Reefer Madness, aka Tell Your Children (1936); Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical (2005)

Now a camp classic, the original Reefer Madness (aka Tell Your Children) was meant to be taken earnestly by its audiences, despite the films being in many (if not all) ways a cynical ploy. With the end of prohibition, government bureaucrats desiring to hold on to their power and influence needed a new vice to crusade against, and for some reason they latched onto Marijuana. Now widely recognized as one of the most harmless of drugs, Marijuana is presented (particularly in the quasi-documentary first few minutes of the film) as a menace, more addictive then heroin. False and/or exaggerated depictions of the drugs effects proliferate in the film, were a nice upstanding boy named Jimmy is coned into addiction to ‘the demon weed’ by nefarious drug pushers, with their loose women and hot jazz. In the end lives are destroyed, a sweet innocent girl is killed, and parents are warned to ‘tell their children’.

B or C picture stuff Reefer Madness was largely forgotten for decades, before it was rediscovered and became an ironic hit in the pot filled theaters of the 1970's midnight movie scene. It is this later, tung-in-cheek appreciation of the film which lead to Kevin Murphy’s musical stage play, and the Showtime produced film verison there of. Campy, bawdy, over-the-top, this latter incarnation of Reefer Madness is well executed pop satire, taking on not just the exaggerated anti-drug narrative of the original film, but also the fear exploiting mind set that produced it, and so much of American cultural reactionism up to the present day. Plus the songs are pretty catchy, I’m playing ‘Listen to Jesus Jimmy’ in my head right now. As clever a movie musical as Hairspray, if not more so. A curios’ curio.

1936 Reefer Madness: 2 ½ out of 5
2004 Musical Reefer Madness: 4 out of 5.