Reviewed by Johnny McNair

Warner Home Video – 95 mins – 2008 – Unrated – 1080p Widescreen 1.85:1 – Dolby Digital 5.1 Audio Mix – Digital Copy

Ever had one of those nights where you couldn’t sleep and were forced to watch some really, really bad film on cable at 2:00 am? Well for the next time you have a night like that, Poison Ivy: The Secret Society is waiting to be watched. The original Poison Ivy film came out came out 17 years ago starring Drew Barrymore, and since then has spawned many bad and unnecessary sequels…Add this one to the list. Poison Ivy: The Secret Society comes to Blu-ray from Warner Home Video and let’s just hope this is the last one.

THE MOVIE

Poison Ivy: The Secret Society centers around Daisy Brooks (Miriam McDonald), a cute and innocent blonde who leaves her farm town to come to school in the big city to become a student at Beckshire College. Daisy is quickly approached to join an elite secret sisterhood made up of the school’s most popular girls called the Ivies, and even though at first it appears to be an honor, Daisy soon discovers that this pact of girls is trying to do her harm, led by their leader Azalea (Shawna Waldron), who doesn’t want her around. Daisy must now find a way to stop this femme cult and save herself.

Well if you’ve ever seen the original Poison Ivy film, it’s clear that this film is only similar in name. The obvious target audience for this film are those who watch TV shows such as Gossip Girl, Charmed and Degrassi, particularly the Degrassi crowd because the film’s star is one of the cast members of that show and does a nude scene. A smart move that will draw interest to a film that otherwise would not be watched.

The film is a series of paint by numbers story sequences that we’ve all seen before from Footloose to Heathers, showing how hard it is for the new person to fit in and cat fights to battle against the bad girls. Basically anyone expecting anything beyond the obvious will be very bored, but one day this will make a great film if they ever revive Mystery Science Theater 3000 because there are so many unintentionally laughable moments.

VIDEO

Presented in 1080p in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio Poison Ivy looks like it’s a direct port from a DVD rather than being a Blu-ray. The quality is colorful, but the sharpness that you expect from HD is not seen.

AUDIO

With a standard Dolby Digital 5.1 mix, the sound quality seems more like it’s mono. Dialogue is marbled and there’s an odd popping sound that occurs in certain scenes. It seems like they let the C team handle the audio on this one.

EXTRAS

Except for the Digital Copy that you’ll never even pull out of the case, there’s not one bonus feature included.

BOTTOM LINE

Poison Ivy: The Secret Society is a TV movie with a couple of nude scenes that was quickly tossed onto Blu-ray hoping to scoop up some money to cover the cost of the production. Either rent it or stay away from it, because there are so many other Blu-rays out there that are worthy of your viewing.

SCORES (out of 5):

The Movie: 2.0

Video: 2.0

Sound: 2.0

Extras: 0.5

Bottom Line: 2.0