Poison

By:
In-House Review - Apr 06 2011

Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, this amazingly self-assured early feature by director Haynes proved to be quite a controversial work upon its release. Interweaving three seemingly unconnected stories, each with its own individual filmmaking style, this low-budget independent effort will mesmerize many, perplex others and disgust more than a few.

Hero, the first tale, told in a semidocumentary form, recounts a young boy's killing of his abusive father and his miraculous flight away. Horror, filmed in a '50s sci-fi horror flick manner, follows the tragedy that strikes a scientist after he successfully isolates the human sex drive in liquid form. The final tale, adapted from the writings of Jean Genet, is Homo, an intensely sensual and lyrical story of obsessive, unrequited love set in a prison. Poison is a wholly original, provocative, unsettling and intelligent film that is a must-see for adventurous gay cinephiles.

By: Amos Lassen

"Poison" is finally available on DVD and we at least get a chance to see it again. "Poison" consists of three stories of sex and violence. "Hero" is the story of 7 year old Ritchie who kills his father and flees and we see what leads up to the event. "Horror" is about a scientist who is able to find out the cause for human sexuality and isolate it. He then drinks the liquid from it that he created and he becomes a murderer. "Homo" is about a man incarcerated and finds himself attracted to another inmate; one he once knew at a juvenile home.
Director Todd Haynes and the film won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival with "Poison" in 1991. He gave us three stories, each with its one style. If you are a serious film collector, this belongs in your library.
What brought the film national attention was when Senator Jesse Helms went ballistic when he found out that the film had been partly financed by a National Education Association grant. People became curious to see the film and it went to art houses across America.
Haynes took his main inspiration from Jean Genet who brought his life in prison and his homosexuality together in his existential writing. While we may find some Genet in the movie but there are other influences as well. "Homo" is very Genet while "Horror" seems to be influenced by "B" movie directors and the old TV show "The Twilight Zone". "Hero" seems to be influenced by the television shows of the period. Helms was not the only person to condemn the film but he was the loudest and most famous.
There is a link between the three films but that is for you to discover. The movie is so powerful that it is hard to catch your breath as you watch. The viewer is thrown into a world where chaos and cruelty rule and the movie is therefore somewhat unsettling. The subject matter is also disturbing but we must understand that does make this a good film or a bad film. The film does not let up and the three stories share sex in common. For this reason, this is not a film for everyone. It is one of the films that heralded the new queer cinema and if for no other reason that makes it important.