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Poison (1991)

tomatometer

71

Average Rating: 5.5/10
Critic Reviews: 7
Fresh: 5 | Rotten: 2

No consensus yet.

audience

65

liked it
Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 1,695

My Rating

Movie Info

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

NC-17, 1 hr. 25 min.

Drama, Horror, Art House & International

Jean Genet, Todd Haynes

Feb 15, 2000

Zeitgeist Films

Cast

All Critics (21) | Top Critics (7) | Fresh (16) | Rotten (5) | DVD (2)

I could have done without the designer prison, but most of the other stylistic conceits work.

November 9, 2010 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | Comment
Chicago Reader
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Arguably the strongest American debut feature of the '90s.

November 9, 2010 Full Review Source: Village Voice | Comment
Village Voice
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Todd Haynes' Poison is a conceptually bold, stylistically audacious first feature, a compelling study of different forms of deviance.

March 26, 2009 Full Review Source: Variety | Comment
Variety
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Boldly self conscious, Poison switches channels among its three stylistically varied but thematically linked tales with cumulative, claustrophobic power.

March 31, 2008 Full Review Source: Newsweek | Comment
Newsweek
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The movie needs to evoke more than the ghost of Genet to give it resonance.

May 20, 2003 Full Review Source: New York Times | Comment
New York Times
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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.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Washington Post | Comment
Washington Post
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A stylish study of human deviance at its dirtiest.

November 9, 2010 Full Review Source: Film4 | Comment

An exercise in cinema of ideas that, while audacious and occasionally compelling, is ultimately less than the sum of its parts.

November 9, 2010 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | Comment
TV Guide's Movie Guide

captures the spirit of Genet's work

February 16, 2010 Full Review Source: Old School Reviews | Comment

A very tough, queasy film, but extremely powerful and a strong feature debut for Haynes.

November 20, 2007 Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | Comment
Combustible Celluloid

Haynes' brilliant feature debut is a triptych of visually divergent episodes, each set in a wolrd dying of panicky fright. Of the three tales, my favorite is "Horror," a poignant parody of b/w movies shot in slightly exaggerated noir vein.

October 9, 2006 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | Comment

Compelling and quirkily intelligent; Genet, one feels, would have been impressed.

February 9, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out | Comment

Todd Haynes boldly announces himself as a force to be reckoned with.

May 22, 2004 Comment
Flipside Movie Emporium

A mysterious, funny, sexy, and scary triptych; each film works beautifully on its own, and even better in relation to the others.

August 17, 2003 Comment
Nick's Flick Picks

The overall effect shows a born director following his creative instincts fearlessly.

July 22, 2003 Full Review | Comment

Repellent in a way few films ever have been

February 2, 2003 Comment
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

The stories don't really work together, and Haynes attempts to compensate by intermingling them, trying to force viewers to see patterns.

February 28, 2002 Full Review Source: Goatdog's Movies | Comment

"The whole world is dying of panicky fright" are the words that open the movie. Poison makes the fear palpable.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | Comment
Austin Chronicle
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Poison

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

January 17, 2008
creepfreak

Super Reviewer

The small budget for this film did not hold back Todd Haynes' big ideas. This is a disquieting, challenging movie that presents us wiith heavy subject matter without offering immediate or obvious explanations. The structure, tone and concept are extremely polished. A great debut.

January 23, 2011
michaelcorleone

Super Reviewer

    1. Fontenal Inmate: Someone's got Rass tied up by the balls.
    – Submitted by Oscar T (2 months ago)

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Foreign Titles

  • Poison (1991) (DE)
  • Poison (1991) (UK)
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