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"What
Ivy wants...Ivy gets!"
What the neo-documentary
youth movie was to the late 70's and the teen sex comedy was
to the 80's,
the late-night cable sex thriller genre was to the 90's. My
pet theory is that this trend hit the big time with the light-kink
epic 9 1/2 Weeks in '86, and was then subsequently refined
to perfection by cable with soft-core series like The Hitchhiker
and Red Shoe Diaries. But unlike cheap and cheesy (and usually
lame) late 70's/early 80's cable porn, the production values
of these shows improved dramatically, with plenty of soft-focus
camerawork and silky-smooth lighting yet little in the way
of actual hard core sex action. (Umm, excuse me while I take
a breather for a minute and cool off...)
Okay, sure, they
may have been silly, but for teenagers unable to snag the
real thing, what else were we supposed to do? Hey, if The
Blue Lagoon and Private Lessons were all you could get, I
guess it is better than nothing (and who didn't stay up late
watching scrambled cable feeds trying to catch a glimpse of
some action?) Eventually the
soft-core made-for-cable "erotic thriller" went
to the art house with the arrival of Katt Shea Ruben's Poison
Ivy in 1992. This film actually received strong critical
notices and prominent film festival coverage, and there was
even a Katt Shea retrospective at The Museum Of Modern Art!
Fans of this site know I'm a rabid Shea fan, having religiously
stalked her career since she first appeared as an actress
in slasher fare like Psycho III, and then as a director of
such epics as Stripped To Kill, Streets and her recent foray
into big-budget Hollywood horror, The
Rage: Carrie 2. However, by far her penultimate achievement
was the first Poison Ivy. All the classic Katt Shea lurid
B-movie staples are here: lost innocence, lustful intrigue,
covert lesbianism and a little murder, betrayal and statutory
rape thrown in for good measure.
No Katt Shea film
is complete without some sort of childhood trauma resurfacing
as misplaced sexual identity. The anti-heroine of any Shea
movie is some young vixen who was abused/abandoned as a child,
and then compensates by sleeping with everyone over the age
of 40 and murdering all innocent persons who stand in her
way. But, hey, the poor little minx really is just a lost
innocent who wants to be loved, so how can we not relate?
And the Katt Shea experience wouldn't be complete without
her signature sequence, where the femme fatale wastes someone,
and then looks all crestfallen while her hair blows cinematically
in the breeze. So very arty yet oh-so-tragic.
Truth be told,
the first Poison Ivy actually works fairly well, because it
gets off not on the sex but the melodrama of it all, and Ms.
Shea really does have a lot of style to burn. The return of
child-star-from-hell Drew Barrymore was the main attraction
for the film at the time, and she doesn't waste a second
of her big comeback despite all that baby fat. Sara Gilbert
tries her best as the foil, but Cheryl Ladd steals the show
as the dying (but always beautiful!) mother who stands in
the way of Ivy's lust for the perfect family. "Just a
day with the top down is better than a lifetime in a box"
Ivy laments at one point, but don't laugh, because as the
tag line says "what Ivy wants, Ivy gets!"
Though the first
film never clicked at the box office, it generated enough
of a life on video to inspire two sequels, the first being
Poison Ivy 2: Lily. Having really nothing to the do
with the first one, this is one of those movies that simply
takes a concept, slaps a number on the title and recruits
another washed-up, ex-child star to take off her clothes.
In this case it is Alyssa Milano, that cute little cherub
from Who's The Boss, and though she lacked the star power
only an ex-child tragedy like Barrymore could provide, she
does have breasts large enough to rival Jennifer Love Hewitt.
Let's face it, that's really all that matters in any film
called Poison Ivy 2 (you know it so don't deny it.)
As for the plot
of this one, it is pretty much what you'd expect. Innocence,
sexuality and violence collide when a naive young girl arrives
in town and weasels her way into the lives of those she wants
to love her, and kills everyone else. The film also resorts
to that stupid plot contrivance of "the long lost diary,"
even though never in the first film did Ivy ever commit her
thoughts or paper (or read and write anything, for that matter).
There is also less "psychology" going on in this
one than the first (which isn't saying much), so even in the
cheap thrills department this lacks the punch of the first
film. Still, you Alyssa fans will get to see here naked a
lot, and both Xander Berkely and "rising star" Jonathan
Schaech look thoroughly embarrassed enough to provide plenty
of laughs. But unlike Ms. Shea, newcomer Anne Goursaud's direction
provides only empty style, so there isn't much to distinguish
this foray into cheap erotica.
By the time Poison
Ivy: The New Seduction came around, one wonders if anyone
out there was waiting for it with any interest whatsoever.
With no former TV stars to exploit, they recruited someone
named Jaime Pressly to play the titular vixen, Violet (gee...Ivy,
Lily, Violet...do we notice a trend?). This time the plot
is really hysterical, with Violet supposedly being Ivy's "long-lost
twin sister," who has come back for revenge. This is
a masterstroke, since it provides plenty of opportunities
for laughable flashbacks, my favorite plot device ever in
the history of cinema. And I guess murderous rage and a tendency
towards psychopathic behavior must run in this family (remind
me never to name my pets after flowers).
As for the story,
well, Ivy (er, Violet) wants to sleep with and kill everyone
just like the last two heroines (you'd think she'd learn by
now, as they both got killed). But, hey, once again she is
just a lost innocent, so you gotta feel sorry for her. The
biggest detriment is that none of the actors here are particularly
appealing, and the father Violet seduces, played by ex-rocker
Michael Des Barres (too bad The Power Station didn't do the
soundtrack) looks frighteningly like Freddy Krueger without
makeup. But, Ms. Pressly has no problem taking her clothes
off, yet there is little if any true eroticism here, with
the whole exercise screaming "a poor man's Zalman King"
from start to finish.
I should probably
make mention of the fact that all three films are presented
in either their R-Rated or Unrated versions, easily accessible
via the DVD format's "seamless branching" function.
I must admit, I have no idea why anyone who would rent or
buy a Poison Ivy film would want to watch the R-rated version.
However, in the case of the first Poison Ivy, it is actually
a plus, because the footage of Tom Skerritt's butt is thankfully
truncated (really, does the world need to see him boinking
Drew Barrymore's double on a piano? Ick!) Anyway, to be blunt,
if you really want hard core sex action, you might as well
go out and rent a real porno. For me the allure of these type
of late-night cable-type movies has always been more their
shamelessness and over-the-top lurid melodrama, and they're
usually better than most infomercials. But it seems only the
first Poison Ivy film really understands this fact, so I'll
actually admit I like it. But, then, I guess I'm a little
bit predisposed to the cinema of Katt Shea...
Video:
How Does The Disc Look?
Alright,
I have to rail here, because if new Line can make new anamorphic
downconversions from high-definition masters of all three
Poison Ivy films,
than, dammit, the rest of the studios out there (and they
know who they are) have no excuses when they complain about
not being able to redo some big blockbuster title. New Line's
commitment to remastering every film they put out is really
laudatory, and the results here only underscore the validity
of New Line's approach.
All
three transfers look terrific. Excellent black level and shadow
detail and clear, vibrant colors make each disc a standout.
The first Poison Ivy in particular is striking, especially
since past transfers were oversaturated, a bit noisy and too
dark. All three have a very smooth, film-like appearance,
with no noticeable edge enhancement nor artifacting to mar
the picture. New Line, you rock!
Audio:
How Does The Disc Sound?
New
Line didn't just stop at providing terrific new transfers
of each feature, either, but included a 5.1 remix and 2.0
surround track as well. Surrounds
on all three discs are used sparingly, and mostly for subtle
ambient effects (the Poison Ivy films are hardly big action
spectaculars). The music is rendered particularly well, with
a wide dynamic range and very well-balanced dialogue and effects.
I didn't detect too much difference between the 2.0 and 5.1
mixes, though the surrounds were noticeably fuller on the
5.1 mix, as expected. Once again, New Line gets an "A"
for effort here.
Supplements:
What Goodies Are There?
Not
too much going on in the extras department. Cast and crew
bios (courtesy of the IMDB) are included for each disc, and
a theatrical trailer is provided on the Poison Ivy disc only
(did parts 2 and 3 even play theatrically?) However, having
the choice between the R-Rated and Unrated versions of each
feature is probably an extra in itself, though in all honestly
I was really jonesin' for a Katt Shea commentary track...
Parting
Thoughts
Though
low on supplements, the inclusion of both the R-rated and
Unrated versions of each feature is a nice addition. At $24.95,
a fair deal, and the transfers are terrific. Another fine
effort on catalog titles from New Line. Recommended if you'll
actually admit you're a Poison Ivy fan.
(For
more Alyssa Milano erotica, check out our review of Embrace
Of The Vampire.)
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