Something Weird Video liner notes: Of all the filmmakers who toiled in the world of exploitation, no one made films as consistently rude, offensive, and jaw-droppingly outrageous as roadshow pioneer Dwain Esper, the man who made Maniac (1934) and Marihuana (1936). Written by Mrs. Esper, Hildegarde Stadie (who allegedly based the main character on an opium-smoking uncle), and filled with enough plot for a dozen exploitation movies, Narcotic claims to be dedicated to "The Prevention of Drug Addiction" which, of course, is just Esperspeak for cramming in so many taboo-breaking moments that it's still shocking some seven decades later. Harry Cording, a bit player at Universal (he was Lugosi's bodyguard in Ulmer's The Black Cat and can be seen in almost all the Universal Sherlock Holmes films), stars as Dr. William G. Davis, a decent, hard-working physician who's doing good work without getting rich. After actual medical footage of a doctor yanking a baby out of the tummy of a supposedly dead woman, Davis accompanies his friend Gee Wu (a non-Asian in Chinese makeup that makes him look like an elf) to an opium den and quickly picks up the habit. His mind clouded, Davis decides to raise the cash to marry his fiancé by developing a medicinal concoction, "Wang Song, the miracle cure," which he sells "like a common huckster." Apparently, the scheme works, Davis gets rich and, at the urging of his wife, gives up the opium. He resumes his medical practice until he hails a cab driven by a junkie who steals drugs from Davis' bag, goes berserk by speeding through the streets like a madman, and drives the cab headfirst into an oncoming train! For some reason, this reawakens Davis' love of drugs and he's soon back selling his quack medicine in a carnival tent (after some authentic side show stock footage). At which point things go truly over-the-top as Davis attends an upper-class "dope party" after the film stops to remind us that "the weird and revolting behavior of addicts while under the sinister influence of drugs is authentically presented throughout this picture. "You betcha. Davis and company then partake of a smorgasbord of narcotics including reefer, morphine, cocaine, and heroin as a willowy blonde exclaims, "It takes a needle for me to get a bang!" She also keeps up a constant stream of drug jokes - yes, drug jokes ! - as everyone smokes, snorts, and shoots up until they all start active crazy. It's a scene that can still make one gasp. Davis is next seen beating the crap out of a prostitute (in what appears to be some kind of Hooker Alley), before he sinks further into madness and addiction, eventually ending up "a worthless wreck of Humanity, a disgrace to society, and a mental and moral coward!" He apparently doesn't go to church, either. Crude and crass, Narcotic (a.k.a. Narcotics Racket and The Pusher) is also endlessly fascinating. And remember, "You can take it out of the body, but you can't get it out of the mind!"