With the advent of indie film making and easy accessibility of technology, I’m surprised there isn’t a surge of exploitation films warning of the dangers of abortion and teen pregnancy. Back in the thirties and forties where America was paralyzed by the fear of youth culture destroying society with weed and abortion, exploitation PSA’s were all the rage. Mill Creek Entertainment offers up twelve of the best of the worst shock exploitation films about teens led astray by crime and drugs from their devotion to common American practices of the time like Christianity, Education, and making sure the black people didn’t use the same toilets white folks did.
Among the glorious dozen, there’s the masterpiece “Reefer Madness,” the story of young teens led in to a world of crime and depravity by a young gangster couple who play them for patsies. “Test Tube Babies” is the horrifying tale of a young couple incapable of having children whom considering using–gasp!–artificial insemination! The devil made them do it! “Delinquent Daughters” is the tragic tale of a group of young girls without parental supervision who end up in the wrong crowd, committing horrific acts of rebellion. “Mad Youth” is about the ill effects of–gasp!–single parents and how a young girl who leaves her single mom to stay with friends ends up becoming a prostitute. Damn single moms.
“The Cocaine Fiends” is the classic xenophobic tale of two small town teens who end up becoming rubes for big city gangsters, ultimately becoming cocaine addicts. “Chained for Life” is a so bad it’s good tale of conjoined twins (or “Siamese”), who learn to live in a world ill fitted for them. One of the twins is a love lorn beauty, the other? A cold blooded killer. Damn Siamese twins are ruining this world. “The Terror of Tiny Town” is the shameful classic dwarfsploitation film about a town of dwarves and their Shetland ponies that fight back when a vicious bandit takes over their small town. It’s a short film, so keep your expectations low. “The Wild and the Wicked” is yet another film of a small town girl who heads to California for stardom and ends up ruined as a prostitute. Maybe David Lynch was on to something.
“Sex Madness” is a tale of a young gorgeous girl from a small town who travels to the big city and ends up with VD after a night of debauchery. “The Marijuana Menace” is another weed PSA about a group of high schoolers that end up addicted to marijuana and other fun things. “Gambling with Souls” centers on a housewife who begins gambling and drinking to pass the time, and has to end up becoming a prostitute to pay her debts. Finally “She Shoulda’ Said “No”!” apparently wanted to pander to young kids with the “shoulda” included, and focuses on a young kind chorus girl who meets a drug pusher and begins selling marijuana. She has a chance at redemption, though, when a cop offers her one. Pray for our souls, this is a hilarious batch of shock exploitation films I’m sure are still shown in certain schools.