Don't judge a book by its cover, or so the saying goes. Bloody good advice to tell you the truth! Is the same principle advised for movies? Well yes to some degree but much less so. After all, its only gonna take 90mins of your time to watch a movie. So what, right? Today's film is one I watched on account of its poster which I found in an exploitation movie art book, it depicted a somewhat haunting image of a white silhouette of a girl grabbing onto a tree in the dead of night; a distorted image that suggests something is not quite right. So, an eye-grabbing and odd poster, what about the film? Its about a dysfunctional family who experience serious problems when the teenage daughter develops a serious drug problem. Its an effective addiction drama, with a nice cast which includes Eli Wallach as the father. It does have melodramatic tendencies which anti-drug movies often have but that's okay in this case, as its never less than involving. So, a big yay to movie poster art - it makes you check out movies you never otherwise would.
The People Next Door
1970
Action / Drama
The People Next Door
1970
Action / Drama
Plot summary
Comfortable New York suburbanites Arthur and Gerrie Mason discover one night that their seemingly perfect 16-year old daughter, Maxie has been tripping on LSD. Arthur, a smug, bullying braggart, immediately suspects his 17-year old (long-haired) son, Artie of supplying the drug to his sister, and immediately kicks him out of the house. Whereupon (suitably) confused Harris runs next door to seek advice from high school principal David Hoffman whose wife, Tina is an alcoholic, and whose son Sandy has his own problems. Very sensibly, he advises love and understanding on the part of the parents, which all but goes out the window when Maxie confesses she has been tripping for quite a while now, is also sexually active and on the pill. Meanwhile, she just keeps getting worse--she's found by her father high on cocaine and in bed with a biker. From there, it's straight to family therapy where, among other things, it's revealed that Dad is having an affair with his lusty secretary and Mom knew it all the time. After another lamentably useless therapy session, the Masons decide to throw a party which comes to an abrupt halt when one of the hired musicians is discovered puffing pot. Maxie then gets hold of more LSD, does a nude dance on her lawn and trips herself into a mental hospital. The sight of her near-catatonic daughter in this horrible place drives Mom right to bed, where she remains until the film's climax.
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Great poster and pretty good movie
A Family Under the Influence
Alternately grim and funny expose of the "average" American family circa 1970. Eli Wallach & Julie Harris find out their darling teenage daughter is on drugs and their would-be rock star son knows way more about LSD than he should. Chaos ensues, doctors are consulted, and the neighbors prove to be as unhelpful as possible. Although Wallach's anger comes across as a bit grating, the performances are largely first-rate. Harris is excellent and the supporting cast includes Cloris Leachman, Rue McClanahan and Hal Holbrook.
Drug movie
David Greene was behind a lot of my favorite TV movies, like Roots; Rich Man, Poor Man; Madame Sin and the remake of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? He also made I Start Counting and The Shuttered Room.
Arthur and Gerrie Mason (Eli Wallach and Julie Harris) realize that their marriage isn't perfect and struggle to fix it as their daughter Maxie fights drug addiction. Arthur catches her in bed with a biker, high on cocaine, and immediately believes that his rock star son Artie (Stephen McHattie) who gave her the drugs, but it turns out that its the nerd next door.
Roger Ebert said that The People Next Door was "the best movie so far about parents, kids and drugs, and probably the best we're likely to get (considering Hollywood's recent tendency to exploit the drug culture for "youth movies")."
This has a decent cast, with Hal Holbrook, Cloris Leachman and Rue McClanahan all showing up, along with Rutanya Alda as a nurse.
It didn't make me want to stop doing drugs, but your viewing may change your habits.