Part of Teenage Wasteland
A disturbed young man (Anthony Perkins) — recently released from a mental institution — falls for a radiant, quintessential All-American teenager (Tuesday Weld). Only trouble is, she might not be as innocent as her appearance suggests as she leads him into a series of secret “missions” that inevitably culminate in murder.
This darkly comic thriller debut from director Noel Black featuring two absolute screen icons at the height of their powers is a genuine cult classic.
“An unheralded sleeper that was re-edited, shelved and dumped by its studio and then panned in the daily press, PRETTY POISON was resurrected by its distributor after it was championed by other critics, notably Pauline Kael. It proved to be the most critically divisive movie of 1968 and for some the kickiest. The Daily News dismissed it as ‘a grisly melodrama,’ while, jumping on the movie’s bandwagon, Time magazine’s critic saw ‘a sly, jaundiced look at swinging youth and the pervasive American climate of violence.’” —J. Hoberman, New York Times “When I discovered that PRETTY POISON had opened without advance publicity or screenings, I rushed to see it, because a movie that makes the movie companies so nervous they’re afraid to show it to the critics stands an awfully good chance of being an interesting movie. Mediocrity and stupidity certainly don’t scare them; talent does. This is a remarkable first feature film by a gifted young American, Noel Black…. Lorenzo Semple, Jr., has written an unobtrusively thoughtful and well-controlled script — the best script of any American movie this year. Black’s subdued direction has the uncorrupted sensitivity that, given the way movies are made and sold, and what the public seems to want, doesn’t last long. Although PRETTY POISON is a psychological thriller, it is modulated and fine-drawn, and (simply because of the way it was thought out and felt out) it presupposes an attentive, intelligent audience.” —Pauline Kael, New Yorker (Nov 2, 1968)
