PRETTY POISON (15)
D: Noel Black
20th Century Fox (Lawrence Turman, Marshal Blacklar & Noel
Black)
US 1968
89 mins
Crime/Thriller
W: Lorenzo Semple, Jr. [based on the novel "She Let Him
Continue" by Stephen Geller]
DP: David Quaid
Ed: William Ziegler
Mus: Johnny Mandel
Anthony Perkins (Dennis Pitt), Tuesday
Weld (Sue Ann Stepanek), Beverly Garland (Mrs. Stepanek), John Randolph (Morton Azenauer), Dick O'Neill (Bud Munsch), Clarice Blackburn (Mrs. Bronson)
An odd black comedy from the latter part of the 1960's,
featuring two strong performances from its leads.
Anthony Perkins is a sociopathic arsonist working at a local
chemical factory who convinces a young woman that he's a secret agent, putting them both on a path to murder and mayhem.
Though the black comedy story is decades ahead of its time,
certain elements of the production and execution place it firmly in the 1960's, where theatrical audiences might not have been quite ready for it yet considering this is a little more bitter and
cynical than similar films which Alfred Hitchcock may have served up.
Certainly worth a watch for the performances of Anthony
Perkins and Tuesday Weld, but it isn't really a film which will stick out in the memory.
6/10