Poison1991

...caught me by surprise. I really enjoyed it. Great cinematography, wonderful acting, excellent direction.

4 1/2 The three interwoven, completely different stories, told and shot masterfully in three different styles, are so absorbing, I can’t remember the last time 90 minutes passed so quickly. Difficult to watch sometimes, but the humor and tongue-in-cheek styles of the 1950s STD science fiction tale and the suburban crime-documentary tale help balance-out the almost unbearable cruelty in the third. Powerful and engrossing.

Difficult to understand why this film has been accorded such praise, except perhaps due to its being an early film explicitly addressing gay issues. 26 years later, it seems crudely made and quite tedious, with much of it impressing this viewer as a very poor attempt at recreating the atmosphere of old Hollywood Film Noir or a 50s TV melodrama. Each of the three stories seemed like caricatures with little of any compelling interest.

A bizarre, surrealistic tragic trilogy. Although based on the works of Genet, it is strangely reminiscent of a Hubert Selby novel.

The controversy is understandable; the film is provocative and disturbing; it is sometimes a difficult film to view. But the problem, of course, if not that the film is disturbing but that 'the fault, dear Casca, lies not in our stars but in ourselves,' our Homo sapiens sapiens selves. At least in our selves in "empire civilization" -- designed intentionally by sociopaths and psychopaths to house too many rats in too small a cage ... . Moreover, any film condemned by the hysterical, shrieking panty-wetters and bed wetters like Dick Armey and Ralph Reed -- and praised by John Waters -- is a film to be seen. Frankly the film makes me look with an even more jaundiced eye at what hath been wrought by those white, Christian European settler-invaders of 500 years ago. And since.

amazing directing, photography, story very inspiring loved it!!

A wide range of emotions weave taunt stories, peculiar, provocative, perverse?? The neighbor lady who witnesses the "BM" certainly might think so.

Saw it many years ago and it freaked me out. Watched it again this week and it make a lot more sense to me. Todd Haynes is pretty intense.

A very harsh look at the misery humans wrought on those weaker or more different than themselves. No wonder the right wing hated it as it placed a mirror in front of them showing them what bullies they are, oh and it definitely dares to tear apart the boundaries heterosexual vanilla sex only prudes try to impose on everyone. It is harsh to watch: as harsh as humans can sometimes be to each other.

Extremely interesting to me and curious with flavors almost like Alfred Hitchcock and Rod Sterling with an LGBTQ twist to some parts.

very strange

The film that simultaneously put Todd Haynes on the map and ushered in the New Queer Cinema movement, "Poison" was both an extremely controversial as well as highly influential picture- and it remains a reference point in LGBT film to this day.

Startling and even though i saw this film when it first came out I had some problems with it. But a this this time I simply enjoyed Todd Hayne's vision.

OK..maybe the strangest movie we have seen on Fandor...and that is saying a lot.

Good!

movie viewed fine but did not like the content as very disturbing and brutal....