Recently David Madison posted an article on Unreality Magazine listing The Most Memorable Fictional Drugs in Movies and Television. The list itself is interesting, and I have to admit the author did a fine job finding screen captures for each of the drugs mentioned.

However, I had the feeling that there must be other well-known, fictional drugs in cinema. A little bit of research (thanks to Google and Wikipedia) turned up a plethora of pharmaceuticals the author neglected to mention…

Here is David’s list:

• Valkyr, Max Payne (2008) – An addictive blue liquid drug that was designed to either increase confidence or physical strength, but causes hallucinations that lead to suicide. Valkyr was developed for American soldiers fighting in the Middle East by the Aesir Corporation, but the project was shelved when 99% of all subjects suffered hallucinations. B.B., the head of Aesir’s security, and Sergeant Lupino, one of the successful test subjects, recreated the formula and started selling it on the streets of New York City.
• Spice Melange, Dune (1984) – (alternately, “the spice”) is the name of the fictional drug central to the Dune series of science fiction works by Frank Herbert. The most essential and valuable commodity in the universe, a geriatric drug that gives the user a longer lifespan, greater vitality, and heightened awareness; it can also unlock prescience in some subjects, depending upon the dosage and the consumer’s physiology. This prescience-enhancing property makes safe and accurate interstellar travel possible.
• Substance D, A Scanner Darkly (2006) – A lethally addictive street drug which eventually splits the users brain into two distinct combative entities. The ‘D’ stands for Death.
• Ephemerol, Scanners (1981) – Tranquilizer, used as a morning sickness remedy; a mutagen, it induces telekinetic and telepathic abilities. Ephemerol also suppresses those abilities in adults so affected. Loosely based on thalidomide (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thalidomide), a morning sickness remedy that was discovered to cause physical birth defects.
• Prozium, Equilibrium (2002) – an emotion-suppressing drug called Prozium, distributed at centers known as “Equilibrium”.
• Quietus, Children of Men (2006) – A suicide drug that appeared to be offered by the government.
• Moloko Plus, A Clockwork Orange (1971) – Several fictional drugs in the form of a milk cocktail called Moloko Plus. Vaietys include Moloko Vellocet (Possibly Barbiturates or Synthetix Opiates), Synthemesc (Synthetic Mescaline?), and Drenchrom (Possibly Adrenachrome).
• Nuke, Robocop 2 (1990) – A designer narcotic distributed by the Drug Lord and leader of the Nuke Cult, Cain (Tom Noonan). Cain appears to have a messiah complex due to his own drug abuse; he believes that Nuke is the way to paradise, and wants to distribute it to the entire city.
• Neuroin, Minority Report (2002) – Effects similar to heroin , transparent gaseous drug administered using plastic inhalers. Its street name is Clarity

Additonal pharmaceuticals we found in movies:

• Bacta, Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980) – Bacta is a healing substance available from the planet Thyferra. Bacta was invented by the insectoid Vratix of Thyferra by mixing alazhi salve with a synthetic liquid chemical called kavam. This concoction is further mixed with a colorless viscous liquid called ambori. It mimics the body’s fluids and helps in regeneration. It is used to help with cuts and burns as well as severe cellular damage, such as frostbite.
• Bellerophon, Mission: Impossible II (2006) – the antidote to the fictional Chimera virus in the film
• Dehalcynate, The Island (2005) – A concentrated solution which is fatal if not diluted. The name of the drug is not spoken in the film, but the labels on the bottles are seen in a few frames.
• Dypraxa, The Constant Gardener (2005) – Dypraxa is a drug advertised by the fictional company ThreeBees. It is being tested on poor Kenyans in exchange for free medical treatment. It is intended to treat tuberculosis, or TB, and was created in anticipation of a future TB epidemic.
• Gambutrol, The Exorcism of Emily Rose – A fictional anti-epileptic drug prescribed to Emily Rose by her doctor which supposedly “locks” her demonic possessions into her mind, leading her priest (Father Moore) to stop the medication, which in turn leads to his eventual incarceration under the charge of negligent homicide. This is most likely a spin off of the real anticonvulsant/anti-epileptic medication, Gabitril
• Hypnocil, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warrior (1987) / Freddy vs. Jason (2003) – A dream suppressant pill. Prevents people from dreaming and keeps them from being attacked by Freddy Krueger, for unless you’re dreaming, he can’t hurt or kill you. When on this drug, he is essentially powerless to harm you.
• Imobatine, Freddy vs. Jason (2003) – “A syringe and a bottle with a pink liquid in it. The label on the bottle reads IMOBATINE.” Used by Freddy on Jason to make him sleep and drag it into the dream world. Freddy tries to kill him in a place where he can’t be defeated.
• Novril, Misery (1990) – A powerful, highly-addictive analgesic (Codeine) administered to the novelist Paul Sheldon by his nurse and “number one fan”, Annie Wilkes. In the film, Novril is in capsule form and is tasteless and non-addictive.
• Prexilin, She Hate Me (2004) – A HIV vaccine that reportedly cures 100% of users. However, it is revealed that tests results have been tampered with in order to get FDA approval. Actually the vaccine is effective only in 75% of the cases.
• Provasic (RDU-90), The Fugitive (1993) – A “miracle drug” developed by Devlin-MacGregor Pharmaceuticals. Provasic produces drug-induced hepatitis, but the producers alter the test results in order to get FDA approval. This side effect and the cover up are discovered by doctor Richard Kimble.
• Retinax V, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (- Medication usually prescribed as a treatment for people with hypermetropia, or far-sightedness, in the 23rd century. Some people, such as James T. Kirk, were allergic to this form of medication, and the alternative of “reading glasses” was therefore still required.
• Experimental Serum 114, A Clockwork Orange (1971) – A drug which causes severe nausea, pain, and discomfort. It is injected during the Ludovico treatment, which uses a series of violent images forced on the viewer in order to cure violent urges in criminals.
• Turbolax, Dumb and Dumber (1994) – A very powerful laxative.
• Zydrate, Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008) – Zydrate is the prototype narcotic drug and is the standard against which all other opioids are tested. It interacts predominantly with the opioid receptor. Zydrate is extracted from corpses and glows blue.
• Gleemonex, Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy (1996) – Anti-depressant that effectively cures depression rather than alleviating the symptoms. It is a blue hue in its synthesized state, but it is distributed as an orange pill. An unfortunate side-effect permanently locks users into his/her happiest memory, effectively making the user comatose. Rumor suggests the drug may contain monkey semen. The proper or common name of Gleemonex is revealed to be Duoroflouriximinimum 602.
• Ladder, Jacob’s Ladder (1990) – Aggression-enhancing drug created by the U.S. Army’s Chemical Warfare division in Saigon during the Vietnam War and tested on American troops in the Mekong Delta, with horrific results. Based on the Army’s purported experimentation with a hallucinogenic drug called BZ.
• Lot Six, Firestarter (1984) – Mild hallucinogenic substance designed to induce extra sensory perception in patients. Administered by a government organization known as The Shop to 12 subjects in 1969. Scientifically known as di-lysergic triune acid, but nicknamed “booster acid” by the team developing it. A side effect includes chromosomal mutation.
• Polydichloric euthymol (PDE), Outland (1981) – An amphetamine-type drug that in the short term makes human beings capable of doing fourteen hours’ work in six hours, but in the long term induces psychosis and subsequent death. The name of the drug is the same with that of the explosive used in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) and with a molecule simulated in The Relic (1997).
• Project 5 formulas, The Lawnmower Man (1992) – A collection of drugs designed to increase neurochemical activity and enhance intelligence. Developed and tested on animals, their use on humans is strongly contraindicated.
• Bug Powder, Naked Lunch (1991) – Yellow powder initially used by exterminators to kill bugs. When injected into the bloodstream it can cause, what Joan Lee describes as, “a literary high” and may or may not be a hallucinogen.
• Plutonian Nyborg, Heavy Metal (1981) – An inhaled white powder whose appearance resembles cocaine, and whose effects resemble those of marijuana; but seems to have an effect similar to marijuana, if you are to judge from their speech and actions. However, with the trippy scenes that follow the characters’ ingestion of the drug, the creators may have intended to suggest effects similar to hallucinogens such as LSD.
• Red Death, Bringing Out the Dead (1999) – A dangerous strain of heroin possibly mixed with an unknown amino acid. It causes people to overdose more easily, and requires much more Naloxone than normal to bring people out of it.
• Space Coke, Cheech and Chong’s Next Movie (1980) – An insanely powerful stimulant of extraterrestrial origin.
• Alkadexabenzathera-podazalamide, How to Murder Your Wife (1965) – Also known in the movie as “goof balls” which, when taken in combination with alcohol produce an effect of “Ziiiiiip, Flop.”
• Re-Agent, Re-Animator (1985) – Unnamed, unspecified green neon chemical substance which is capable of resurrecting the dead, right down to the molecular level. In a deleted scene in the film, Herbert West is shown using it as a stimulant, and is apparently quite addicted to it.
• Adrenochrome, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) – not to be confused real chemical of the same name, supposedly taken directly from the adrenaline gland of a living human being.
• Butazamine, Dead Ringers (1988) – Diet pill (Amphetamine). Claire Niveau uses it as an aphrodisiac – “it makes sex come on like Nagasaki.”
• Crystal Dream, Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man (1991) – “There’s a new drug out there called Crystal Dream. Now, what it is, you don’t shoot it, you don’t smoke it, you don’t snort it. Apparently, you put it in your eyes, and it tells you lies.”
• E-Z 4, Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) – An aerosol sleep-inducing agent. Non-fatal and fast-acting, but causes a bad headache.
• Iocaine powder, The Princess Bride (1987) – odorless, tasteless, dissolves instantly in water, and is among the more deadly poisons known to man. It is well known to come from Australia.
• Ortho-pure Procreation Pills, The Running Man (1987)
• Trinity, The Crow: City of Angels (1996) – addictive powder distributed in tiny glassine envelopes. The face of the envelope has been stamped with an image – a cartoon imp with a idiot grin giving the thumbs-up sign.
• Red Pill/Blue Pill, The Matrix – The pills are philosophical symbolism: The red pill will answer the question “what is the Matrix?” (by removing Neo from it) and the blue pill simply for life to carry on as before.

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