LSD | Through the Shattered Lens

cracked rear viewer

“You are about to be involved in a most unusual motion picture experience. It deals fictionally with the hallucinogenic drug LSD. Today, the extensive use in black market production of this and other so-called ‘mind bending’ chemicals are of great concern to medical and civil authorities…. This picture represents a shocking commentary on a prevalent trend of our time and one that must be of great concern to us all.” – Disclaimer at the beginning of 1967’s THE TRIP

“Tune in, turn on, drop out”, exhorted 60’s acid guru Timothy Leary. The hippie generation’s fascination with having a psychedelic experience was a craze ripe for exploitation picking, and leave it to Roger Corman to create the first drug movie, THE TRIP. Released during the peak of the Summer of Love, THE TRIP was a box office success. Most critics of the era had no clue what to make of it, but the youth…

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The latest installment of Lisa Marie’s Favorite Grindhouse and Exploitation Trailers features trailers that are too intense, too shocking, and too controversial for the new age hippies of Vermont.

1) Axe

This film was originally titled Lisa, Lisa. Isn’t that just a great title? Seriously, how can you go wrong with a title like Lisa, Lisa? Just say it a few times. Lisa, Lisa. What a great name.

Anyway, this trailer is just pure exploitation and the narrator really loves saying “Axe” repeatedly. Still, I think he would have been happier saying, “Lisa, Lisa…”

2) Snuff

“The film that could only be made in South America…where life is cheap!” I’ve never actually seen Snuff though I’ve read a lot about it. Apparently, this was originally a film called Slaughter. It was made by pornographic pioneers Roberta and Mike Findlay. Anyway, the film was bought by another distributor who tacked on some footage of one of the actresses supposedly being killed on camera. Snuff was then advertised as being an actual snuff movie and, of course, a bunch of dumbfugs believed that it actually was.

3) Olga’s Girls

This is a movie I’ve been meaning on reviewing for a while. Olga’s Girls is from 1964 and the trailer — like all good grindhouse trailers — makes the film seem a lot more sordid and explicit than it actually is. The actual film is almost quaint.

4) The Syndicate: A Death In The Family

“The Underworld touches everyone…even you.” I love the shameless melodrama of this trailer and the serious tone of the narrator. I also love the swinging crime music. This Italian film is apparently not available on DVD.

5) The Weird World of LSD

“To fly a giant bird!” MK-Ultra much? This is another film I haven’t actually seen and I’ve had next to no success in tracking down a copy. Why is LSD always so much more fun in the movies than in real life? Seriously.

6) Possession

As I said in an earlier post, Europe’s art films are often repackaged as America’s grindhouse and exploitation films. 1981’s Possession is a perfect example of that. People either love or hate this film. It gave me nightmares but I still think its one of the best (and most important) films ever made. Everyday, when faced with adversity, I ask myself — “What would Isabelle Adjani do?”