Here's a choice cheesy chunk of laughably overwrought anti-drug scare propaganda that was actually shown to high school kids in the 60s and 70s in order to dissuade them from getting hooked on the hard stuff. Clean-cut young John (played by future mainstream movie character actor Kevin Tighe) begins his downward spiral into dope and despair by doing bennies and beer. Evil, shifty drug dealer Pete (the sleazy-looking Gerald LeRoy) gets John to start smoking pot and then next thing you know poor John is strung out on smack! Director Mel Marshall and screenwriter Edward Brennan lay on the anti-drug message something thick in this hilariously clumsy and unsubtle unintentional laugh riot. Patrick Miller's gloomy, heavy-handed narration is especially sidesplitting with its frequent use of then hip, now hopelessly dated "groovy" slang words. The ragged editing and raw, scratchy cinematography by Jay Lovins both add immensely to the overall campy amusement of this vintage 60's class room kitsch hoot.
Review of Narcotics: Pit of Despair (1967)
