LSD: FLESH OF THE DEVIL
(LSD – INFERNO PER POCHI DOLLARI)
Dir. Massimo Mida, 1967
Italy. 86 min
In dubbed English

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 2 – MIDNIGHT
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 29 – MIDNIGHT

For the completists, this late sixties Italian Bond rip-off is complete with waterskiing, LSD, peeping, blow darts, helicopters, LSD, explosions, car chases, scuba diving, guns, and LSD.

The film starts off with a literal bang as a small boy takes out an entire cadre of ne’er do wells abducting a little girl, with only a toy car and some curare darts. This is our introduction to the film’s protagonist: Rex Miller. Flash forward and Rex is a fully grown secret agent, played by 1950s American TV actor Guy Madison. Working for an agency that is never named outright—but the name of his to-be-discovered coworker in the field may be a clue—Rex is up against a “secret organization with a strange name: ECHO”, and it’s mysterious kingpin, Mr. X. What is their evil plan? LSD baby.

The film’s “Flesh of the Devil” subtitle is a disappointing example of a studio attempting to sell the movie as something else to English speaking audiences. The original Italian title, which translates more closely to “LSD: Hell for a Few Dollars”, is far more enticing. Wait, you mean I get to see cool colors and people’s heads turn into animals? And it’s only a coupla bucks!? Far out man.