Blaxsploitation hero Shaft was pretty cool, but not nearly as cool as Dr. Michael Stoner, the groovy medical nerd protagonist from epidemic scare flick Panic in Echo Park. Set in the barrios of East LA, the movie is a rare combination of blaxsploitation style and medical mystery geekery ala House. As the heroic Dr. Stoner races to figure out what’s causing paralysis among residents of a housing project, he also fights racist and classist bigotry among his colleagues (and, in this scene, among his white, upper-crusty girlfriend’s family friends). For a special treat, I’ve spliced together a moment of Stoner’s ghetto science pride with a scene where he gets funky in the hospital after saving the projects from disease. This cheesy science action flick from 1977 really should be a cult classic. [Panic in Echo Park via IMDB]
