Poison (film)

Poison is a 1991 American science fiction drama horror film written and directed by Todd Haynes and starring Edith Meeks, Larry Maxwell, Susan Gayle Norman, Scott Renderer, and James Lyons. 

It is composed of three intercut stories that are partially inspired by the novels of Jean Genet.[A] With its gay themes, Poison is considered an early entry in the New Queer Cinema movement.  The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 11, 1991.  It was released in a limited release by Zeitgeist Films on April 5, 1991. 

Plot
The three intercut stories that comprise Poison are:
 Hero: Seven-year-old Richie shoots his abusive father and then flies away.  The story is told in the style of an episode of a tabloid television news magazine. 
 Horror: Told in the style of a "psychotropic horror film" of the mid-1960s, Horror is about a scientist who isolates the "elixir of human sexuality" and, after drinking it, is transformed into a hideous murdering leper. 
 Homo: The story of a prisoner, John Broom, who finds himself attracted to another prisoner, Jack Bolton, whom he had known and seen humiliated as a youth in a juvenile facility.   It is an adaptation of part of Genet's The Miracle of the Rose (1946). 

Cast

 Scott Renderer as John Broom
 James Lyons as Jack Bolton
 Edith Meeks as Felicia Beacon
 Millie White as Millie Sklar
 Buck Smith as Gregory Lazar
 Rob LaBelle as Jay Wete
 John Leguizamo as Chanchi
 Anne Giotta as Evelyn McAlpert
 Lydia Lafleur as Sylvia Manning
 Ian Nemser as Sean White
 Evan Dunsky as Dr. MacArthur
 Susan Gayle Norman as Dr. Nancy Olsen
 Marina Lutz as Hazel Lamprecht
 Barry Cassidy as Officer Rilt
 Richard Anthony as Edward Comacho
 Angela M. Schreiber as Florence Giddens
 Justin Silverstein as Jake
 Chris Singh as Chris
 Edward Allen as Fred Beacon
 Larry Maxwell as Dr. Graves

Release
Poison had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 11, 1991.  Zeitgeist Films later acquired distribution rights to the film.  It was released in a limited release on April 5, 1991

Reception
The film received generally positive reviews.  It currently holds a 76% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 21 reviews, with a weighted average of 6.84/10. 

Awards and nominations
 Berlin International Film Festival Teddy Award for Best Feature Film, 1991 (winner)
 Fantasporto Critics' Award, 1992 (winner); International Fantasy Film Award Best Film, 1992 (nominated)
 Independent Spirit Awards Best Director, 1992 (nominated); Best First Feature, 1992 (nominated)
 Locarno International Film Festival Golden Leopard, 1991 (nominated)
 Sitges - Catalan International Film Festival Special Prize of the Jury, 1991, "For keeping the subversive values inherent to any genuine poetry in force"
 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize - Dramatic, 1991 (winner)

Footnotes

^ The final credits specifically cite Our Lady of the Flowers, The Miracle of the Rose, and The Thief's Journal. 

Notes

References

External links
 
 
 
 

Category:1991 films
Category:1991 horror films
Category:1990s drama films
Category:1990s LGBT-related films
Category:1990s science fiction horror films
Category:American independent films
Category:American drama films
Category:American films
Category:American LGBT-related films
Category:American satirical films
Category:American science fiction horror films
Category:English-language films
Category:Films directed by Todd Haynes
Category:Films based on French novels
Category:Sundance Film Festival award winners
Category:LGBT-related horror films
Category:Films produced by Christine Vachon
Category:Killer Films films
Category:LGBT-related science fiction films
Category:Patricide in fiction