This One's Different...

As far as "demon weed" movies go, I've only seen "Reefer Madness" myself, but still felt that this was a pretty good movie as I was watching it.

Lila Leeds was believable (wonder why?) and her physical deterioration was rather stark and well-done. She really should have worked more.

If her character was using a harder drug, like heroin or something, and her brother hadn't had such an extreme reaction to her habit, this may have become something of a cult favourite. It's far from perfect, but it's not bad.

And I can never find fault a film with a role for Jack Elam anyway.

I just watched the film last night and thought the rating on IMDB was too low for it. It was actually a moody, atmospheric film with decent acting and a script that was a cut above a lot of other Z-grade exploitation quickies. Lila Leeds was good -- too bad her career turfed after she was busted for pot possession with Robert Mitchum. The acting was pretty good and the production values weren't bad at all. My copy of the film came in the 20 Pack of Cult Classics from Mill Creek Entertainment. I've watched about half the films in the collection and so far, this one is the best. So I agree with Swan.

I just ordered this, I can't wait. I loved Reefer Madness. I've also seen Marihuana, which wasn't that great. It even had full-frontal, '30's style, but it was really boring in parts.

I suspect hipsters didn't find enough ironic laughs in this to look at it honestly. This is a decently written, technically well made movie that sits as an interesting counterpoint to film noir while simultaneously subverting that genre's style for its own purposes.

Well worth the time to watch.