Reefer Madness | Rotten Tomatoes

Reefer Madness

PG

Released Jul 12, 1936

1h 7m

Drama

List

39%

Tomatometer

28 Reviews

37%

Audience Score

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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Keith Phipps

AV Club

Espers' 1936 film deserves its reputation as one of the most entertainingly bad movies ever made.

Mar 30, 2019

Full Review

Dave Kehr

Chicago Reader

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.

Mar 28, 2007

Full Review

John Du Cane

Time Out

One of the most absurdly earnest exercises in paranoia you'll ever have the good fortune to see.

Jun 24, 2006

Full Review

Sarah Boslaugh

TheArtsStl

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...

Rated: 4/10

Mar 17, 2020

Full Review

Mattie Lucas

From the Front Row

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.

Rated: 1/4

Feb 22, 2020

Full Review

Sky Staff

Sky Cinema

This gloriously awful film is highly recommended to lovers of stunningly bad movies.

Rated: 1/5

Mar 30, 2019

Full Review

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nick s

Presumably well intentioned, this almost comical movie - meant to be some kind of lesson about drugs - has few redeeming qualities.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

11/15/23

Full Review

Corocote L

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.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

10/03/23

Full Review

Laura L

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.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

06/17/23

Full Review

CodyZamboni

Movie is boring, tedious, and no where near bad funny, just lousy.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

07/26/23

Full Review

Audience Member

the movie is so much better in color and it's funnier.. but it's funny to see the hypocrisy about marijuana.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/22/23

Full Review

Diane B

And here I thought marijuana made people stare at their hands and giggle while binging on peanut butter. Turns out it makes you hallucinate, get aggressive and kill. Wow. What did they put in pot back then?

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

08/13/22

Full Review

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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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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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