Poison (1991)

A beautiful, deeply eerie, and disgusting film. This controversial NC-17 movie is a small masterpiece.

Story 1:
"Hero"

Tells the story of seven-year old Richie Beacon, who kills his brutally abusive father, and disappears in a mysterious way, according to his mother.

Hero is shot in a documentary style, with interviews from people's accounts on the story and re-enactments. This story was the creepiest to me, especially the shocking and most bizarre ending. Everything in this story felt very real, and it was always convincing.

What really happened to Richie Beacon? And most of all...who was he REALLY?
Chilling stuff!

Story 2:
"Horror"

Shot in black and white, and plays off like a 50's sc-fi movie. Horror tells the story of a scientist who isolates the elixir of human sexuality, drinks it, and becomes a festering, contagious murderer. This story was fu*king gross. Disgusting and nauseating. But it was great too! It's a love story entangled with sheer terror. Very fascinating...and icky at the same time!


Story 3:
"The Homo"

Revolves around lifelong prisoner John Broom's obsession with fellow inmate Jack Bolten. Told through Broom's thoughts, much of this story within a story is communicated through flashbacks and vignettes that develop the characters of the two men.

The Homo is a depressing and revolting story. Amazing character development and storytelling, but very difficult to stomach, especially the "spitting" scene. It's sad, bleak, and uncompromising. This one will leave a bad taste in your mouth.


All these stories are told throughout and are in no specific order, although each are linked thematically to make a whole. It's a shocking, and bizarre movie, but yet has lot's of meaning. Great performances and solid storytelling, and great script. A very disturbing movie, but I highly recommend it to people who are looking for something quite different.


"Todd Haynes's "Poison" is a vision of unrelenting, febrile darkness. It presents three disparate stories in three greatly varied styles, all inspired by the work of Jean Genet, and its effect, as a whole, is like that of an especially vile infection; it moves diabolically through your system, spreading fever and nausea as it goes."
- Washington Post

"Poison weaves a trio of disparate stories into a fragmentary, postmodern triptych, one held together (however vaguely)by lurid themes of sexuality, violence, and personal revolt. The movie wants to shock, and it does."
- EW

"Poison is a very tough, queasy film, but extremely powerful and a strong feature debut for Haynes."
- Celebrity Wonder

"Many films try to be subversive, try to undermine the status quo in ways large and small (and Haynes is still up to that, to a lesser extent), but few succeed, too often ending in broad strokes or empty campiness (John Waters' films). Poison works because it is unafraid of being shocking, but still has a point to get across, and handles the balance well."
- HDFest


"Poison is a disturbing film. It will make you uncomfortable, but it also will make you think."
- Filmreference

"Part horror film, part drama, part expose, Poison is 1991's most controversial film."
- Café DVD

"Poison is a wholly original, provocative, unsettling and intelligent film that is a must-see for adventurous videophiles."
- TLA Video