Top 5 Drug Movies: Moody, Wurtzel, Welsh, & Me

Over at Film In Focus, several literary lights are asked to pick their top five drug-related films (booze included) of all time. Rick Moody singles out the The Lost Weekend for its “genuine understanding of withdrawal and delirium tremens,” Elizabeth Wurtzel praises the verisimilitude of junkie life as depicted in the little-known Dusty and Sweets McGee, and Irvine Welsh likes Trainspotting because, well, he wrote it. Their choices are all interesting, and admittedly hard to argue with too strenuously since each of these authors can boast having “been there” in one way or another. Nevertheless, some fairly worthy titles got overlooked. My own top five after the jump.

Christiane F. (1981) - Based on the true account of a 14-year-old prostitute, Christiane F. shows 70s-era Berlin youth drawn into the drug culture mainly out of boredom. Lots of cold turkey vomiting and David Bowie (who also worked on the soundtrack) doing “Heroes” before a captive audience of teenage junkies.

Cocaine Cowboys (2006) - Mandatory viewing for fans of Miami Vice, Cocaine Cowboys uses a plethora of first-person accounts to trace the rise of narcotics trafficking in southern Florida during the late 70s and early 80s. Awash in violence, gunplay, and high living, Bruckheimer is already working on an adaptation for HBO.

Bigger Than Life (1956) - James Mason stars as an earnest schoolteacher and family man whose life spins out of control after he starts abusing the “miracle” drug cortisone. Director Nicolas Ray’s attack on mid-century domesticity was a flop upon its initial release, but has since gained the classic status it so richly deserves.

Cheech and Chong’s Up in Smoke (1978) - No list of drug pictures would be complete without a tip of the hat to Cheech & Chong. The first installment in their goofy oeuvre, Up In Smoke is basically the ur-text for all stoner comedies that came afterward: two clowns get high and incidental wackiness ensues.

House (1977) - This camp horror classic has nothing to do with drugs plot-wise, and yet is seemingly the most drug-induced film ever made. Director Nobuhiku Kobayashi tapped his adolescent daughter to pen the script, with pyrotechnic results. Faces melt and pianos eat children. It has the antic frenzy of a Murakami painting come explosively to life.


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