Poison Ivy II: Lily (1995)

Alyssa Milano plays Lily, a Good Girl who moves to LA to attend art school and discovers a secret diary belonging to Ivy, from the previous movie. (That plot point alone should warn you that Poison Ivy 2 bears, at best, a distant resemblance to the original, and more's the pity.) Inspired by Ivy's "philosophy" of pushing all boundaries, Lily decides to explore the dark side of herself, which basically boils down to her chasing after a petulant, self-absorbed sculptor (Johnathon Schaech) and in turn being chased by her leacherous, self-absorbed art teacher. The point of movies like Ivy 2 is to have some fun, a few thrills, and we're done, thank you very much. But the filmmakers felt obliged to lard this thing up with ponderous pretension and Artistic Angst. The result is sort of a cross between Bikini Med School and La Notte, with a happy ending tacked on. Bleh. Milano tries her best to inject a little life and humanity into the proceedings, but it's an uphill climb all the way. --Geof Miller Amazon.com

First half: dire. Second half: better

Alyssa Milano is one of my favourite actresses, after seeing all seasons of Charmed. She's a natural. So you can pretty much guess why I bought Poison Ivy 2.

You know most of the story from the original movie, and Alyssa basically does nothing apart from look pretty - even in a pair of DUNGAREES she still looks gorgeous. I got a phonecall about 20 minutes in, which made me seriously consider switching it off and watching something else, but I was determined to at least give it a chance. Wish I'd stayed on the phone now!

There's not much depth in the first 40+ minutes of the movie. It's setting up for anyone who hasn't seen the first movie, not that it's repeating the first, but it is incredibly boring. The very, very, very, very, first scene (did I make it clear it was the first scene?), Alyssa appears partially topless and doesn't seem to wear any underwear throughout the rest of the movie.

Basically she moves to a new city after having an illicit relationship with what appears to be her teacher, and is instantly attracted to her male sculptor (think Jason Smith from Sex & The City, and those Absolut Vodka adverts), but is also semi-attracted to her art teacher, who is a total sleaze. She ends up babysitting for her art teacher's daughter (Camilla Belle from Practical Magic) and one thing leads to another. You know the rest.

There's a happy ending tacked onto the end of this, after a pretty shocking incident (which I did not see coming) but it seems worthless after you've sat through the first half of the movie. What should have been done, would have been to scrap the first half and redo it all over. Would have been a better movie for it, because even though the second half is good, it doesn't make up for sitting through the first half. Pretty much watch for Alyssa Milano only. Otherwise steer well clear. April 26, 2008

A Must-Have For Alyssa Milano Fans

I should start off by saying that I have recently become very fond of Alyssa Milano. That is the reason I bought this. She's a good actress. I especially like her character in "Charmed". Having said that though, this movie is no "Charmed". Not having seen the first "Poison Ivy" movie, I'm not exactly sure what the connection to this movie is, other than Alyssa's character (Lily) finding some old things left behind by Ivy (apparently from the first movie). Since Lily had just come to California from Michigan, she decides to take on the "guise" of Ivy as her own. By doing so, Lily gets herself into a lot of mischief, mainly with the art instructor at her new school. In doing that, Lily comes between him and his family, eventually tearing it apart. In the end, everyone is left with nothing. I have seen "Poison Ivy: The New Seduction" and I'd say the ending is pretty much the same as that. All in all it was a fairly bland movie from a plot point-of-view, but Alyssa does actually put on a good act as Lily. She's a believable character - even if the movie isn't. April 18, 2008

The worst waste of time...

I fast forwarded thru most of this movie and it was still too long. Nothing interesting, sexy or redeemable about this movie. Everyone is ugly and the dialogue is the absolute WORST!! August 15, 2007

A Sexy Sequel

Alyssa Milano stars in this sexy sequel to the first "Poison Ivy" movie.

Milano stars as Lily, a somewhat innocent girl from Kalamazoo, Michigan, who has moved to Los Angeles to attend art school. She arrives on campus two weeks after the beginning of the semester. One of her classes is taught by Professor Donald Falk (Xander Berkeley). Prof. Falk has a weakness for young female undergraduates, as evidenced by the opening scene of the film. Also taking Prof. Falk's class is Gredin (Jonathon Schaech), an aspiring sculptor and, along with several other "different" people, a roommate of Lily's.

Once she's settled in her room in the boarding house, Lily discovers a box containing a diary and nude photos. The items belong to Ivy (presumably from the first movie). Intrigued, Lily begins going through the items, especially the diary. Lily is intrigued by all of the sexy entries Ivy made in the diary. Lily decides to experiment a little, so she cuts her hair and develops a more sexy look.

Her new looks haven't went unnoticed, as both Gredin and Donald have taken an interest in Lily. Donald, who hasn't painted in several years, finally finds the urge to paint again, and Lily becomes his subject, sitting for numerous sessions with Donald, and she's barely clothed in any of them. Meanwhile, Gredin has taken his own interest, and he and Lily begin to have a torrid sexual relationship.

However, things begin spinning out of control. Donald's obsession with Lily becomes almost uncontrollable. And at Thanksgiving dinner, things go from bad to worse as Donald's young daughter finds him attempting to rape Lily. The young child bolts from the house and directly into the path of an oncoming car. Donald's wife and Gredin attend to the child, while Lily runs home. Unfortunately, things don't end here. Donald follows Lily to her house, breaks in, and resumes his pursuit of Lily. Terrified, she tries desperately to fight back. Will she succeed in stopping Donald, or will Donald prove too much for her?

Usually, sequels fail to live up to the standards set by the original film, but this movie does a pretty good job. Alyssa Milano is not Drew Barrymore, but she's sexy and beautiful in her own right. Barrymore did no nude scenes in the first movie, but Alyssa does several in this film. Xander Berkeley and Jonathon Schaech are also good in their roles.

I recommend this movie very highly. There's no real drop-off between this movie and the first one. If you enjoyed watching "Poison Ivy", give "Lily" a try. It's definitely worth watching. November 15, 2006

Poison Ivy II - A Masterpiece of Modern Cinema!!

If I knew that I'd be watching Samantha Micelli naked on DVD when I was 7 years old I would definitely NOT believe it. But it's true and this DVD is worth every cent you pay for that reason alone. I've seen all of the installments in the Poison Ivy Series and the 1st and 3rd aren't as entertaining as this one. Of course this one is utter crap also but in comparison to the other's it's way more enjoyable. But I'm partial to Alyssa Milano over Drew Barrymore and Jamie Pressly. It's just a matter of taste in women because let's face it - no one's watching this for it's cinematography or unique vision. November 10, 2006

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