Todd Haynes' Poison is three movies in one. Word to the wise, though: When your movie is only 85 minutes, maybe splitting it into thirds ain't such a hot idea. What you're left with is just an anthology of unrelated short films.
"Hero" is about a strange seven-year-old boy who murders his father and then flees; "Homo" is about (surprise!) a relationship between fellow prisoners; "Horror" is about a whiz-kid scientists who somehow drinks a potion containing the human sex drive - and inexplicably turns into a murderous leper.
None of these sounds like a "normal" movie, and that's all well and good. "Hero" is shown in documentary style, trying to lend an air of authenticity to the story. "Horror" is told in fifties' sci-fi style, with the usual theme of "science run amuck." Each is very well filmed; with "Homo," a real lurid atmosphere is created. You can almost feel the actors breathing on you.
That's about it as far as positives go. "Horror" might have worked if it had been played as a parody of those old films. Instead, it took itself completely seriously; instead of mocking, it was mockable. And to tell the truth, I wasn't the least bit interested in the characters of either of the three stories.
Some may look at this as fine independent film-making. All I see is a tortured, inescapably dull undertaking.
"Hero" is about a strange seven-year-old boy who murders his father and then flees; "Homo" is about (surprise!) a relationship between fellow prisoners; "Horror" is about a whiz-kid scientists who somehow drinks a potion containing the human sex drive - and inexplicably turns into a murderous leper.
None of these sounds like a "normal" movie, and that's all well and good. "Hero" is shown in documentary style, trying to lend an air of authenticity to the story. "Horror" is told in fifties' sci-fi style, with the usual theme of "science run amuck." Each is very well filmed; with "Homo," a real lurid atmosphere is created. You can almost feel the actors breathing on you.
That's about it as far as positives go. "Horror" might have worked if it had been played as a parody of those old films. Instead, it took itself completely seriously; instead of mocking, it was mockable. And to tell the truth, I wasn't the least bit interested in the characters of either of the three stories.
Some may look at this as fine independent film-making. All I see is a tortured, inescapably dull undertaking.