SmugKitZine Tied for the best movie I have ever seen

Softwing Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

Gary The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

Karlee The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

The_Void What we have here is a dumbed down, (seemingly) made for TV, version of the nineties thriller 'The Hand That Rocks the Cradle'. The main reason I saw this, aside from the fact I seem to have something of a penchant for stupid and rather dull thrillers, is the fact that it stars Kari Wuhrer. Her name might not mean a lot to a lot of people, but she's about the closest thing we've got a B-movie queen nowadays (although she really does need to get a better agent!). As mentioned, the plot pretty much rips off The Hand that Rocks the Cradle, although this time there is a different reason for revenge and the unfortunate woman at the centre has a different affliction. Wuhrer plays a woman upset after her husband killed himself due to his work colleagues. She takes it upon herself to get revenge, killing a couple of them, before posing as a maid for another. She worms her way into the family through each of the different members, all the while plotting her sweet revenge.The thing that makes this film fun is the fact that it's completely ridiculous! The acting is terrible, and there are several sequences that are just far too convenient and/or don't make any sense at all! The film is directed by Jim Wynorski, who made Chopping Mall in 1986 before going to make a load of made for video crap, like this film. Some of the soft porn from his other films has made it into this one, and while we don't get to see much; there are plenty of breasts on display to keep things interesting. Kari Wuhrer gives by far the best performance and single handily makes the movie worth watching. She's always nice to look at, which cant really be said for the overall experience of watching this movie; but it is nice to see Re-Animator's Barbara Crampton on screen again. The plot is fairly standard stuff and although there is some attempt to build the characters, it is all a bit hard to care about. It doesn't take a genius to work out what will happen in the end, but there's plenty of laughs (for wrong reasons, mostly) on the way and while this is pretty crap, it's nice, gentle viewing and I did rather enjoy wasting time on it.

merklekranz In the end nothing else matters. Not the huge explosion from a trickling of gas, not the bloodless stabbing, not the medical inconsistencies, not the forensic evidence, not the derivative plot. The only thing that matters is that "Poison" is entertaining. This movie has everything, suspense, ample nudity, good character development, surprise ending, and of course, the wonderful Kari Wuhrer and Barbara Crampton. Do not listen to the people who trash "Poison" because of the above trivial objections, instead sit back and prepare to be amazed by this highly entertaining, sexy, revenge thriller. - MERK

Aitch-5 I could comment on the famously fakey shower-stabbing scene. I could comment on the fact that the film seems to be rooting for a woman who spends most of the film plotting the destruction of an innocent if slightly dysfunctional family. Instead I'll comment on the ending, because it's one of those endings that stick in your mind BECAUSE THEY DON'T ADD UP. Apply five minutes of deduction to the ending and it falls apart.STOP READING IF YOU PLAN ON SEEING THIS FILM.I'm going to try to be circumspect about this and hope I don't spoil it too much -- but if you have already seen this film, you know that eventually the police get involved, and that Person A is arrested. If you've seen the film, you may remember that someone has died before this and that the personal effects of that person are brought to the house. Mixed in with the personal effects are some things that belonged to the spouse of Person B, the person causing all the mayhem. One of these items was a framed photograph of Person B and the spouse. Think for a moment and you'll realize that Person B, after several days, has planted fingerprints all over the house. Recall also that Person A was told, not long after discovering the photograph, that (1) Person A's spouse replaced Person B's spouse at work, and (2) Person B's spouse had died, and (3) both events happened not long before Person B got involved in Person A's life.***HERE IS THE SPOILER:*** Person A is framed. The film tries to leave us with the impression that Person A is in massive legal trouble, while Person B drives off into the sunset smiling serenely -- that Person B has won. But wait a minute!What about all the forensic evidence that Person B would have left around? How much time could Person B have spent cleaning all of it up? Ask yourself if Person B would have known about the photograph showing Person B's face. Recall that Person B showed up at the place where Person A's spouse works and made a huge scene, so that at least two people who work there would definitely remember seeing and hearing Person B (along with however many people there would have been who weren't on camera but who were presumably working in cubicles and offices nearby).Ask yourself whether it's really Person A or Person B who's going to be facing legal trouble, when all Person A has to do is explain the events of the past few weeks and SHOW THE COPS THAT DAMNED PHOTOGRAPH. Ask yourself how long it would really take, if the cops had any competence at all, before the cops got curious about Person B.I realize this is just a cheap erotic thriller and you're not supposed to take it seriously, but still...

gridoon This movie is a direct rip-off of "Scorned", which in turn was itself a direct rip-off of "The Hand That Rocks The Cradle"; they even hired an Andrew Stevens lookalike to play the husband. To give you an idea of its quality, I will elaborate on the "bloodless" murder a previous reviewer talked about, and tell you that it must also be the first stabbing in the history of cinema that is executed without a knife! Yes, I swear, play the scene frame-by-frame and you'll see that when Wuhrer is supposed to be stabbing the housemaid to death, she isn't actually holding anything! Maybe that explains the lack of blood. But that's not all; the dialogue that's used to show us how the family is in a constant state of crisis is forced, awkward and delivered at the most inappropriate moments. The script is totally by-the-numbers, with every plot point telegraphed in advance (the "evil woman" seduces the father and the son, makes friends with the daughter, causes health problems for the mother, etc.). Despite all that, the film IS ultimately worth seeing, for one reason alone: Kari Wuhrer. With her pretty face, voluptuous and supple figure, and insinuating voice, she manages the no-small-feat of being just as sexy when she is dressed as when she is naked. She certainly blows Shannon Tweed out of the water in any case. (*1/2)