source: The Hooked Generation

A trio of scummy small-time drug dealers kill Cuban smugglers for a boatload of narcotics. Complications ensue when a young couple witness the evil threesome committing this dirty deed. Director/co-writer William Grefe relates the enjoyably sordid story at a steady pace, maintains an appropriately seedy tone throughout, and delivers several exciting shoot outs along with cool bits of crazy violence. The villains are a spot-on slimy bunch: Jeremy Slate as laidback ringleader Daisey, Willie Pastrano as the brutish Dum Dum, and, in a gloriously crazed turn, John Davis Chandler as zonked-out hophead Acid. Moreover, Steve Alaimo makes a favorable impression as nice guy Mark, slim blonde Cece Stone looks really yummy as fetching damsel in distress Kelly, and ubiquitous Florida exploitation cinema regular William Kerwin pops up as an FBI agent. Gregory Sandor's colorful cinematography boasts a few funky visual flourishes. A fun piece of drive-in sleaze.

William Grefe made quite a few films in the 60s and 70s that had practically no budget and were not exactly intended as high art! Instead, they were obviously meant as cheap drive-in fare but very undemanding audiences. Considering that the film seems to have cost $89 to make and starred unknown yahoos, the film actually isn't that horrible. Well, it IS bad, but it is not nearly as bad as many higher budget films. On a "bang for the buck scale", THE HOOKED GENERATION actually is reasonably respectable. The film begins with four dirt-bags on a boat in the Caribbean trying to make a drug deal with a group of men from the Cuban military. But, when the Cubans try to change the terms of the deal, the dirt-bags kill them. Soon, the US Coast Guard responds due to the smoke and they, too, are killed and the dirt-bags lose one of their men in the process. And, somehow, they also manage to kidnap two young people--a guy who really is pretty pathetic through much of the film and a sexy girlfriend who you know is there simply to be raped (which naturally occurs later in the film). The movie is quite tense but also fails because there is little in the way of plot development or acting. It's just a bunch of junkies who kill people eventually being confronted by the world's dumbest agents! I especially couldn't believe the ending--no cops or FBI agents could be THAT stupid! Overall, a poor time-passer but at least you can respect the schlock-meister, Grefe, in his ability to do the most with incompetent actors, bad film work and not much of a script!

This is actually a pretty solid little drive-in filler, that is better than it really ought to be. The only real problem that I have with the film is that I find the three main protagonists(Acid, Daisey and Dum-dum) to be three of the most loathsome individuals in the annals of exploitation movies. The cold-blooded manner in which they strangle, harpoon, humiliate, rape and especially shoot people(mostly innocents) is pretty difficult to take over the 90 minutes and can make the movie a pretty nihilistic experience. However, all of this does mean that when they are eventually killed themselves, it's almost a blessed release. The film's plus-points are that it is pretty well acted, although the actor playing the perpetually stoned Acid does obviously have to ham it up a bit in order to appear out of it. The film also has a pretty good psychedelic acid-drenched guitar score. Also, when Acid is gunned down and killed, the psychedelic trip he experiences in his death throes is one of the best, and most convincing, ever filmed. Not a classic of the genre, but well worth catching.

The films that William Grefé made in Florida feel sweaty and messy and filled with menace, just like the Sunshine State itself, the kind of place that could give you both the Happiest Place on Earth and bands like Deicide and, well, Creed. This time around, Grefé is telling us the story of a group of three drug pushers who are no longer content to kidnap people and assault women. No, they're in for the big score, killing their Cuban drug suppliers, an act that puts them on a one-way ticket to the kind of horrible end that can only be found in a regional drive-in movie. Daisy (Jeremy Slate, The Born Losers, True Grit), Acid (John Davis Chandle, who is also in Grefé's Mako: The Jaws of Death and Whiskey Mountain, as well as playing the lead bad guy in Adventures In Babysitting) and Dum Dum (Willie Pastrano, who Grefé hired for The Wild Rebels and The Naked Zoo) are absolute scumbags that spend the majority of this movie doing horrible things and talking as much as they can to pad things out. Look for William Kerwin - who you may know from Herschell Gordon Lewis movies - shows up as an FBI agent.

The Hooked Generation (1968) ** (out of 4) Three crooks decide that being the in-between for drug dealers isn't good enough so they end up killing and stealing some drugs from a Cubian drug-lord. After a shoot out with the Coast Guard the three try to make it to the top but things don't go as planned. Here's another extremely low-budget movie from William Grefe that I really wanted to like more than I actually did. As I'm going through the work of Grefe it's easy to see that he had a strong talent even though the films themselves really weren't all that good. These movies have no known casts, no budget and very little else yet Grefe managed to make them somewhat entertaining and at least professional looking. Compare these films to various other exploitation titles from this era and you can see the talent. With that said, THE HOOKED GENERATION starts off pretty good as we get into the double crossing and the ruthlessness of the three goons. None of them are what you'd call likable and I thought this was a good and entertaining approach. The film has some memorable moments but it's bad pacing and extended running time means that we eventually get bored and the final third of the movie is hard to sit through.

The Hooked Generation turns out to be a surprisingly well-done "B" movie. Steve Alaimo gives a solid performance and it's really amazing that this vastly talented actor never achieved mainstream popularity in motion pictures. Alaimo is supported by his two real-life friends former world light-heavyweight boxing champion Willie Pastrano and the legendary radio D.J. Milton "Butterball" Smith. Pastrano goes slightly over-the-top in his role here, and it doesn't rate with his solid performance as Banjo in The Wild Rebels, but he is enjoyable to watch. The scene stealer is the always pleasant Milton "Butterball" Smith. Unless you're a native of South Florida and over 40, Alaimo, Pastrano, and Smith has no meaning. However, during the 60s, the trio were among the most-famous personality on the South Florida acting, music, and boxing scenes. The Hooked Generation is far from a masterpiece or even a good-film. However, it is entertaining enough to hold your interest. If you're from South Florida it's even more so.

I've been searching a long time for this one. And i must say it was disappointing. I thought this was going to be a psychedelic movie, but it has more in common with Italian terror movies from the 70's. The guy who does smack all the time is believable but for the rest....pew....The problem with these films seems to be that they are made by people who never met any hippies and don't know anything about drugs. Just wearing beads and saying things like far-out and groovy just doesn't cut it. I know this one most certainly had a low budget, but how about some research before you start the camera. I'm not American so i don't know if there it was a law against showing people exhale smoke when they smoked a joint. O.k. that's not a biggie, but showing people turning into stupid maniacs maybe worked in movies like Reefer madness when people didn't know anything. But in 1968. I got the same feeling watching this one as one of those stupid education films. Nice to see them being released though. If you like good Vs evil this one might be a good low budget flick. But if you're looking for psychedelia be careful.

With these words, the heroic cop confronts the villainous Daisy, a (male) drug- runner who has killed Cubans, Coast Guards and police officers in his efforts to transport "grass and junk" into Florida. Daisy works with Acid, a useless junkie that kills and rapes an Indian woman, accidentally brings the police down on the group multiple times and spends half the movie shooting up, and Dum Dum, a violent pot-smoking Hispanic whose name derives from the bullets in his gun. Much of this movie centers around images of people on drugs or doing drugs. with a wonderful "Psychedelic Orgy" in the middle of it all. The rest of the time, our villains are fleeing through the swamps, dragging a pair of uncooperative hostages along with them for no apparent reason. The DP seems to have had some problems shooting in daylight, much of the outdoor scenes are woefully overexposed, but his studio-work is competent. The acting and plot are simply outrageous, and may be more enjoyable to experience on drugs. Not really a classic drugsploitation film, but a good example of the genre.

source: The Hooked Generation