Review of Death Drug (1978)

If you are bored and want to watch a fine old school drug scare movie, one of the best is called Death Drug and stars Phillip Michael Thomas, best known as Detective Tubbs in the original Miami Vice. The movie has a strange rambling intro filmed after Miami Vice was already popular, and the films rights owners wanted to cash in on his fame with a VHS release of "Death Drug".

image source

Death Drug is the story of Jesse, a young man who works as a plumber while pursuing his dream of making it big in music. It starts out with a news story on PCP with a guy freaking out on angel dust at a roller rink, which may be the most 70s thing ever. The cops try to stop him but he fights them off with his drug enabled super strength, shortly thereafter he dies. Every who takes PCP dies, its called Death Drug, not Fun Drug.

So back to Jesse the struggling plumber/musician. He is already smoking the devils lettuce AKA marijuana, when a guy he thought was his friend offers him something stronger. Something deadly.

He's smoking PCP and you don't want none of that shit

Jesse smokes the Sheerm stick and has the silliest hallucinations ever. His brush turns into a snake, he imagines everyone is laughing at him, people turn into monsters etc. It starts with one puff but soon he gets addicted.

Don't do PCP at work

Instead of keeping his drug habit to evenings and weekends he begins using at work, which causes him employment problems. Whatever, his music is starting to take off and there is a video in the middle, with lots of trippy imagery.

I love the sign ^^^

Eventually Jesse's girl gets sick of his mood swings and asks a nurse friend for help, the nurse brings her to the PCP treatment center, which is hilarious. The people in the PCP casualty ward are all insane because dust is a one way ticket to insanity and death

Things for young Jesse start going bad, his strange behavior cost him his day job, his dream gig, his girl. He tries to quit but has flashbacks. Will Jesse live thru his experience with the Death Drug? You will have to watch and see. Show it to your kids, scare everyone, its a goddamn Death Drug.

I think there could be a great revival of the 70's and 80's just say no anti drug films, the way people watch reefer madness. I wonder if this nonsense ever scared anyone away from drugs. I thought it was hilarious. Make sure to watch it high.

This fine slice of cheese is on Youtube

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077409/?ref_=nv_sr_1