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Reefer Madness

Play trailer Poster for Reefer Madness PG 1936 1h 7m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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39% Tomatometer 28 Reviews 37% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings
High-school principal Dr. Alfred Carroll (Josef Forte) relates to an audience of parents that marijuana can have devastating effects on teens. In his story, a drug supplier entices several restless teens, including sister and brother Mary (Dorothy Short) and Jimmy Lane (Warren McCollum) and Mary's boyfriend, Bill (Kenneth Craig), into frequenting a reefer house. Gradually, Bill and Jimmy are drawn into smoking dope, which affects their family lives and leads to a terrible crime.
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Reefer Madness

Critics Reviews

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Keith Phipps AV Club 03/30/2019
Espers' 1936 film deserves its reputation as one of the most entertainingly bad movies ever made. Go to Full Review Dave Kehr Chicago Reader 03/28/2007
The original antimarijuana film (1936), offering the true inside story of the devil weed that drives men to savage lusts and women to unspeakable depravities, along with a little bit of dumb fun. Go to Full Review John Du Cane Time Out 06/24/2006
One of the most absurdly earnest exercises in paranoia you'll ever have the good fortune to see. Go to Full Review Sarah Boslaugh TheArtsStl 03/17/2020
4/10
Before it became an ironic cult hit in the 1970s, Reefer Madness was a well-intentioned and unintentionally hilarious cautionary tale entitled Tell Your Children... Go to Full Review Mattie Lucas From the Front Row 02/22/2020
1/4
Strictly an amateur-hour production, filled with laughably over-the-top acting and a silly sense of self-righteousness that make it the perfect exploitation camp classic. Go to Full Review Sky Staff Sky Cinema 03/30/2019
1/5
This gloriously awful film is highly recommended to lovers of stunningly bad movies. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Jack F @MovieFan111 1d Watching this in 2026... weird and lame. Very bad acting, story, and everything else. I wasted my time. You shouldn't either. See more nick s @Nick_S 11/15/2023 Presumably well intentioned, this almost comical movie - meant to be some kind of lesson about drugs - has few redeeming qualities. See more Corocote L @CapMo 10/03/2023 Very entertaining as a historical drama of anti-cannabis paranoid propaganda. The acting and writing are so over the top hilarious that the film undercuts it's intended cautionary message by portraying the prohibitionists as befuddled clueless dopes. Even better if you smoke one before watching. See more Laura L @RT04191135 06/17/2023 I think this movie is a piece of art that had a purpose that it clearly stated in the prologue: to invite people to think about marijuana consumption and to raise awareness about the consequences drug consumption has on one's brain, on the one side, and the consequences drug addiction has on society, on the other side. I understand that this movie is played over and over in different US establishments ever since for information and education. Consequently, it is watched, spoken about, analyzed, etc. and, from this point of view, the movie team reached its educational purpose through the cinema art more than they probably expected. Furthermore, the cast played well the symptoms of marijuana addiction as described in the prologue: sudden bursts into hysterical laughter, dysfunctional logic, etc. - but that's because despite cinema's technological progress, one thing has always stayed constant and fascinating: actors' talent. See more CodyZamboni @CodyZamboni 04/17/2023 Movie is boring, tedious, and no where near bad funny, just lousy. See more 01/22/2023 the movie is so much better in color and it's funnier.. but it's funny to see the hypocrisy about marijuana. See more Read all reviews
Reefer Madness

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Cast & Crew

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Louis Gasnier

Director

Dave O'Brien

Ralph Wiley

Dorothy Short

Mary Lane

Lillian Miles

Blanche

Warren McCollum

Jimmy Lane

Carleton Young

Jack Perry

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Reefer Madness

Reefer Madness (1936) Reefer Madness (1936) Reefer Madness (1936) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis High-school principal Dr. Alfred Carroll (Josef Forte) relates to an audience of parents that marijuana can have devastating effects on teens. In his story, a drug supplier entices several restless teens, including sister and brother Mary (Dorothy Short) and Jimmy Lane (Warren McCollum) and Mary's boyfriend, Bill (Kenneth Craig), into frequenting a reefer house. Gradually, Bill and Jimmy are drawn into smoking dope, which affects their family lives and leads to a terrible crime.
Director
Louis Gasnier
Producer
George A. Hirliman
Screenwriter
Paul Franklin, Arthur Hoerl, Lawrence Meade
Distributor
Madacy Entertainment Group Inc. [us], Reel Media International [us], LS Video, Hollywood Classics, Sinister Cinema, Kino Video, Something Weird Video, Network Enterprises [us], GoodTimes Home Video [us], Media Home Entertainment
Production Co
George A. Hirliman Productions
Rating
PG
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jul 12, 1936, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Sep 1, 2009
Runtime
1h 7m
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