The Young Poisoner's Handbook is a marvelous film with a history of neglect at the hands of distributors. It was barely marketed and given a minimal release in the U.S. by Cinepix Film Properties, which later became Lions Gate—a company with a reputation for cynical mistreatment of its (and Artisan's) back catalogue. As such, The Young Poisoner's Handbook remains one of the great overlooked gems of the 1990s.

The R0 NTSC release by fifth-rate distributor Platinum Disc Corp., reissued with a different cover after Platinum rechristened itself "Echo Bridge" (which echoes, if you will, Anchor Bay, but in name only), is hideous. A bargain-priced release at $6.99, this is no-frills all the way, with eye-murdering menu screens and a non-progressive, full-screen transfer. Combing is prevalent, and colors are drab, with ample evidence of contrast-boosting. I'm guessing the transfer was taken from the laserdisc put out by Image Entertainment, which itself featured washed-out colors like many of the American prints of the film circulated by CFP (European prints were a lot richer), although the image on this DVD is of VHS quality. The audio is serviceable, although it's a bit too bright and lacks dimension (it's difficult to say whether or not it's truly stereo), as well as featuring a prominent analog hiss throughout.

The Swedish R2 release, which has seen at least three variations on its cover art, by Atlantic Film is a mystery. It's progressive and anamorphic, with more natural skin tones (albeit a bit on the red side) and free of digital artefacts, though overall a bit soft. Clearly, the resolution is consistent with DVD quality, but there are some major and inexplicable problems where the framing is concerned. I'd calculate that the source for this transfer was a 35mm print, yet it does not actually add anything to the 1.33:1 image of the NTSC edition. Furthermore, the NTSC is not open-matte. It is pan-and-scan. The R2 PAL release by Atlantic Film crops an already cropped 1.33:1 image, resulting in substantial image loss on all four sides (this has been confirmed by a source close to the production). Note the tight framing and total lack of headroom, and also note the cropping of the word "THALLIUM" in capture #4. Also, the image on the R2 edition is vertically squished, with objects appearing slightly wider (fatter) than they should. On top of that, there's a vertical white line visible throughout, on the extreme right edge of the frame, and there's a faint reddish haze on the left side of the image. Audio is perfectly fine, however.

Extra features include an English-language trailer for The Young Poisoner's Handbook, and trailers for Of Love and Shadows and Blue Juice. Also, the disc contains filmographies—in English—for cast and crew, which add another interesting facet to this disc: the biography included here for British actor Hugh O'Conor is actually that of American actor Hugh O'Connor, suicided son of Carroll O'Connor.

Someone, somewhere, needs to give The Young Poisoner's Handbook the DVD release it deserves. Both this disc and the American disc are abominations, and neither is recommended.

Note: the first four screen caps are reduced in size to emphasize cropping/framing issues.

 - Paul Haynes