Roger Corman's last film for AIP is a psyched-out hippie satire about an escaped military gas that kills all adults over the age of 25. In the wake of the "disaster" sexy scientist Cilla (Elaine Giftos) and renegade hippie Coel (Bob Corff) meet up and head off in search of the hippie utopia. On the way they meet up with revolutionary Carlos (Ben Vereen), rock 'n' roll loving Marissa (Cindy Williams), Hooper (Bud Cort) and Coralee (Talia Shire) and six go in search of a desert pueblo where peace and love reigns. On the way they run into all kinds - fascist footballers, golfing bikers and a chopper-riding Edgar Allan Poe (Bruce Karcher), his Raven and girlfriend Lenore - before God himself puts in an appearance.
Written by George Armitage, the film has a meagre plot and a highly episodic structure that allows Armitage and Corman to satirise, lampoon and generally poke fun at all kinds of establishment targets. There are plenty of symbolic touches and a drugged-up dreamlike feel which works to a degree but after a while becomes a touch self-indulgent. The jokes and skits are a bit hit-and-miss with some working nicely and others falling totally flat. The opening cartoon sequence that mocks and ridicules John Wayne is brilliant and really puts the boot in to viciously satirical effect. The actors all do reasonably well, with a lot of the performances coming across as improvised, with Country Joe and the Fish popping up to provide any number of fine rocking interludes. Unfortunately the final edit of the film was mucked about with by the studio to such an extent that an infuriated Corman left AIP behind to start his own company. It would have been interesting to see what Corman's cut would have looked like, but all the same time the released film is an interesting and engaging counter-cultural piece of work. Not all of it works, but there is enough hippie inspired lunacy and biting political satire to make it an excellent snapshot of its time. And of course any film that has a goth Edgar Allan Poe riding a super-cool chopper, with a Raven on his shoulder and Lenore riding passenger has to be a film worth seeing. ( )