The Hooked Generation/Review

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Review of The Hooked Generation

Don't go into this one thinking it's some kind of pseudo-documentary which deals with youthful drug addicts. It's just another one of those misleading titles here in exploitation-land. Oh, but don't get me wrong, you definetly get to see plenty of drug-use in this flick. But the guys you see getting high are no peaceful, radical, free-spirit hippies. Instead, they're a trio of psychotic outlaws! Meet gang-leader, "Daisy" (Jeremy Slate), brutish "Dum-Dum" (Willie Pastrano) and the junky with the constant shakes, "Acid" (John Davis Chandler) who are on a boat trip within a Florida bayou looking to make a big drug-score from some corrupt Cuban officials. Though Daisy brings the accounted $75,000, the Cuban leader gets greedy and wants more money. Bad move. The entire cuban crew gets blown away by the unpredictable buyers. And just how unpredictable are these guys? Later on, when a boat full of coast guards investigate Daisy's boat, Acid KILLS one of the officers just because the copper interrupted his heroin-break! This causes another shoot-out with the outlaws emerging victorious. But a boy/girl couple who took part in telling the coast guards about the trio's sneaky behavior end up becoming hostages of our beloved, drugged-out psychos. Let the cat and mouse game begin...

This one lucked out by having a few good things going for it. Though the movie helped create somewhat of a claustrophobic feeling in the early going (The film's first 30-minutes is spent entirely on a boat!) we soon get to let out some long-awaited exhaling in the cinematic sense thanks to some quite inspired locales. Beginning with a grungy hideout shack, then to a concert building (Complete with strobelight effect---Love that strobelight!) then to a colorful, psychadelic backroom run by a funked-out drug kingpin (That would be the Ving Rhames look-alike on the right) then a trip to a Seminole reservation which hasn't aged in 100 years! THEN, completely from left-field, some hippie mansion(?) near the Florida swamp! AND FINALLY, a climactic showdown deep within the brush of The Everglades. I'm always a sucker for movies that have constant, and different, shift in locations and Hooked Generation looks to be another one of those examples. But I still wouldn't be giving this much praise if it weren't for the cast. Jeremy Slate is good as always. If you're familiar with many of his Biker films, you might know what to expect. Former Light Heavyweight boxing champ, Willie Pastrano also brings a natural menace playing the chaotic enforcer of the group. But you get to seem some charm shine through in the scenes in which he's smoking a (Real) joint. And long-time character actor, John Davis Chandler does his scene-chewing as as the constantly smacked and doped-up Acid. Though his character makes things uncomfortable when he's at the Seminole camp, it's a blast to see him basically wander into a completely different movie when he's ordered to visit the mysterious hippie mansion. There's quite a few bizzare moments in this sequence which I'm sure were highlight images for the film's trailer (Which I think no longer exists, sadly)

To sum it all up, this is one "Hooked Generation" that I wouldn't want to mess with and I recommend on giving this one a look!

Reviewed by Laydback - 3/7/08

Screenshots

Hooked1.JPG Hooked2.JPG Hooked3.JPG Hooked4.JPG

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