The Hooked Generation (1968)

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

The Hooked Generation (1968) ** (out of 4)Three crooks decide that being the in-between for drug dealers isn't good enough so they end up killing and stealing some drugs from a Cubian drug-lord. After a shoot out with the Coast Guard the three try to make it to the top but things don't go as planned.Here's another extremely low-budget movie from William Grefe that I really wanted to like more than I actually did. As I'm going through the work of Grefe it's easy to see that he had a strong talent even though the films themselves really weren't all that good. These movies have no known casts, no budget and very little else yet Grefe managed to make them somewhat entertaining and at least professional looking. Compare these films to various other exploitation titles from this era and you can see the talent.With that said, THE HOOKED GENERATION starts off pretty good as we get into the double crossing and the ruthlessness of the three goons. None of them are what you'd call likable and I thought this was a good and entertaining approach. The film has some memorable moments but it's bad pacing and extended running time means that we eventually get bored and the final third of the movie is hard to sit through.

William Grefe made quite a few films in the 60s and 70s that had practically no budget and were not exactly intended as high art! Instead, they were obviously meant as cheap drive-in fare but very undemanding audiences.Considering that the film seems to have cost $89 to make and starred unknown yahoos, the film actually isn't that horrible. Well, it IS bad, but it is not nearly as bad as many higher budget films. On a "bang for the buck scale", THE HOOKED GENERATION actually is reasonably respectable.The film begins with four dirt-bags on a boat in the Caribbean trying to make a drug deal with a group of men from the Cuban military. But, when the Cubans try to change the terms of the deal, the dirt-bags kill them. Soon, the US Coast Guard responds due to the smoke and they, too, are killed and the dirt-bags lose one of their men in the process. And, somehow, they also manage to kidnap two young people--a guy who really is pretty pathetic through much of the film and a sexy girlfriend who you know is there simply to be raped (which naturally occurs later in the film).The movie is quite tense but also fails because there is little in the way of plot development or acting. It's just a bunch of junkies who kill people eventually being confronted by the world's dumbest agents! I especially couldn't believe the ending--no cops or FBI agents could be THAT stupid! Overall, a poor time-passer but at least you can respect the schlock-meister, Grefe, in his ability to do the most with incompetent actors, bad film work and not much of a script!

I've been searching a long time for this one. And i must say it was disappointing. I thought this was going to be a psychedelic movie, but it has more in common with Italian terror movies from the 70's. The guy who does smack all the time is believable but for the rest....pew....The problem with these films seems to be that they are made by people who never met any hippies and don't know anything about drugs. Just wearing beads and saying things like far-out and groovy just doesn't cut it. I know this one most certainly had a low budget, but how about some research before you start the camera. I'm not American so i don't know if there it was a law against showing people exhale smoke when they smoked a joint. O.k. that's not a biggie, but showing people turning into stupid maniacs maybe worked in movies like Reefer madness when people didn't know anything. But in 1968. I got the same feeling watching this one as one of those stupid education films. Nice to see them being released though. If you like good Vs evil this one might be a good low budget flick. But if you're looking for psychedelia be careful.

The Hooked Generation turns out to be a surprisingly well-done "B" movie. Steve Alaimo gives a solid performance and it's really amazing that this vastly talented actor never achieved mainstream popularity in motion pictures.Alaimo is supported by his two real-life friends former world light-heavyweight boxing champion Willie Pastrano and the legendary radio D.J. Milton "Butterball" Smith. Pastrano goes slightly over-the-top in his role here, and it doesn't rate with his solid performance as Banjo in The Wild Rebels, but he is enjoyable to watch. The scene stealer is the always pleasant Milton "Butterball" Smith. Unless you're a native of South Florida and over 40, Alaimo, Pastrano, and Smith has no meaning. However, during the 60s, the trio were among the most-famous personality on the South Florida acting, music, and boxing scenes.The Hooked Generation is far from a masterpiece or even a good-film. However, it is entertaining enough to hold your interest. If you're from South Florida it's even more so.