Poison Ivy: The New Seduction (1997)

The third Poison Ivy movie is fantastic, it's on a par with the first movie, and that's thanks to two main contributing factors. First of all, the presence of the gorgeous Jaime Pressly and the fact that she began her career not worrying about getting any "no nudity" clause in her contract (thank the lord). Secondly, the movie just takes the trashy core of the material and runs with it. Plausibility and drama are thrown out of the window, only to be replaced by the vicarious thrill provided by Violet (played by Pressly) getting all of the pieces in place for her grand revenge.

We begin with a bit of infidelity which leads to a woman leaving her place of work with her two young daughters, Ivy and Violet. We know how Ivy turned out but this story focuses on Violet. She returns to the household many years later to reconnect with her friend, Joy (played by Megan Edwards), but the audience is well aware from the very beginning that Violet just wants to get herself in a position where she can destroy the household. Joy has a chance to be recognised as a very capable tennis player - that needs ruined. Joy has a decent boyfriend - that needs ruined. Joy has a father who may end up finding happiness once again, long after the passing of his wife - that needs ruined. You see the pattern? Yep, everything needs ruined and Violet is not averse to using her obvious charms and sexuality to get what she wants.

Directed by Kurt Voss, and written by Karen Kelly, Poison Ivy: The New Seduction takes many familiar elements of the erotic thriller and throws them in the mix with a healthy sense of fun and plenty of onscreen time for the enormously appealing Jaime Pressly (can you tell that I've had a crush on her for a long time yet?). It's silly but it doesn't claim to be serious. It's also sexy when it needs to be and it's entertaining from start to finish.

The cast are all just fine. Pressly, of course, is the centre of attention, and deservedly so, but Megan Edwards is okay in her role, Michael Des Barres is fine as her father, Greg Vaughan is acceptable boyfriend material and Susan Tyrrell is very entertaining as the housekeeper who smells a rat before anyone else.

Fun, occasionally funny, sexy and twisted. And did I mention that Jaime Pressly was always worth watching?

7/10.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Poison-Ivy-1-3-Region-NTSC/dp/B000HT38EO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327861325&sr=8-1

Wild Things 2 (2004)

Six years after the cool and sexy first movie, along comes this sequel to show how you can take almost exactly the same material (in some instances even the scene structure is almost EXACTLY the same as in the first movie) and turn a winning formula into complete sewage.

If you've seen the first movie then none of the twists and turns will surprise you. If you haven't seen the first movie then why the hell are you considering even watching this instalment?

Jack Perez directs and I can't help thinking that all he did was watch the first movie. Of course, this isn't the worst thing he could have done. After all, Perez is now the man perhaps best known for giving the world the supreme and jaw-dropping Mega Shark Vs Giant Octopus. (best sold to anyone who has yet to see it with THIS clip). Ross Helford and Andy Hurst wrote the screenplay for this and the next outing in the series so no worries there. Of course, they also wrote the screenplay for Single White Female 2: The Psycho. Oh dear.

Which means that we have nothing but a rehash of the first movie from a group of untalented people behind the camera. Hopefully, a few good stars onscreen could pick things up a bit. Well, not really. There are some decent people in front of the camera (Susan Ward is just too cute for me to dislike and Isaiah Washington is a very good actor and certainly the best thing in this film) but there are also just as many folk you won't care about one little bit. Leila Arcieri as Maya King is just annoying, Joe Michael Burke is far too bland, Linden Ashby is okay and that's about it, nobody else really gets to make any impression.

Overall, Wild Things 2 is just like Wild Things (even the dvd cover is almost a carbon copy). Without the talented cast. Or smart script. Or style and sexiness. Or any trace of originality. Despite so many failings, however, it's still a bit of an entertaining watch thanks to the way it follows the structure of the original so closely. There are even a number of reveals during the end credits which end up being almost as much fun to watch as the revelations in the first movie. Almost.

4/10.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wild-Things-DVD-Susan-Ward/dp/B0000WSTMY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1326474094&sr=8-1