Or Less

 

 (imdb)

MORE-1969-Stefan (Klaus Grunberg), a German recently graduated from college, hitchhikes to France. There he meets American expatriate, Estelle (Mimsy Farmer). After hanging out talking, smoking pot and having sex, she heads for Ibiza. Stefan follows her. There he meets the mysterious Dr. Wolf (Heinz Engelman), a former Nazi who may or may not be involved with Estelle. She and Stefan run away together (after she steals heroin from Wolf) and they become addicts. Then they use LSD. Eventually, she goes back to Wolf and Stefan dies. 

A big ado about nothing from debuting director Barbet Schroeder (who later came to America and made BARFLY (1987), REVERSAL OF FORTUNE (1990) and SINGLE WHITE FEMALE (1992)). MORE features a soundtrack by Pink Floyd who also provided another score for Schroeder's THE VALLEY (OBSCURED BY CLOUDS) a few years later.

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Opium Kung Fu

 

 (themoviedatbase)

OPIUM AND THE KUNG FU MASTER-aka LIGHTENING FISTS OF SHAOLIN-1984-Tieh (Lung Ti; THE SENTIMENTAL SWORDSMAN (1977)) is the leader of a Chinese militia and martial arts teacher. A master turns his place into an opium den. Many of the men become addicts, abandoning their wives, losing their jobs and generally slacking off. Ti is defeated by his nemesis Yung Feng (Kuan Ti Chen) because of his own addiction to opium. After his son is killed, a blind priest helps Ti break his habit. He goes through the usual back breaking retraining. In a rematch, Tieh not only has to fight Yung but his two henchmen who have huge shields. 

The movie features some great fights but the strangest part is that a kind of comedic character becomes an addict, leading to the deaths of his wife and children and his suicide. One of three movies actor Tang Chia (SHOALIN INTRUDERS (1983)) directed for the Shaw Brothers.

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Now It's Legal..

 

 (imdb)

THE TERRIBLE TRUTH-1951-Scare film about marijuana leading to heroin addiction, through the eyes of Phyllis, a nice high school student who starts smoking “reefers” with some guys “who have no backbone”, then meeting Phil the pusher, who makes her a heroin addict/pusher who later goes “cold turkey”. An on-screen narrator William B. McKesson suspects “the Reds” might be behind it. This short (around 10 minutes) is so cheap and haphazardly made that all his dialogue was dubbed later and his words don't match his mouth movements. 

Once a stand-in for John Wayne, Sid Davis produced many similarly themed exploitation shorts (LSD: TRIP OR TRAP!, GANG BOY, THE BOTTLE AND THE TROTTLE). He also directed a few including NAME UNKNOWN which also featured William McKesson, who was an actual juvenile court judge.

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30's Drug Culture

COCAINE FIENDS-1935-In this crude low budget drug exploitation film Nick (Noel Madison) pushes drugs, sometimes at a drive-in diner where Fanny and Eddie work. When Fanny (Sheila Bromley) wants to "make woopie" at a nightclub Eddie (Dean Benton) says he's too tired so Fanny gives him some cocaine to wake him up. It works and they go to "The Dead Rat Cafe" to watch a famous actress dance. Nick is there with his wife who is Eddie's sister but she pretends not to know him. Fanny and Eddie wind up moving in together but Eddie becomes a hopeless addict (the landlady calls him a "hophead").  "I need a shot!" he implores Fanny who becomes a prostitute to help feed his habit. Fanny eventually becomes an addict too and gets pregnant to boot. Another character the well to do Dorothy (Lois Lindsey) frequents the drive-in, Her boyfriend Dan is an undercover cop. Eddie says a lot of hateful things to Franny who commits suicide. Nick winds up kidnapping Dorothy but his wife shoots and kills him. The police arrive just in time to arrest the big boss: Dorothy's prominent father! The Eddie character is totally forgotten about.

COCAINE FIENDS is filled with preachy dialogue without much action. Characters say "swell" a lot and there are some terrible musical numbers that take up time. Also known as THE PACE THAT KILLS, the print I saw was terrible. Director William A. O'Connor was an assistant director on many low budget westerns. I couldn't find a date for his death but if he is still alive he's be 113!!!

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Hash

SINISTER HARVEST-1930-This is an early exploitation short added as a bonus feature on the Alpha Video DVD of MONDO BALORDO. It's suppose to be an examination of drug smuggling in Egypt. It shows how healthy strong Egyptians males become hashish junkies. They are shown in opium dens, smoking then getting caught. Some victims go through cold turkey while others are beggars and outcasts. Some are sent to “the pit”. The narrator's ever bombastic voice mentions that all this could happen in America with the repeal of the 18^th amendment (prohibition)! And just three years later it would be repealed! This version is called SINISTER MENACE (a re-release from 1934) and is presented by Dwain Esper. (MANIAC, MARIHUANA). It's very bleak...

 

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