Poison Ivy: The Secret Society

This movie had some potential in the script, and the actors had moments where they shined through, but for the most part this movie was a muddled mess.

The plot to this film seems like it was originally intended for teenage girls. If that had been the case, and the nudity and rather boring sex scenes had been excised I could understand a market for this type of film. Maybe if the plot had been sexed up a little, with more emphasis on the sexual politics and seduction I could understand it being a late night movie, but in the end the movie is a mess. It seems like soft core porn for middle school girls who enjoy staring at fake breasts.

The movie is rather dull, the story doesn't really kick in till the final five minutes, the direction is flat, and most of the actors seem like they are about to break out laughing during the scenes. The Poison Ivy series was never stellar film making, but at least the films knew their audience. This one is a confused, muddled mess that never decides if it wants to be a slightly dirty version of Mean Girls or a late night cable flick.

Skip it.

Didn't feel like I was watching a Poison Ivy film. There are seductive touches here, and there. But there's no linking connection to the original Ivy character which the other sequels worked in. Here the story beats were putting me more the mindset of 'Cruel Intentions' meets 'The Skulls'. Still I was surprisingly entertained by this made-for-cable junk, if mainly for the viper performance of Shawna Waldron.

Over the last week I watched the final two entries of the series (The New Seduction & The Secret Society) expecting little to nothing, but I actually came away liking them more then the better regarded first two films.

Out of all the "Poison Ivy" I have seen, this one is like none of the three. To me, this is like "Heathers" meets " Mean Girls" only more serious. Here you have an orphaned teen named Daisy(Miriam McDonald), who lives in a small town ranch, who gets to go to s very prestigious college. Fitting in is one thing, proving your worth is another. Earlier, a student in the college died under mysterious circumstances. She catches the attention of two people: Blake(Ryan Kennedy) and the clique, the Ivies. The leader Azalea(Shawna Waldron), seduces Blake one afternoon to get ahead. In order to keep the scholarship for themselves, the Ivies go to every length to get it. Even make the new girl one of them. Blake would warn Daisy about Azalea and the Ivy society. Especially when Azalea killed his father, the dean of the college(Greg Evigan). After the scandal in college, Daisy goes back to her boyfriend, realizing her heart belongs to him. Keeping the situation to yourself is best, rather the blowing the lid of a college with secrets. Different from the first three, but it retained the same seductive manner as usual. So don't jump the gun on it, watch it and be the judge yourself. 2 out of 5 stars.

Small town girl Daisy (Miriam McDonald of Degrassi: The Next Generation fame) attempts to start anew, leaving her steady boyfriend and country life to go to a New England college. She soon becomes embroiled in the manipulation of the secretive feminist Ivy Society, a clandestine club who has many members as well as finds a new love interest in Blake, the dean's son.

Having nothing at all to do with the first three Poison Ivy films, this is merely a slightly below average soft-core (the DVD sexes up the version that debuted on television) female version of "the Skulls". If you've seen that aforementioned film or any of the others of it's ilk, nothing here will catch you by a surprise, as it's simply a paint-by-numbers type of affair. Seeing Miriam shed some clothes might be worthwhile for fans of hers, but that's all there is to recommend this movie.

Eye Candy: Miriam McDonald & Shawna Waldron both get topless; 2 extras also get topless

My Grade: D

DVD Extras: No extras for the movie itself but an anti-piracy psa; corporate schilling for Blu-Ray; trailers for "Alien Raiders", "Friday the 13th", "Wonder Woman"; "Where the f**k is Santa?", & the X-box 360 games "Tomb Raider: Underworld"

The last (to date, anyway, and I'm reviewing this in June 2023) Poison Ivy film.

And that's probably just as well. This was the worst of the lot, by a comfortable margin. Poor acting, a flimsy script, plenty of slow-motion sex scenes - screaming out low budget, direct-to-TV, which this was, premiering, according to the IMDB page, on Lifetime - and, really, very little really to write home about.

I didn't mind previous instalments in this series but it should have ended with 'The New Seduction'. I guess the old adage about flogging a dead horse is an apt one here. As far as Poison Ivy goes: there's not much left to be flogged, at this point.