Poison Ivy: The New Seduction (1997)

Rating: C+

Dir: Kurt Voss
Star: Jaime Pressly, Michael Des Barres, Megan Edwards, Greg Vaughan

You always used to be able to tell the villains in Disney movies ‘cos they were ugly, but in the land of the thriller, the reverse is true: the prettier a character, the more likely she is to a) be evil, and b) often shag like a Viagra-stuffed bunny too — the two may be connected. Pressly is very, very pretty. Hence, she is also very, very evil, and I needn’t spell out more specifics. She chews her way through the family whom she blames for…er, well, it’s never quite clear why she opts for revenge on her former best friend,

Yhough who cares when she gets to wear some fabulous costumes. ‘Cos she now works as a dominatrix, see, so it’s not gratuitous at all. Honest! [Well, no more so than the pic on the right…] Pressley is pretty good, degenerating from doll-like innocence to Callisto-like psychosis, in a way that’s way more appealing than the prissy, All-American family, for whom you feel nothing. Though the plot, and in particular the climax, are mad as a hatter, it’s a pleasant surprise to find an “erotic thriller” which manages to do okay on both fronts.