This 1966 film was written and directed by Conrad Rooks, who also starred in it as Russel Harwick – a young man who is both an alcoholic and drug addict and who travels to Europe to take a cure. As such the film is semi-autobiographical as Rooks (who was a heir to the Avon cosmetic products fortune) was himself a troubled young man, who became an addict and then travelled to Switzerland to take a “sleeping cure”.
It is the sort of film that is not going to be popular with many, it is somewhat of a psychedelic mess as Rooks tries to explain addiction visually. However, for fans of the Beats especially, the inclusion of Allen Ginsberg and William S Burroughs in the cast will be a draw. It also has a vampire.
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| the vampire |
Harwick is the vampire in a couple of scenes. With his top hat and bat wing cloak he seems like something from Victoriana. We see him bite the once but it generally isn’t standard vampire stuff as it is steeped within Rooks’ own symbolism. A fleeting visitation but a visitation nonetheless.
The imdb page is
here.
