Poison Ivy 2: Lily (1996)

Simply A Masterpiece

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Lily (Alyssa Milano) is a shy Michigan art student who has somehow managed to secure herself a place at an LA college despite her pathetic scribblings resembling that of an average twelve year old. Soon after moving into her student lodgings, Lily discovers a diary that once belonged to Ivy, the disturbed babe played by Drew Barrymore in the first film. Inspired by Ivy's confidence and fearlessness, Lily adopts a new, more seductive persona to help her overcome her reservations and be accepted by her peers.Having briefly held a reputation for being a wild child, hottie Alyssa Milano must have seemed like the obvious choice to follow in Drew Barrymore's footsteps for this sequel to Poison Ivy; but despite Milano happily shedding her clothes to indulge in several steamy soft-core sex scenes, Poison Ivy 2 proves to be less fun than the original movie.Barrymore's Ivy was damaged goods: an unpredictable loose cannon, she exuded a genuine air of sexual danger, and yet this 'bad-girl' was still worthy of our compassion, her damaged psyche clearly the result of a very troubled childhood. In short, she was complex as well as sexy.Poison Ivy 2's Lily has a far less valid excuse for her wanton behaviour: her upbringing apparently trauma-free, Lily is simply desperate to be popular and feels that the best way to achieve this is to act like a total slut. It doesn't make her very endearing (alluring yes, but not exactly likable) or particularly interesting.The male characters in this film are as equally vapid and unagreeable: Lily's sculptor boyfriend Gredin (Johnathon Schaech) is a clingy pretty boy who proves to be as bland as his 'art', while lustful teacher Donald Falk (Xander Berkeley) is not only an adulterous sleaze-bag but every bit as bad an artist as his students.After lots of fairly unexceptional eroticism, during which Milano flashes her tits a lot (yayy!), Poison Ivy 2 moves into predictable thriller mode for the finalé, a frustrated Falk getting his rape on with temptress Lily, only to be caught in the act by Gredin, Falk's wife Angela (Belinda Bauer) and his daughter Daphne (a young Camilla Belle), and then become a knife wielding lunatic destined to die by the closing credits.Poison Ivy 2 is available in both rated and unrated versions on Region 1, but unrated is clearly the way to go, with several minutes more of Alyssa in the buff being a naughty, naughty girl.

They ripped off the title from an earlier successful trashy movie, "Poison Ivy" with the all-grown-up Drew Barrymore as one of those seductive babysitters, and they ripped off the story from an earlier successful trashy movie, "Embrace of the Vampire" with the exuberantly nubile Alyssa Milano herself.That will give you an idea of how much creative effort went into the making of this film, which is to say, none that you'd notice.Here's the shamelessly permuted plot. Alyssa Milano, nice virginal girl, goes to a Bohemian art school, has an affair with an equally Bohemian guy, starts reading somebody else's diary, takes on some of the traits of the diarist, develops a crush on the sensitive but happily married guru in her painting class, begins to dress Goth, cuts her hair to a wicked length, begins to smoke (gasp!), treats her loving boyfriend recklessly, shuns her art teacher when he finally begins to put moves on her after she's practically thrown herself on him, bosom first, drives art instructor mad, destroys instructor's family, is discovered in flagrante delicto by the wife, throws her black girl friend out of her room, .... zzzzzzzz.The only conceivable reason to see this piece of atrocious offal is to see Alyssa Milano take off her clothes and/or simulate intercourse, which she doesn't do nearly often enough in my opinion as expert on art schools, the perils of wearing black garments, erotic cinema, and the contours of Milano's bosom.This is pretty crummy stuff we're dealing with here. Milano looks fine. How could she look otherwise? But her acting skills are modest, to put it kindly. Nice performance by her insane art instructor, though. Another plus for the androgyne who plays a soothing cello so that our ears are given a respite from the relentless WHANG of the score.I mean, look at this. After a wild party, her alarm wakes her for an early class with her mad art teacher. She rolls out of the bed she's occupying with her boy friend. While she's performing her morning ablutions off screen, her lover begins to complain that she's changing. She's becoming weird. "You're not yourself anymore. I don't know who I'm talking to. I don't know who I'm making love to." Should he really CARE? Whoever he's making love to, the face and body resemble that of Allysa Milano. And let's face facts == no man would ever organize that sort of statement, nor would any man even know what the words mean. "I don't know who I'm talking to"? A WOMAN would say it, but a man? And then, to top it all off, while they're having this faux conversation, she's slinking around the room apparently wearing his jockey shorts, the kind with the fly and double fabric in front so you can't see through them. Has such perfidy ever been shown on screen? Don't miss this if you can.

This is a surprisingly above average direct to video sequel, that's rather entertaining and somewhat suspenseful, with a decent story and very good performances. All the characters are good enough, and it has some very erotic and steamy moments as well, plus Alyssa Milano is simply amazing in this!. There are lots of steamy erotic sex scenes, and this is a lot better then most of the direct to video sequels that come out now a days, plus It's decently made and written. After enjoying the 1st Posion Ivy, I decided to tape this sequel, and as I said before I was quite pleasantly surprised, plus Xander Berkeley is excellent in his role, and sometimes very creepy. Milano and Johnathon Schaech had pretty good chemistry together, and there is one very powerful scene involving Camilla Belle (the daughter) that I won't spoil for you, plus Lilly's character was surprisingly very likable and easy to understand. It has quite a suspenseful finale, and I say this could have gone for a theater run, plus the ending was predictable but good. This is surprisingly an above average direct to video sequel, that's rather entertaining and somewhat suspenseful,with a decent story and very good performances, and I say it's well worth the watch!. The Direction is good. Anne Goursaud does a much better job here then she did in Embrace Of The Vampire, with good camera work, decent angles and keeping the film at a fast enough pace. The Acting is surprisingly very good. Alyssa Milano is incredibly gorgeous and is amazing here, she is very likable, had some great emotional scenes, was sexy as hell, had pretty good chemistry with Schaech, and had an awesome powerful breakdown scene near the end! (Milano Rules!!!!). Johnathon Schaech is pretty good as the love interest he just has a certain presence about him, he was very good. Xander Berkeley is really excellent here, he was creepy as the obsessed lover, and shocked me with his actions in the finale he was really good. Camilla Belle is very good as the daughter, she was a great child actress!. Rest of the cast are decent. Overall worth the watch!. *** out of 5

Alyssa Milano("Who's The Boss?" and "Charmed") plays Lily in the sequel to "Poison Ivy". She's very, VERY HOT after doing the TV show "Who's the Boss?" The best part of her I couldn't get enough of is her stomach. I really got turned on in the bellybutton piercing scene. That's the part she undergoes her transformation. What was the cause? The diary of Ivy, the first girl who tried to destroy the lives of a rich family. However, since Lily was an art student, the instructor is coming on to her. Much like a role reversal here in the movie. Being sheltered is always a drag when you want to fit in, sometimes pressure is more damaging. The best thing about this movie is more of a learning the errors of the others' lifestyle. Just being yourself is necessary. This movie along with the first one is a definite must see. You won't be sorry! Rating 3.5 out of 5 stars.