Reefer Madness (1936)
Reefer Madness is a propaganda film from the 1930s meant to lecture parents about the dangers of “Marihuana” and its effects on people. The film is known for numerous outlandish claims including that marijuana is more dangerous and addictive than Heroin and that prolonged marijuana use causes hallucinations, violent episodes, and eventually permanent insanity.
The popularity of the film as a cult classic midnight movie is partially due to its campy production values and its use as a roadshow picture well throughout the 50s. But mostly it’s known because cable stations in the 90s and early 2000s didn’t have enough programming to fill an entire day so late in the evening they’d screen whatever shitty old films they could get their hands on, and Reefer Madness just so happened to be one. Since a lot of the people staying up that late were probably partaking of weed at the time the ridiculous claims and hokey showmanship must have been hilarious at the time
Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical (2005)
Somewhere around 1998, Reefer Madness was adapted into a stage musical just like Little Shop of Horrors Before it, that musical was turned into a movie. The movie is an evisceration of old-timey family values, performative religion and patriotism, the middle class, and racism and it’s pretty clever.
The film’s got Alan Cumming (doing his best Tim Lehrer impression as a sort of Greek Chorus figure and later as President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The film Kristen Bell, Christian Campbell, Ana Gasteyer, Steven Weber, and John Kassir (best known as the voice of The Crypt Keeper).
It lays the satire on heavy but really crafts some great jokes and the songs are all fun and catchy. The pace of the movie even works well, which is no small feet as this is 109 minutes and a bad song could kill it. Still, as a person who’s very picky about musicals I have thoroughly enjoyed it each and every time I’ve seen it.
Is it a good remake?
In the best possible way, yes. Reefer Madness is an awful movie based on a really shitty time in America that led to a lot of the shitty times we’re having now and it deserves to be drug out in the public square and mocked. This movie does that with a wonderful charm and pinache that’s really delightful
Does it stand alone?
Not at all. While I’m sure the jokes would still work as they’re targeted at a certain specific time in American history that people are at least dimly aware of if not well informed about, you really need to know about Reefer Madness to enjoy Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical. That’s not to say the movie isn’t great and it’s not put together by a bunch of very talented people but this is very much a companion piece to the original movie rather than a stand-alone show.
Watch, Toss, or Buy?
Watch this wonderful film.