Pretty Poison’ another one of those unexpected obscure gems that this DV craze seems to repeatedly dredge up, and it’s a great thing too. The cover likens it to Natural Born Killers but in reality this 1968 film from Noel Black is more closely aligned to Terence Malicks’ lyrical Badlands, much more low key, allowing the action to unravel slowly with considerably less bombast. Anthony Perkins (Psycho/ The Trial) offers a typically twitchy performance as a fantasy prone man who exits a psych ward into small town USA, not necessarily cured and struggles to fit in, growing progressively more and more unhinged. Yet before you can say Bonnie and Clyde he hooks with a perky blond Apple Pie high school student played effortlessly by Tuesday Weld. What’s interesting about Pretty Poison is that it’s neither the slice and dice carnage of Natural Born Killers or a portrait of a psychological breakdown. It seems to exist somewhere in the middle, focussing instead on the relationship between the couple and the subtle shifts in power. The filmmaking itself at times echoes Perkins’ distorted thinking, fractured, blurry images, abrupt cuts and intercuts, as the film attempts to dig beneath the surface, beneath the facade of the characters. At times the dialogue threatens to become a little clunky, yet make no mistake Pretty Poison is a nasty psychological little piece of work without resorting to shock tactics. Incidentally screenwriter Orenzo Semple Jr would go on to pen Parallax View, one of the best conspiracy thrillers of the 70′.
Extra Features:
Nothing.
-Bob Baker Fish
