She credits this for the film's popularity. Shea says that she never regarded Ivy as villainous and that Ivy just wanted love. New Line then wanted Shea to revive the character for sequels which the director did not want to do Shea now says she regrets the decision. However New Line insisted that Ivy be punished and made her shoot a new ending where Ivy died. According to Shea the original ending had Poison Ivy getting away with her crimes and hitch-hiking along a road. There were three different drafts of the script and four different endings.
The movie developed greatly from this premise. The studio then hired Katt Shea who had made a number of movies for Roger Corman according to head of production Sara Risher, the studio wanted "a teenage Fatal Attraction". Producers Melissa Goddard and Peter Morgan bought the original idea to New Line. Leonardo DiCaprio as Guy (as Leonardo Di Caprio).The film ends with Sylvie narrating that she still loves and misses "her", following the parallel between Ivy and Georgie. The chain breaks and Ivy falls to her death. Sylvie pushes Ivy over the balcony, but Ivy holds onto Sylvie's necklace. Ivy says Georgie wanted to die and now the three of them can be a family. When they kiss, Ivy begins to use her tongue, which breaks Sylvie out of her hallucination. Sylvie tells Georgie that she loves her and Georgie says she loves Sylvie too. Sylvie sees Ivy and, because of her head injury, believes that it is her mother, and makes her way to the balcony. When she gets inside, she sees Darrel and Ivy having sex and flees the room.Īs Darrel goes to look for Sylvie, Ivy goes up to Georgie's old room, plays the tape Sylvie made for Georgie, wears Georgie's robe and walks out the balcony. She runs inside to get out of the rain, experiencing hallucinations all along the way. When she gets to her house there is a raging storm. This inspires her to get back to her house in an attempt to save her father from Ivy. In the hospital, Sylvie hallucinates that her mother is sitting in front of her. When Sylvie becomes suspicious of her involvement in Georgie's death, Ivy crashes the car, then moves the unconscious Sylvie into the driver's seat. A few weeks later, Sylvie talks Ivy into going for a ride in her mother's sports car. As Georgie is known to have a mental illness and has threatened to commit suicide previously, Ivy is not suspected. Ivy walks up behind Georgie, talks to her and without warning, pushes her off the balcony. The next morning, Georgie plays a cassette tape that Sylvie made for her and walks out onto her balcony. Darrel picks Ivy up and they go into the forest, where Ivy gets Darrel drunk and has sex with him. Sylvie skips school and tries to spend some time alone. Sylvie becomes increasingly irritated with Ivy for her growing presence in her family, and her anger reaches a breaking point when even her dog chooses Ivy over her (in fact, it was because Ivy has some dog treats in her pockets). Over the next few days, Ivy continues changing her appearance and wears Georgie's clothing more often. Ivy sits on the bed next to Georgie and begins to massage Darrel with her foot while he kisses her legs. Georgie believes Ivy, accepts a glass of champagne drugged with sleeping pills, and falls asleep. Ivy apologizes to Georgie and claims that Darrel was under stress and she was only comforting him. Georgie walks in on them and storms upstairs. After the party, she dances with Darrel in the kitchen and they hug. However, Sylvie is needed at work on the night of the party (due to Ivy's interference), so eventually Ivy assists Darrel during the party. In an attempt to improve his failing career, Darrel decides to throw a party at his house, and enlists Sylvie to help him. As they have similar figures, Georgie lends Ivy some of her clothes. Ivy and Sylvie share clothes and sleep in the same bed. Soon after, as both of Sylvie's parents enjoy Ivy's company, they practically allow Ivy to move in. They meet Sylvie's sickly mother, Georgie ( Cheryl Ladd), whom Ivy later wins over by talking about her scholarship and helping her unblock her oxygen tank.
She also says that she once tried to kill herself. She tells Ivy that Darrel is her adoptive father and that her biological father is African-American. She puts her feet on the dashboard and deliberately allows her mini-skirt to fall back onto her hip, revealing her legs, which Darrel notices.Ī few weeks later, Sylvie invites Ivy to her house. Ivy makes an excuse to sit in the front with Darrel. In their second meeting, when Sylvie's father Darrel ( Tom Skerritt) comes to pick her up, Ivy asks for a ride, and Darrel reluctantly agrees. At a local hangout, she first meets Ivy ( Drew Barrymore), a street-smart but poor and trashy girl, and witnesses Ivy mercy-killing a heavily wounded dog. Sylvie Cooper ( Sara Gilbert) is a teenage girl at a private school for the wealthy.