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Reefer Madness

Reefer Madness

List Price: $7.98
Your Price: $7.98
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Bargain grab for the stoner crowd...
Review: Reefer madness is a cult classic with the stoner crowd for the extreme comedy used with the "doped up" crowd of kids in the 30s. I have tried a few times to watch the whole movie and have yet to make it all the way throug, it's just far far too boring. There's a few really funny bits along the way such as the piano player who constantly plays faster and faster but overall it's not worth the time you have to invest. being on dvd you'd expect a restored print perhaps or redone sound but that is not the case here. the film looks horrible as would be expected from a 30s film and sound is scratchy and painful to the ears when turned up loud. Avoid it even at bargain costs.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An unintentional riot!
Review: Originally called "Tell Your Children", this hideously inaccurate film about "the dreaded marihuana" is a scream, even if you're like me and don't smoke it. This was a cheapie exploitation flick, supposedly condemning even though it was really intended to titillate the audience. As a result, this film is bookended with hyper-puritanical speeches that are truly a riot. Among other bits of useful information, we're told marijuana is more dangerous and deadly than cocaine or heroin, and that ultimately the marijuana smoker will suffer "incurable insanity." We're not even halfway through the opening crawl, folks!

The plot itself is equally preachy. Wait until you get a load of the "incurable insanity" or any of the plot "twists" that drag all the characters down. It's a bit of a sad irony that now, in terms of accuracy, this movie has more relevance; more and more marijuana being sold is being laced with PCP or similarly nasty drugs. Back in the thirties, "Reefer Madness" was hideously inaccurate; now, occasionally, it's not far off the mark.

So who dug this out? Surprisingly, it was legalization group NORML. It entered the public domain in the 70s, well after NORML found it in the Library of Congress, made some prints and went to town, using it as a fundraiser. And boy, did it ever raise funds. Midnight screenings went through the roof, and it penetrated the public consciousness in a way the filmmakers never intended.

If you can track down the out-of-print disc that has this, "Cocaine Fiends", and the equally hilarious "Sex Madness" (complete with a totally out-of-nowhere lesbian plotline that vanishes after the first five minutes), you've got hours of hilarity with your friends!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Reefer Madness IN COLOR for the First Time - Fire UP!
Review: Reefer Madness is the quintessential cult classic. Originally made as a 1930's propaganda film, it was meant to scare America's youth away from drugs, showing them that one puff of the "demon weed" turns teens into raving reefer addicts. Now, years later, this ham-fisted effort to warn you off weed has become the height of camp entertainment. A 'must watch' film among students, Reefer Madness continues to entertain today's youth with the edgy exploits of their high school predecessors. This movie is so beautifully bad, it's great!

Finally someone has released Reefer Madness the way it should be: Beautifully restored, in color for the first time, and in 5.1 surround sound. Both the color and black-and-white versions are on the disk. Plus this DVD has loads of fantastic bonus material. Mike Nelson of Mystery Science Theater 3000 does a hilarious commentary track, cracking wise from start to finish. Grandpa's Marijuana Handbook, A short film by Grandpa Ganja himself, graces this edition and tells us everything we need to know about dope.

No question this is the "FEEL GOOD" DVD of the year!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Mildly funny, historically ridiculous!
Review: It's hard to believe how stupid this propaganda film really is without seeing it. They claim the problems shown are from real studies of marijuana, but it's just so unreal. Everyone is either (...) laughing hysterically, or shooting crazy shifty heavily darkened eyes looks all over the place. But it looks up at the end when a lady finally does jump out a window, through the glass of course. I was waiting for that through the entire film, it just had to happen. Bottom line--smoke weed, and you'll be crazy if you're as guy, whorey if you're a girl, and in the end incurably insane. You'll also commit murder and enjoy listening to a playing very fast piano songs (which will ultimately lead to murder or suicide). Don't buy it.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Restored edition, fantastic!!!!!!
Review: The movie Reefer Madness seen by itself is really nothing to brag about, but this special addition for this best-selling cult classic is fantastic. It's a must buy, because for how cheap it is, you really get your money's worth. For the first time ever, I can say that the colorized version (complete with multicolor smoke and over saturated psychedelic color schemes) is better and looks better than the original black and white, and both versions are available to watch which is considerate of the DVD producers to give us both, and it looks as good as we can ever expect. Extra features are fantastic highlighted by a hysterical commentary by Mike Nelson, formerly of Mystery Science Theater 3000, which is the sole reason why I bought this edition. The commentary by the people who colorized the film is also worth a look. I highly recommend this new edition.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Restored
Review: This restored edition is not only digitally restored, it's in one of a kind color. Never have I seen this movie looking so good. You don't have to among the 'smoking' crowd to appreciate it and with Mike Nelson's commentary, it's hilarious. That's right the guy from Mystery Science Theatre 3000 does a voice over that makes this "bad" movie - Great.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Reefer Madness
Review: REEFER MADNESS is a mini-movie depicting the use of marijuana (spelled marihuana in the film), and the effects on the young crowd in the mid 1930's. It's a basic storyline - a Beaver Cleaver'ish boy is introduced to weed by a group of people who are always hanging out in an apartment, playing piano, dancing wildly and one guy in particular just sits there toking away, looking around and making strange facial expressions as if he were on crack. Jealousy over a girl causes her to get accidently shot, and the naive boy is framed, and the movie continues with the court cases, and ends in another tragic death. This movie is a cult classic, but it outrageously portrays marijuana users, and they act as if they are more on X, heroin or crack. This movie also claims that marijuana users can turn into sexual nymphomaniacs, criminally insane or even murderers. Yes, I agree that continued use can interfere with schoolwork and alter perception, as in driving, but this movie pushes it way too far. However, I'm not complaining, as this is more of an educational film, and is quite funny. Nowadays, this is a cult classic for the stoner crowd, as the acting is campy, the situations are downright hilarious, and the people in charge of filming go overboard to make their point. As far as the dvd, bargain price, bargain quality - and it is in black & white. This film is not digitally remastered, and you may have to adjust the bass/treble to understand what some of the actors are saying. However, you also receive a few little incentives from this dvd - the poster art, a quick interactive trivia of the movie, scene access, and a short biography of one of the actors. If you can tolerate older movies, or want a good laugh, this one is for you.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An unintentional riot!
Review: Originally called "Tell Your Children", this hideously inaccurate film about "the dreaded marihuana" is a scream, even if you're like me and don't smoke it. This was a cheapie exploitation flick, supposedly condemning even though it was really intended to titillate the audience. As a result, this film is bookended with hyper-puritanical speeches that are truly a riot. Among other bits of useful information, we're told marijuana is more dangerous and deadly than cocaine or heroin, and that ultimately the marijuana smoker will suffer "incurable insanity." We're not even halfway through the opening crawl, folks!

The plot itself is equally preachy. Wait until you get a load of the "incurable insanity" or any of the plot "twists" that drag all the characters down. It's a bit of a sad irony that now, in terms of accuracy, this movie has more relevance; more and more marijuana being sold is being laced with PCP or similarly nasty drugs. Back in the thirties, "Reefer Madness" was hideously inaccurate; now, occasionally, it's not far off the mark.

So who dug this out? Surprisingly, it was legalization group NORML. It entered the public domain in the 70s, well after NORML found it in the Library of Congress, made some prints and went to town, using it as a fundraiser. And boy, did it ever raise funds. Midnight screenings went through the roof, and it penetrated the public consciousness in a way the filmmakers never intended.

If you can track down the out-of-print disc that has this, "Cocaine Fiends", and the equally hilarious "Sex Madness" (complete with a totally out-of-nowhere lesbian plotline that vanishes after the first five minutes), you've got hours of hilarity with your friends!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Re Urban Legend
Review: To address xerxes59's question about the urban legend:

I never heard any evidence about Dupont funding Reefer Madness, but they would have a motive.

Dupont was facing enormous loses because their inventions rayon and nylon could not compete with natural hemp (in quality, cost effectiveness, not to mention environmental friendliness). Andrew Mellon, US Treasury Secretary and chairman of Mellon Bank, one of the major financers of Dupont, did appoint Harry Angslinger (who was also married to his niece) as Commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics. As seen in Ron Mann's documentary "Grass", Angslinger was an extremist zealot who managed to criminalize marijuana and create ridiculous sentences for smoking pot. One of Angslinger's methods was to demonize pot with completely false evidence throughout the various media (newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst, whose financial interests in paper mills was also being hurt by hemp, was a great ally). Of course this is a tenuous connection between Dupont and Reefer Madness, but Dupont clearly had a direct financial interest in demonizing reefer, just like the movie attempts to do.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Pointless
Review: You mean they used to think pot was bad!!! Wow! Actually I saw this film and it was boring. It wasn't suprising, it had no point. It probably wasnt even that great back in '38. This movie is for children who just learned how to roll one and now they want to be cool. This movie SUCKS!!!


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