|
If you can put your Cheech & Chong records away for a couple of hours, this DVD triple feature is guaranteed to give you a comic high. The laughs may be unintentional, but they are in no short supply in these vintage marijuana paranoia films. A little weed turns a virtuous girl into a heroin-using slut in Marihuana (Dwain Esper, USA, 1935, 56 mins.). A clean-cut reporter finds "a puff, a party, a tragedy" in Assassin of Youth (Elmer Clifton, USA, 1937, 73 mins.). Finally, the most famous of all drug scare films, Reefer Madness (Louis Gasnier, USA, 1936, 65 mins.), is a laugh riot portrayal of narcotic use leading to madness. You also get the Esper-directed short, The Sinister Menace, excerpts from the "pot-boilers" Wages of Sin (1938) and High of the Range (1924), theatrical trailers, drug-scare radio spots, a gallery of promotional art, and commentary from exploitation producer David F. Friedman. Just say yes to these goofy golden Dwain Esper/Elmer Clifton/Louis Gasnier---USA---1935-37---194 mins.
|