‘Hallucination Strip’ Blu-ray Review

You never know what you’re going to get when you watch a foreign film from the 1970’s. The stories are usually broad, combining different genres, the acting is usually amateurish, drugs are easily available to the characters, everyone has sex with everyone, and the music doesn’t fit anything that happens in the film.

Lucio Marcaccini brings every one of those clichés to Hallucination Strip, aka Roma drogata: la polizia non può intervenire, which translated means Doped Rome: the police cannot intervene. Hallucination Strip definitely rolls off the tongue better. In his first and only film he ever directed, Marcaccini brings together numerous topics : mobsters, rebellious school kids, the theft of a priceless snuff box(?), sex, and one of the most bizarre drug hallucination sequences ever put on film.

Movie Itself

Hallucination Strip Blu-Ray CoverThe film primarily centers around Massimo (Bud Cort, of Harold and Maude fame), an Italian high school student who steals a snuff box from the father of his girlfriend, Cinzia. He plans on using it to help his friends, but he isn’t able to get rid of it to a dealer. Instead, he uses it to obtain drugs for a party thrown by his friend Rudy. Rudy is a strangely effeminate young man with mother issues, in that his mother likes to bathe him and hand-dry him, yeah, that’s creepy.

Deciding to help Rudy with his dilemma, Massimo gives the snuff box to a mobster known only as the Sicilian. This association brings about the suspicion of a police investigator (Marcel Bozzuffi), who suspects Massimo of the theft. Unfortunately, things go wrong at Rudy’s party, leaving Massimo trapped between the police and the mobsters.

Hallucination Strip wants to be so much by telling so many stories, and by doing so, fails on all counts. Marcaccini really wanted to focus on the social issues of that time, such as the anti-fascist protests that the students get involved in. But, in his attempt to build the story up, the first time director lost control, turning specific plot points into an unfocused mess. Scenes seem to go nowhere or are cut short with abrupt editing, making things more confusing than they already are. All this is set to the musical strains of “We Got a Lord,” a song that is played during the opening credits (the recording of the song in the studio is the opening credits), during sex scenes, and during dialogue heavy scenes. That song is everywhere in this film.

The drug-fueled hallucination scene, which appears halfway through the film and lasts 10 or so minutes is a jaw-dropper; it has to be seen to believed: Nude dancers in lizard make-up, thong-clad men who pull a woman down from a stone and cannibalize her, one of our lead characters rolling down a hill and gets covered in leaves. It’s enough to make any drug user go cold turkey.

Hallucination Strip is inhabited by a strangely interesting looking cast, led by Bud Cort, who gets dubbed in Italian. Cort does fine with the material he’s given, but at times he comes onscreen with a look that makes you think he walked onto the wrong movie set. Bozzuffi, as the investigator, gives a solid performance as, what appears to be, a by-the-book cop.

Hallucination Strip had the potential to be a good film, but director Marcaccini went too far with the story, losing the focus of what he really wanted it to be about, turning it into a product of that era. Getting through the initial half of the film can be a trying experience, but you are rewarded with one of the most bizarre drug-inspired hallucination sequences ever put on film. It is an over the top celebration of sex, drugs, dance, and cannibalism. It is the highlight of the film, and it must be seen to be appreciated.

Hallucination Strip 1

Presentation

Hallucination Strip is presented in a 1080p MPEG-4 video transfer and an aspect ratio of 1.85:1. Originally film back in 1975, this is probably the best the film has ever looked. That being said, images are extremely soft, to the point of being blurry at times. Detail suffers because of this. The color scheme is extremely bright and vivid, most notably in the hallucination scene. It definitely shows off the restoration of the film; the colors here are very bold. Other scenes appear to be somewhat washed out. The film’s black levels are fairly light and grainy. It is here that the film shows its age.

The film’s PCM 2.0 linear stereo audio transfer is decent, for the most part. A large majority of the film’s soundtrack is produced in the center channel. The sound levels are all over the place-two actors appear in the same scene, one has a regular speaking voice, while the other perform sounds as if they are screaming their lines. Clarity levels, especially the higher pitched levels, sound rather tinny. The side front speakers do participate. Music cues are given a little range to either side of the screen, but not much. These speakers get more involved during that party scene halfway through the film. Obscure sounds bursts from the speakers, the right one is more dominate, adding a little variety to the presentation. Again, these sound effects are extremely bright. The back surrounds are not used with this presentation.

Hallucination Strip 2

Extras Features

This film was before the time when people were interested in what the filmmaker’s concept was in making a movie. It would have been interesting to find some archive material of Lucio Marcaccini and allow him to give his impression in to the making of the film. Rarovideo does offer an interesting interview with the film’s editor, Giulio Berruti, who does offer some insight.

Other extras include:
• The original Italian theatrical preview
• The original English theatrical preview
• A booklet with notes by Nocturno Cinema

Hallucination Strip 3

Final Thoughts

Very little is known of director Lucio Marcaccini. He worked his way up the filmmaking ladder from production assistant to assistant director. The only film he directed before his death in 1982 was Hallucination Strip back in 1975. Marcaccini was looking at a film that dealt with Rome’s social climate at the time, but instead, it grew into a convoluted story that had the social elements, but were overtaken by a story dealing with crime, drugs, and sex. The potential was there.

Bud Cort leads the cast as a rebellious college student dipping his hands into criminal activity to obtain his drugs. Cort does fine, but he lacks the screen presence to carry a film like this. The quirkiness of Harold and Maude was a great fit for him. Here, he just looks lost.

The film suffers from covering too many topics-I got lost with so many characters that had nothing to do with a primary plot, and an extremely erratic and abrupt editing. The film’s transfer to Blu-ray looks good, delivering a vibrant color scheme. It seems like I bring it up constantly, but the film’s saving grace is the incredible drug hallucination scene. The use of color, sound, music and dance really make the sequence one to remember. Unfortunately, the rest of the film is fairly forgettable.

BRAND PARTNERS
Recent Posts