"Christiane F.," the 1981 cult classic nightmare vision of a teen girl's descent into heroin addiction in West Berlin, makes even "The Panic in Needle Park" look like a walk in the, well, you know.

Uli Edel worked with first-time actors and real drug users for this still-shocking 1981 portrait of a young addict's descent in West Berlin. It plays New York and Los Angeles in June. “Christiane F.,” ...