Pretty Poison – DVD Review

Film, Reviews


Credit: Amazon.com

Director:
Noel Black

Starring:

Anthony Perkins ………. Dennis Pitt
Tuesday Weld ………. Sue Ann Stepanek
Beverly Garland ………. Mrs. Stepanek
John Randolph ………. Morton Azenauer
Dick O’Neill ………. Bud Munsch

The Movie

Boy sees girl. Boy obsesses over girl. Boy stalks girl, but it turns out that girl is a closet freak and likes that. Boy and girl go on a killing spree and…that’s all I can say without ruining the movie for you. Sounds like your typical romantic movie you can go see with your significant other, right? Not exactly. Sure, Pretty Poison is about a boy and girl falling in love but nothing is as it seems in this movie.

Dennis Pitt (Anthony Perkins) is a young man with some problems. At the start of the movie, we see him get released from a mental institution. He’s a former arsonist. Yes, Dennis has problems. He wants to start a new life in Massachusetts, though. He gets a job at a factory and all is good until Dennis spots a beautiful All-American cheerleader from the local high school named Sue Ann Stepanek (Tuesday Weld). He does the usual stalking routine of watching her from a distance as she practices. He wants more than simply watching her, though. He wants to be with her. Dennis comes up with a genius plan. He will pretend to be a CIA agent to impress her. Sounds crazy, right? It actually works as Sue Ann is intrigued by Dennis’ false persona. Together they form the new “Bonnie and Clyde” and go on a crime spree of the murdering kind.

The first thing that needs to be talked about and praised is the acting. Anthony Perkins is best known as Norman Bates from Psycho. If that is his best performance, then this movie is his second-best performance. He is fantastic as a young man with mental problems. He creates this whole CIA persona, which is actually believable to the home audience. You begin to forget that he is not actually a CIA agent. Tuesday Weld is on fire as Sue Ann. She has attitude problems of her own and an abusive mother. Together Perkins and Weld have great chemistry on the screen. Beverly Garland is also good in her role as Sue Ann’s mother. Overall, the acting is top-notch from top to bottom.

The tag line for this movie says “Illusions Can Be Deadly” and that is never more true. That’s the perfect way to describe this film. Dennis is not who he seems. Tuesday is not who she seems. Nothing is what it seems. On the back of the DVD case, they promised that there would be an “explosive ending” and to tell the truth, it was surprising. I won’t tell you what happens, but it’s not an original ending. You’ve seen this ending before, but you weren’t expecting it in this movie. After going back and thinking about it, though, the ending isn’t out of place at all. It fits in perfectly with the rest of the movie. It just puts the icing on a great movie.

When Pretty Poison got released in 1968, it didn’t gain a huge audience. It was only in theaters for a month or so and didn’t make any money. However, once people saw this movie on TV they realized what they were missing. This is a sleeper hit that has a good story, fantastic acting, and a great ending. Worth a look for sure.

Score: 8/10

The Video:

The video is given in widescreen color with an aspect ratio of 1:85.1. Transfer is good. I know most fans of the movie will be happy to see it in widescreen edition. The movie doesn’t look that bad considering it was made 40 years ago!

The Audio:

The audio included is available in either English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo sound, English Dolby Digital 1.0 sound, or Spanish Dolby Digital 1.0 sound. There are English and Spanish subtitles as well. No problems here either. I love that marching band music!

The Extras:

Nothing, but the trailer for the movie and some other “sneak peeks” at upcoming DVD releases. The trailer is not that bad, but that’s it so lets call it…

Score: 1/10

The DVD Lounge’s Ratings for Pretty Poison
CATEGORY
RATING
(OUT OF 10)
THE MOVIE

8
THE EXTRAS

1
REPLAY VALUE

7
OVERALL
6
(NOT AN AVERAGE)

The Inside Pulse
I would definitely recommend a rental here. It’s a great movie that many people don’t know about. This could be an “Off The Beaten Path” choice for sure. If you liked Anthony Perkins in Psycho, then you’ll want to watch this movie for sure. Possibly even buy it. Same for fans of Tuesday Weld.

I'm not embarrassed to say that my favorite television show of all-time is The O.C. I live by the motto "you can't fight fate!" More importantly, I watch WAY too much television, but I do so for the benefit of everyone reading this now. So to my mom and my wife, I say thanks for reading! To everyone else that might stumble across this, remember TiVo should be your best friend!