Pretty Poison
Director: Noel Black
Year Released: 1968
Rating: 3.0
Arsonist Anthony Perkins - fresh out of the cuckoo nest and working as a bottle inspector - convinces a local teenager (Tuesday Weld) that he's actually an agent for the C.I.A. - being young and 'impressionable,' she appears to believe him, which leads the two down the path of co-dependent lunacy. The two main performances are the real jewels of this cult picture - Perkins does his skinny, sweaty psycho routine, but this time with a dash of self-parody - while Weld's beaming blonde slowly reveals her true self (and my, aren't teenagers vindictive). The jet black humor may not be for everyone, but viewers with a taste for the tweaked will most likely be amused; it's always fascinating to me, personally, how far a guy will go for the love of a cheerleader.
