Yet another film that had always intrigued me but, till now, I hadn't had an opportunity to watch; in this respect, I found Second Sight's R2 "Special Edition" DVD release most welcome and didn't take long to add it to my collection. PRETTY POISON is the kind of offbeat, low-key and low-budgeted film that tends to be overlooked on its original release but which slowly garners cult status, thus ensuring that its reputation is kept alive along the years. This factor but also the premise itself of a senseless killing spree committed by unbalanced young people links the film to other classic American 'sleepers' like GUN CRAZY (1949), TARGETS (1968) and BADLANDS (1973).
Curiously, the film proved to be something of a comeback for Anthony Perkins: following the unexpected (but wholly deserved) celebrity he acquired through his iconic Norman Bates persona in Hitchcock's PSYCHO (1960), he forsook Hollywood for more rewarding and versatile roles in Europe where he worked for such masters as Jules Dassin, Orson Welles and Claude Chabrol, among others proving himself one of the most consistently interesting character actors of the time into the bargain! While Perkins' quirky characterization here might echo that of the Hitchcock film at times (as, indeed does Tuesday Weld's to innumerable teenage comedy or dramatic roles she had played earlier in her career), one of this film's main virtues is the way it constantly plays against this, undermining audience expectations at every turn. Indeed, at some point in the narrative, the character traits of these two roles are uncannily reversed and we slowly begin to realize that Weld (never better) is not the small-town ingénue she's been played up to be but is actually willing to go even further than Perkins' mild act of sabotage by deciding to bump off her domineering mother (bitchily played to the hilt by B-movie starlet Beverly Garland). Also worth mentioning here is John Randolph's excellent supporting performance as Perkins' probation officer.
Lorenzo Semple Jr.'s fine script gets into every one of the film's changes of mood from the playful to the sinister with remarkable ease. Unfortunately, while first-time director Noel Black showed great promise with this unusual yet endearing concoction, his subsequent career failed to deliver the goods (though he doesn't seem to be at all bitter about this during his wonderful feature-length Audio Commentary and, indeed, feels merely privileged that this one film has stood the test of time).
Curiously, the film proved to be something of a comeback for Anthony Perkins: following the unexpected (but wholly deserved) celebrity he acquired through his iconic Norman Bates persona in Hitchcock's PSYCHO (1960), he forsook Hollywood for more rewarding and versatile roles in Europe where he worked for such masters as Jules Dassin, Orson Welles and Claude Chabrol, among others proving himself one of the most consistently interesting character actors of the time into the bargain! While Perkins' quirky characterization here might echo that of the Hitchcock film at times (as, indeed does Tuesday Weld's to innumerable teenage comedy or dramatic roles she had played earlier in her career), one of this film's main virtues is the way it constantly plays against this, undermining audience expectations at every turn. Indeed, at some point in the narrative, the character traits of these two roles are uncannily reversed and we slowly begin to realize that Weld (never better) is not the small-town ingénue she's been played up to be but is actually willing to go even further than Perkins' mild act of sabotage by deciding to bump off her domineering mother (bitchily played to the hilt by B-movie starlet Beverly Garland). Also worth mentioning here is John Randolph's excellent supporting performance as Perkins' probation officer.
Lorenzo Semple Jr.'s fine script gets into every one of the film's changes of mood from the playful to the sinister with remarkable ease. Unfortunately, while first-time director Noel Black showed great promise with this unusual yet endearing concoction, his subsequent career failed to deliver the goods (though he doesn't seem to be at all bitter about this during his wonderful feature-length Audio Commentary and, indeed, feels merely privileged that this one film has stood the test of time).