway I remembered this movie.Either that or I have gotten older and my values have changed butseeing this again it really doesn't feel like the same film I saw backin 1993. I would have given this film a higher rating too had it been a bit moreengaging and viewing this again through older eyes I get the impressionI was swayed more by the hype over Ms Barrymore then anything else.Also how underused was Sara Gilbert and Cheryl Ladd, not to mention TomSkerrit who not IMHO had the potential to take a bigger role in thismovie, instead he plays that of a lovesick middle aged man. Yuck!!! 5/10 John

BA_Harrison 2012-04-22 10:07:02

As a thriller, the film is unremarkable; as a chance to ogle Drew, it's unmissable.

A teenage Drew Barrymore lends her undeniable sex appeal to thisotherwise unremarkable erotic thriller which uses the well-worn 'familyunit threatened by a wicked interloper' plot device as an excuse todeliver loads of cheap titillation. Drew plays a sultry blonde with atroubled past who befriends socially awkward high school student SylvieCooper (Sara Gilbert) in order to scheme her way into her family.Sylvie is captivated by her new BFF's wild streak, unaware that theluscious lolita has designs on her father and will kill to get what shewants...Although, on the surface, this film gives the impression of being astylish, sexy and sophisticated thriller, with an almost noir-ishatmosphere and a cool slow-burn approach, when all is said and done,this is trash exploitation, pure and simple, as one might expect fromthe director of Stripped to Kill and Stripped to Kill II: Live Girls.Not that I'm complaining, mind, since I'm a big fan of the lovely MissBarrymore, and trashy exploitation in general, and this film gave meplenty to smile about, namely miss Barrymore in a series of very sexyget-ups.6 out of 10, bumped up to 7 for all the gratuitous Drew!

cygnus x-1 2012-04-21 17:51:46

a great performance by Drew Barrymore but the movie moves at snail's pace

(my comments are based on the longer unrated version)the most surprising thing about this film is the restraint in the sex andnudity department. usually these types of movies are plotwise just an excuseto string together as many explicit sex scenes as possible.this allows the characters to be a bit more realistic than what is normallyserved up in films of this type. while there are a couple of fairly explicitsex scenes, they are over fairly quickly and usually don't involve a lot ofnudity.there are a couple of decent plot twists but i could see the ending comingfrom a mile away. the other performances are solid and above average for athis subject matter.above average and worth a look, especially for Ms. Barrymore's deliciouslynasty performance.rating:6.5

Marjorie Baumgarten 2012-04-21 06:56:55

Grab the calamine lotion, quick.

Michael O'Keefe 2012-04-15 18:20:01

Body language speaks wonders.

Drew Barrymore plays Ivy a Lolita-like teen that gradually moves in with ashy reclusive classmate Sylvie(Sara Gilbert)and the presence of thestreetwise Ivy starts a chain reaction of mixed emotions. Sylvie's selfdestructive mother(Cheryl Ladd)is jealous of her husband's(Tom Skerritt)reaction to Ivy's seductive ways. Soon he is hooked and can't get enough ofthe perverse teen. Questions arise concerning the death of Sylvie's motherabout the time Sylvie realizes what is going on between her father and Ivy.My favorite scene is the sultry love making in the rain on the car hood. Itis hard to tell who is seducing who. The 17 year old Barrymore is hypnotic.I couldn't take my eyes off of her. Kudos to Katt Shea for directing thiserotic thriller. Note: Look for a young Leonardo DiCaprio.

2012-04-15 05:36:48

I keep watching it even years later

This movie could never hold a candle to any teen thriller of today. It holds a magic that could never again be recaptured. Every time I watch it I am more and more mesmorized. I'm not gay but I do have to say that Drew Barrymore was hot in this movie! The music is amazing and very sexy. It's too bad they never put out a soundtrack. The composer is David Michael Frank if it helps any. I checked out some of his other music scores and there are some that sound similar to Poison Ivy. Although it will never be the exact score from the film we can always play the movie.Here are some recommendations of sexy movie music to check out: Theme From Body HeatSadness Part 1- By Enigma (Boxing Helena, Single White Female)Wasted Time- By My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult (Showgirls)I'm Your Man- By Leonard Cohen (Secretary)Money Can't Buy It- Annie Lennox (Striptease)Carly's Song- By Enigma (Sliver)Never, never Gonna Give You Up- and every song By Barry White(Bruce Almighty)Orane- By Les Negresses Vertes- (Bad Influence)Taste- By Auto & Cherokee- (The Crush)Life In Mono- By Mono (Great Expectations)Theme From Taxi Driver and more!