Search

Narcotic

1933, Movie, NR, 57 mins

Narcotic: Review

NARCOTIC
starstarstarstar
No first dibs for Nancy Reagan on the "Just Say No" school of anti-drug education. This vintage exploitation picture makes it clear that the first snort, toke or shot is step one on the road to ruin. Idealistic young doctor William Davis (not-so-young looking Harry Cording) believes in a healthy mind and a healthy body, but the stresses of running a free clinic lead him to sneak pick-me-ups from his supply cabinet. Worse, a Chinese friend from college (played by a distinctly un-Asian actor) introduces him to opium smoking, and the doctor is quickly hooked. Anxious to marry his lovely nurse, Davis formulates a narcotic elixir that he promotes at carnivals and other low-rent venues. He becomes wealthy, but the shame of being married to a junkie huckster drives his wife away and Davis takes up with a series of cheap, drug-addled floozies. The demon narcotic eventually destroys his health, and it goes without saying that it all ends very badly. Along the way we're treated to close-ups of drug shooting, an attempted rape and other titillating, mainstream movie no-nos. Written and codirected by exploitation pioneer Dwayne Esper and based loosely on the unfortunate life of his wife Hildegaard's uncle, this anti-drug screed is a bizarro concoction that appears to have been shot over the course of several years. The opening scroll about the perils of drug use is wildly overwrought, the performances (and we use that term loosely) are horribly wooden, and shots of car crashes, snakes fighting and a baby being born by cesarean section are inserted into the main story at apparently random intervals. Camp fans will love the hip dope party, in which a whole movie's worth of up-to-the-minute doper slang is crammed into a single stilted conversation. leave a comment --Maitland McDonagh
Advertisement

Shop

Maniac/Narcotic
Buy Maniac/Narcotic from Amazon.com
From Kino Video (DVD)
Average Customer Review: nostarnostarnostarhalfstarstar
Usually ships in 10 to 14 days
Buy New: $25.99
The Secret Leprosy of Modern Days: Narcotic Addiction And Cultural Crisis in the United States, 1870-1920
Buy The Secret Leprosy of Modern Days: Narcotic Addiction And Cultural Crisis in the United States, 1870-1920 from Amazon.com
From Univ. of Massachusetts Press (Hardcover)
Usually ships in 3 to 4 weeks
Buy New: $80.00

more Narcotic products

Advertisement

Related Websites

You might be also interested in the following websites:

Most Popular TV Shows

  1. NCIS
  2. Dancing with the Stars
  3. The Game
  4. Biggest Loser
  5. American Idol
more popular tv shows

Most Popular Celebrities

  1. Morgan Freeman
  2. Tiger Woods
  3. Drew Barrymore
  4. Jake Gyllenhaal
  5. Robert De Niro
more popular celebrities

Most Popular Movies

  1. The Twilight Saga: New Moon
  2. The Blind Side
  3. 2012
  4. Old Dogs
  5. A Christmas Carol
more popular movies

Top Videos

  1. Late Show with David Letterman
  2. Glee
  3. The View
  4. Monk
  5. Days of Our Lives
more top videos