Main Cast: Drew Barrymore, Sara Gilbert, Tom Skerritt, Cheryl Ladd, Alan Stock
Release Year: 1992
Country: US
Run Time: 91 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
The always challenging transition from adorable child performer to sexy adult star was achieved flamboyantly by actress Drew Barrymore with this erotic drama that unfolds like a paranoia-drenched Lolita (1962). Sylvie Cooper (Sara Gilbert) is a misanthropic student at a private high school for children of the privileged. While calling in a phony bomb threat to the TV station where her father, Darryl (Tom Skerritt) is a producer, Sylvia attracts the attention of Ivy (Drew Barrymore). Ivy is an orphan from a poor family, attending the school on a scholarship. She and Sylvia quickly become best friends, and Ivy eventually moves out of her aunt's home and into the Cooper household. Ivy covets the Coopers' lavish lifestyle and luxuries, so she begins plotting to kill Sylvie's ailing mother Georgie (Cheryl Ladd), then seduce the alcoholic Darryl and frame Sylvie for the crime, thus taking over the Cooper house. Director Katt Shea Ruben and her co-writer husband Andy Ruben were veterans of the Roger Corman school of filmmaking. The success of Poison Ivy (1992) on video and cable television inspired a pair of sequels, Poison Ivy 2: Lily (1996) and Poison Ivy: The New Seduction (1997). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
Review
By 1992, Drew Barrymore had already lived a full life of hard living that left her a sultry-looking, 17-year-old bad girl, ripe for the lead role in a movie like Poison Ivy. And just as one would expect, she's a perfect fit for the part of Ivy, the Lolita-cum-femme-fatale at the center of this delightful sleaze-fest. After a string of pure garbage throughout the late '80s that included Stripped to Kill and Dance of the Damned, director Katt Shea and writer Andy Ruben finally proved that they were capable of pulling off at least a half-decent sexploitation thriller. And while the instinct is to give most of the credit to Barrymore, Shea's ability to make the entire screen appear soaked in sweat and Ruben's over-the-top dialogue must be recognized for being at least half the reason the film is so much fun to watch. Mention must also be made of Tom Skerritt, who seems almost as creepy as his cradle-robbing character just for taking the role. Poison Ivy is by no means art, but it's sexy and kitschy enough to make it one of the best films of its kind. Its dull and unworthy sequels should be avoided by anyone looking for anything more than celebrity skin. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
Jeanne Sakata - Isabelle; Angel Broadhurst - Death Rocker; Warren Burton - Max; Randall Caldwell - Truck Driver; Leonardo DiCaprio - 1st Guy; Tony Ervolina - Man on Screen; Michael Goldner - Man in Car; Charles Hayward - Tiny; Julie Jay - Nurse Behind Desk; Billy Charles Kanes - James; Lawrence Levy - Jeff; E.J. Moore - Kid; Mary Gordon Murray - M.D.; Lisa Passero - Lisa; J.B. Quon - Another Kid; Sandy Roth Ruben - Estelle; Tom Ruben - Roofer; Charla Sampsel - Orderly; Tim Winters - Old Man
Credit
Hayden Yates - Art Director, Ellen Gross - Costume Designer, Andy Ruben - Director, Katt Shea Ruben - Director, Michele Munoz - Editor, Aaron Davis - Composer (Music Score), David Michael Frank - Composer (Music Score), Virginia Lee - Production Designer, Phedon Papamichael - Cinematographer, Andy Ruben - Producer, Melissa Goddard - Producer, Peter Morgan - Producer, William R. Perry - Stunts, Andy Ruben - Screenwriter, Katt Shea Ruben - Screenwriter, R. Russell Smith - Re-Recording Mixer
