Pretty Poison (1968)

...aka: She Let Him Continue

Directed by:

Noel Black

Dennis Pitt (Anthony Perkins) fantasizes his way through a humdrum existence as factory worker by day and accomplished arsonist by night, but he’s about to learn a true lesson in sociopathic tendencies from an unlikely source; chirpy blonde high school majorette Sue Ann (Tuesday Weld), who turns out to be even more disturbed than he is! This timeless and corrosive black comic thriller toys with our perceptions, our assumptive nature and, especially, our eagerness to reflect on and allude to the notion of small town American ideals that probably never even existed in the first place. In that regard, this can be seen as a precursor to David Lynch's critically acclaimed BLUE VELVET. Perkins and Weld deliver knockout performances, Beverly Garland contributes a great character bit as Sue Ann’s bitchy, ice-cold mother and it’s sharply and insightfully scripted by Lorenzo Semple, Jr. A winner.

★★★1/2