Alice in Acidland / Smoke and Flesh

REVIEW
A difference in sensibilities from opposite coasts of the USA is on display in this 1960s drugsploitation double feature. Alice represents the lazy California school of filmmaking. Essentially a remake of cautionary roadshow features like Delinquent Daughters, it removes almost all traces of plot, and padded out with dull sex scenes, doesn’t even reach an hour of running time. Its climactic color acid trip looks like nothing more than art school doodling. In contrast, the New York-shot Smoke and Flesh abounds with creativity. With weirdo characters like a masked biker and a bald guy whose had a brain operation and encourages his wife to swing for his amusement, its first half is constructed like a trippy low budget comedy, with lots of poorly recorded dialogue and odd happenings, all shot with a lot of unusual angles. Some shots are taken from inside a refrigerator, for example. A close-up shows you how to roll a joint, which is smoked through a makeshift pipe. When the cretins invade the party, the show shifts into terror territory, and LSD is used positively as a defensive weapon! A wealth of disc extras yields extra points, especially the short documentary feature Aphrodisiac!