Assassin of Youth (1937)
* 1/2 (out of 4)
Another "warning" picture tells us the horrors of marijuana. In the film various teens are losing their minds, killing others or killing themselves all because they take a hit of the evil weed. Soon a reporter goes undercover as a soda jerk to try and get to the bottom of this evil drug that is causing people to lose their minds with a single puff. Obviously this film falls into the same category as REEFER MADNESS but this here doesn't come close to the "class" of that picture. It's weird reviewing these movies because more often than not the worse they are the more entertaining they are. ASSASSIN OF YOUTH is certainly better "made" than REEFER MADNESS but sadly it's a tad bit too straight and never goes so over-the-top to the point where you can actually laugh at it. There's nothing here so crazy that you'll be rolling on the floor laughing so sadly the entertainment value isn't quite as high (no pun intended) as you'd hope for. With that said, if you're a fan of these types of movies then you'll certainly want to check it out as we're treated with all sorts of really bad information on weed and how one little puff can make you want to blow your head off or even worse....make you want to get naked. Yes, there's a sequence here where pot makes you want to go nude. God knows no one wanted to be naked before pot came along. The performances are pretty much what you'd expect from a picture like this but, then again, they are slightly better than you normally see. ASSASSIN OF YOUTH is going to appeal to a limited number of people but if you're throwing a party and looking for the laughs then REEFER MADNESS is still the way to go.
