This 1967 color “scare” film, written and directed by Dr. David W. Parker and produced by Professional Arts, Inc. takes lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) as its subject, offering an educational overview of the psychedelic drug’s chemical composition, effects, and potential dangers in a series of interviews and dramatizations (TRT: 26:29).
Film begins as a drug deal is concluded. A young man in a tan jacket and goatee returns to an apartment, and takes a capsule, preparing for a “trip.” He looks into a mirror expectantly. His face blurs out of focus (0:07). Opening title: “LSD-25” (1:21). The chemical makeup of LSD is sketched out in title overlays while a narrator takes on the voice of acid, personified (1:28). The young man examines a rock necklace, triggering a psychedelic montage sequence of colorful images, text: “Now!” A man in thought. Abstract colors (2:10). An alternative bookstore hosts posters of James Dean, The Rolling Stones. A woman peering through a necklace, a bearded young man in a velvet hat. An elder “head.” Kaleidoscopic glasses. Buttons, brochures (2:36). Interviews with the kaleidoscope-eyed youths, other backlit individuals claiming it is easy to get acid (3:02). Youths pass adults at a bus stop. An elderly woman shakes her head disapprovingly. Other adults make statements of disgust. A woman in red rants at a beauty counter. An uninformed man (3:39). A barbershop. A typewriter, newspaper presses. Mockup headlines: “Takes LSD, Kills 20!” A paperback book carousel offers, “LSD in the Locker Room, LSD and What It Really Means” alongside Tolstoy. Interested readers (4:23). A mockup book with a skull crossfades to a silk embroidered eye on the robe of a man conducting a ritual. Narration: “These three clowns from Southern California… are planning the beginning of something they call acid city” (5:17). A mockup comic book, “LSD Comics.” Narration: “Time for the facts… high time.” (5:43). Anonymous interviews. Beakers, vials dripping liquid in slow motion (6:02). The magnified head of a pin. A 5 cent stamp. An eyedropper. A precision laboratory scale. Empty capsules, tablets (7:53). A sugar cube. A cutaway model of a human brain. Crossfade to microphotography of brain cells (8:38). Mylar distortion effects transform flowers, statues, a stop sign, a bus, flashing neon signs, urban traffic (9:28). More liquid droplets (10:53). Doctors, pharmacists shake their heads. A chemist in a laboratory (11:17). A jar of multicolored pills spills out into an outstretched hand (11:52). Chromatography. A spectrophotometer readout. POV a driver behind the wheel of an automobile. A drug raid (12:13). A home drug lab. Two shadowy figures meet at night (12:55). Interviews. Montage: Drug transactions. Foil-wrapped cubes (13:38). A couple of brightly dressed “hippie” types. Laughter turns to anguish (14:18). A hysterical man has an extremely bad trip as his peers look on, variously concerned and amused (14:52). Extreme closeup on a beating heart. A young man is brought into a doctor’s office. He struggles to refuse an injection (16:02). A man holds a bloody handkerchief to his eyes. POV inside a car on an urban strip at night. Thrown focus suggests an “acid flashback.” A motionless hand reaches through broken glass (16:38). A rotary telephone is answered by a man with a mustache, “LSD Rescue” (17:38). A man speaks to LSD Rescue (18:03). A wide-eyed young woman struggles as she is admitted to San Francisco’s McAuley Neuro-Psychiatric Institute of Saint Mary’s Hospital (18:36). She clutches a cardboard tube (19:19). A body covered in a sheet is wheeled into a morgue. An autopsy surgeon (19:49). A mellow hangout in low light. A review of previous scenes (20:47). Fingerprinting at a police station (21:40). A crashed car. The woman is flashed with a strobe light, connected to an electroencephalograph (22:12). The man in the mirror returns. Brain cells, undulating colors. End credits over “Round, Round” by Jonathan King (24:00).
This film was created under the auspices of the San Mateo Union High School District of California, with thanks to the San Francisco and San Mateo Police Departments.
