We can hardly imagine how shocking this film was when it first broke into the film scene in 1968. There's never been anything quite like it again, though there have been numerous pale imitations. Part of the terror lies in the fact that it is shot in such a raw and unadorned fashion that it feels like a home movie, and is all the more authentic because of that. It draws us into its world gradually, content to establish a merely spooky atmosphere before leading us through a horrifically logical progression that we hardly could have anticipated. The story is simple: Radiation from a fallen satellite has caused the dead to walk, and hunger for human flesh. Once bitten, you become one of them. And the only way to kill one is by a shot or blow to the head. We follow a group holed up in a small farmhouse who are trying to fend off the inevitable onslaught of the dead. The tension between the members of this unstable, makeshift community drives the film. Night of the Living Dead establishes savagery as a necessary condition of life.

Nosferatu (1922)

F.W. Murnau's German silent classic is the original--and some say most frightening--DRACULA adaptation, taking Bram Stoker's novel and turning it into a haunting, shadowy dream full of dread. Names had to be changed from the novel when Stoker's wife charged his novel was being filmed without proper permission. Count Orlok, the rodent like vampire frighteningly portrayed by Max Schreck, is perhaps the most animalistic screen portrayal of a vampire ever filmed. NOSFERATU is an eerie, menacing film that should not be missed.

Reefer Madness (1936)

Propaganda film that relates the story, as told by high school principal Dr. Carroll to parents at a PTA meeting, of the scourge of marijuana. The tale revolves around Mae and Jack, accomplices in the distribution of marijuana, who manage to entice the local high school kids to stop by Mae's apartment to smoke reefer. The lives of all who are involved with this menace are inevitably shattered. One youngster becomes so addicted to the killer weed that a judge orders him to be committed for life to a mental hospital! Dr. Carroll advises us to not incur the same tragedy.

Drug Abuse : The Chemical Tomb (1968)

U.S. film. Interesting anti-drug educational film with sitars and trippy fuzz guitar on soundtrack. “The age of bobby socks and ice cream sodas are gone. The now generation feels disenchanted with the world around them and have simply dropped out.” The very straight Dr. John T. Boroughs tells us the evils of drug use. Oddly, he pronounces barbiturates (which I think should be pronounced bar-bicha-rits) as barberchurates! (barber-churayts) Huh!? Cool scenes include teenage pot parties, joint rolling and LSD trip sequences with tacky psychedelia and groovy fashions.

$5.00

Hemp for Victory (1942)

US government propaganda film made during WWII touting the virtues of hemp. The film was aimed at farmers at a time when the miltary was facing a shortage of hemp, it shows how hemp is grown and processed into rope and other products.

Narcotics : Pit of Despair (1967)

This is an essential title in understanding the evolution of the drug education film. Kevin Tighe, later of EMERGENCY! on TV, stars as the innocent teen tempted into sipping the evil nectar of drugs. The hipster "party" scenes are classic!

Sex Madness (1938)

This is a typical sex exploitation film from the early 1930s - complete with wild parties, sex out of wedlock, lesbianism, etc. A chorus girl's exposure to the "casting couch" also exposes her to syphilis.

Exploitation filmmakers hoped to capitalize on the taboo subjects of venereal disease, sex before marriage, lesbianism, etc. while skirting the Motion Picture Production Code of 1930 which forbade a film from containing such content. Films like this would tour the United States for years - mostly being shown in rundown, skid row theaters. This film has been re-edited and re-titled ("Human Wreckage", "They Must Be Told", "Trial Marriage", "About Trial Marriage") many times to attract the same audience to film, to take advantage of a taboo subject which may have gotten press recently or to appease local censors who disapproved of the film's content.

Drug Addiction (1951)

The Juvenile Protection Association of Chicago, in association with the Wieboldt Foundation, created this film to communicate the message that marijuana usage ultimately results in heroin addiction.

Princess Nicotine (1909)

Comedic short that pits a smoker against a tiny fairy, brought to life through very well done early special effects.