Main Cast: Larry Maxwell, Edith Meeks, Susan Norman, Millie White, Scott Renderer, Buck Smith, James Lyons
Release Year: 1991
Country: US
Run Time: 85 minutes
MPAA Rating: NC17
Plot
This film has become infamous thanks to the efforts of the Rev. Donald Wildmon, who publicly questioned the fact that NEA dollars were spent on this "filth." While Wildmon's point was certainly overstated, this debut feature from Todd Haynes is quite disturbing. The Poison in question is sex, and its toxic effects are explored in three segments which have been shuffled together like a deck of cards. "Hero" is a pseudo-documentary about a seven-year-old boy who shoots his father and then ascends into the sky. "Horror" is a mad-scientist story filmed like a Roger Corman "B"-movie. The scientist in question has managed to distill the essence of the human sex drive into a test tube. When he inadvertently drinks it, he turns into a leprous monster, terrorizing the city. "Homo" is a gay love story set in a prison. All three segments are based on the writings of Jean Genet. ~ John Voorhees, All Movie Guide
Review
This arresting feature debut from the always interesting Todd Haynes explores human differences and alienation in the form of three seamlessly interweaved storylines. As in Dottie Gets Spanked and Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story, Haynes draws from familiar cinematic genres and devices to tell his distinct and bizarre tales. Genuinely subversive, even if its parts are sometimes greater than the whole, this film feels like the truest form of independent cinema -- endlessly inventive despite its low budget. Based in part on the writings of Jean Genet, the film is at times peculiar and difficult to follow, but worth sticking with, if only for its striking originality. Poison was partly funded by the NEA, a fact that stirred up controversy when the film was eventually released with an NC-17 rating due to a shot of an erect penis. Many have speculated that it was the film's gay context -- not just one "obscene" shot -- that was under attack by anti-NEA forces. ~ Jason Clark, All Movie Guide
Al Quagliata - Dep. Hansen; Michelle Sullivan - Prostitute; John R. Lombardi - Rass; Tony Pemberton - Young Broom; Andrew Harpending - Young Bolton; Edward Allen - Fred Beacon; Richard Anthony - Edward Comacho; Nino Bau - Fontenal Inmate; Jason Bauer - Doran; Andrew Bishop - Child's Hands; Gideon Joslyn Brown - Baton Inmate; Jim Cagnard - Bartender; Barry Cassidy - Officer Rilt; Charles Cavalier - 1st Cop; Maurice Clapisson - 1st Guard; Wayne Compton - Fontenal Inmate; John P. Connolly - Baton Inmate; Bruce R. Cook - Dr. Stick; Eric Cubano - Baton Inmate; Don Damico - 2nd Cop; David Danford - Basco; Kyle de Camp - Neighbor; Joe Dietl - Woman in the Alley; Raymond Dragen - Fontenal Inmate; Matt Ebert - Guard 2; Damien Garcia - Chanci; Douglas F. Gibson - Van Roven; Tony Gigante - Inspector; Anne Giotta - Evelyn McAlpert; Joey Grant - Jamoke; Richard Hansen - Narration; Chris Henricks - Sleazy Man; Jessica - Nurse; Rob La Belle - Jay Wete; Lydia Lafleur - Sylvia Manning; Marina Lutz - Hazel Lamprecht; Tom McCullough - Townsperson; Parlan McGaw - Newscaster; John McGhee - Fontenal Inmate; Dani Michaeli - Baton Inmate; Leah Mullen - Little Girl; John Nadeau - Doctor; Ian Nemser - Sean White; Frank O'Donnell - Old Doctor; Phil W. Petrie - Doctor; Gary Ray - Canon; Anthony Rubustillo - Fontenal Inmate; Ken Schatz - Preacher; Aimee Scheff - Neighbor; Angela Schreiber - Florence Giddons; Michael Silverman - Foster Father; Justin Silverstein - Jake; Les Simpson - Miss Tim; Chris Singh - Chris; Jonathan Smit - Fontenal Inmate; Elyse Steinberg - Little Girl; Oscar Tevez - Fontenal Inmate; Chava Tiger - Townsperson; Lorraine Traverson - Nurse; Marie-Francoise Vachon - Foster Mother; Shawn Wilson - Broom-Age 6; Evan Dunsky - Dr. MacArthur; Lauren Zalaznick - Waitress; Michael A. Miranda - Fontenal Inmate; Carlos Jimenez - Jose; John Duffy - Fontenal Inmate
Credit
Chas Plummer - Art Director, Lauren Zalaznick - Associate Producer, Jessica Haston - Costume Designer, Todd Haynes - Director, Todd Haynes - Editor, James Lyons - Editor, James Bennett - Composer (Music Score), Sarah Stollman - Production Designer, John Hansen - Production Designer, Maryse Alberti - Cinematographer, Barry Ellsworth - Cinematographer, Brian Greenbaum - Producer, James Schamus - Producer, Denny Vachlioti - Producer, Christine Vachon - Producer, John Hansen - Set Designer, Jean Genet - Screen Story, Todd Haynes - Screenwriter
Poison is a 1991independent film written and directed by Todd Haynes. It is composed of three intercut stories that are partially inspired by the novels of Jean Genet. With its gay themes, Poison is considered an early entry in the New Queer Cinema movement.
The three intercut stories that comprise Poison are:
Hero: A young boy shoots his father and then flies away. The story is told in the style of a documentary film.
Horror: Told in the style of 1950s drive-in sci-fi movies, Horror is about a scientist who isolates the "elixir of human sexuality" and, after drinking it, is transformed into a hideous murdering monster.
Homo: The story of a prisoner who finds himself attracted to another prisoner whom he had known and seen humiliated as a youth in a juvenile facility.
Sitges - Catalonian International Film Festival Special Prize of the Jury, 1991, "For keeping the subversive values inherent to any genuine poetry in force."
