Reefer Madness (Tell Your Children) (Doped Youth) poster & wallpaper
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Kenneth Craig, Joe Forte, Harry Harvey Jr., Warren McCollum, Lillian Miles ... see more see more... , Pat Royale , Dorothy Short , Thelma White , Carleton Young , Dave O'Brien , Josef Forte

This unabashed propaganda film (also known by the title Tell Your Children, a dead giveaway) has become a cult classic of comically bad cinema due to its dated, alarmist views on the dangers of "marij... read more read more...uana addiction" and the exaggerated symptoms thereof. After the onscreen prologue that declares "Something must be done to wipe out this ghastly menace," Reefer Madness launches into a case study of clean-cut WASP couple Bill (Kenneth Craig) and Mary (Dorothy Short), high schoolers who play tennis and drink tea on the back porch. Their friend Jimmy (Warren McCollum) introduces them to a pot dealer named Jack (Carleton Young), who invites Bill up to his den of inequity, where stoned ne'er-do-wells laugh fiendishly, dance, and play the piano. After one joint, Bill is hooked, and his life begins to plummet down the tubes -- he starts flunking school and becomes a promiscuous regular in Jack's apartment. When a worried Mary tracks Bill down, she too is given a joint and begins giggling uncontrollably while being aggressively fondled by the bizarre addict Ralph (Dave "Tex" O'Brien). When Bill bursts out of the bedroom to tangle with Ralph, hallucinating and blacking out, Mary is accidentally shot. This prompts a string of guilt and calamitous occurrences, including several more deaths and courtroom sentences to mental institutions, all because of the devil weed. The film ends with the ominous warning, "The dread marijuana may be reaching forth next for your son or daughter...or yours...or YOURS!" ~ Derek Armstrong, Rovi

Flixster Users

43% liked it

10,401 ratings

Critics

46% liked it

24 critics

PG, 1 hr. 7 min.

Directed by: Louis J. Gasnier

Release Date: August 19, 2010

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DVD Release Date: July 30, 2002

 

Stats: 796 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (796)

  • FilmFanatik
    March 4, 2012
    FilmFanatik
    And here it is, the mother of all drug propaganda films produced in the 1930's to scare teenagers and warn their parents about the "dangers" of smoking marijuana. Reefer Madness is legendary schlock. According to this film, once you smoke pot then everything goes downhill and nev... read moreer comes back up again. Everything just ends badly for everyone when they smoke up. Apparently you also laugh maniacally, play the piano really fast, dance like crazy, drive yourself to murder and go completely insane. That's what I got out of it anyway. As a former pot smoker myself, the most I ever wanted to do was kick back on the couch, watch some TV, snack and then sleep. That's it. I can't say that I got a burst of energy from smoking pot. Anyways, enough about me. This is an absolutely insane piece of celluloid, and I love it for that alone. My rating is biased I guess, because I'm rating it based solely on my enjoyment and not necessarily its quality. If you're looking for oddball crazyness, then you need look no further. Reefer Madness is your addiction.
  • FrizzDrop
    August 16, 2011
    FrizzDrop
    Filmmaking isn't just the art form that aspiring directors yearn for, but a means to exclude and brainwash the public. The thirties and forties saw an increase in films with skewed views towards the US government, lack of immoral behavior, and patriotism with our entrance into W... read moreWII. Because of the Hays Code, instituted around this time but not fully enforced for several years, many propaganda films were produced, including the infamous Reefer Madness. Nowadays the public has dubbed this as campy comedy, a sad remnant of the paranoia fueled ignorance of the early twentieth century. I was disappointed in viewing this film, as I was expecting some shenanigans and tomfoolery so inconsistent with drug use that it was over the top. The film does have some corny lines and strange scenes, but is very serious in its message of keeping people drug free. Watching the sheer inaccuracy of the subject material, and the supposed research into it just made me increasingly angry, the authority this film held and the lack of objectivity in reviewing the effects of the drug seriously harmed America's education of magician (spelt wrong throughout the film). Not only do characters in this film uncharacteristically laugh in cackles like a maniacal crow, but they murder, lie, commit suicide, and apparently become promiscuous, leading to rape in some cases. There are even links to insanity, deep circles under the reefer user's eyes, a madness on their lips. Neither funny nor medically relevant, this is good for a curious venture but not a serious view.
  • ajv2688
    September 15, 2010
    ajv2688
    This movie barely has a story, and then there isn't much going on. Plus the quality is bad, so it's hard to watch.
  • DrZeek
    August 25, 2010
    DrZeek
    Jack: Oh, why don't you button up your lip? You're always squawkin' about something. You've got more static than a radio.

    Note: I got to experience this film in the form of watching it with Riff Trax (the guys from Mystery Science Theater 3000).

    While this movie is ridiculous,... read more I can still say that it is full of unintentionally hilarious bits, of course made better by the running comedy commentary provided by Riff Trax.

    Jimmy: Let's go, Jack. I'm red-hot!
    Jack: Better be careful how you drive, or the first thing you know you'll be ice cold.
  • cosmo313
    January 7, 2010
    cosmo313
    Strange movie which, if I'm not mistaken, is the first (or one of) exploitation film. It's obviously propaganda material designed to scare people, but I thought it was rather funny. Much like the films of Ed Wood though, much of the humor and enjoyment comes from witnessing the g... read moreross ineptitude on the part of the filmmakers. This film is terrible, but watchable. The information presented is incorrect, and laughably so-but it made me smile, so the film's not a total waste.
  • SirPant
    September 30, 2009
    SirPant
    It?s just an old propaganda film from 1930's America. Yes they got it wrong, and maybe it?s funny to watch when you?re having a smoke of the green stuff but at the end of the day its actually quite dull to watch with only very fleeting moments of unintentional humour! Students wi... read morell still have the poster up for many years to come though (Although I bet only half of them have seen it!)
  • mjgildea
    July 7, 2008
    mjgildea
    Not particularly good--just a piece of poorly executed propaganda that came out coincidentally around the same time that marijuana was made illegal. It's more funny than anything and this movie will probably make you want to make you smoke pot more than scare you from doing it. A... read morell funny, nothing else.
  • puffchunk
    November 30, 2007
    puffchunk
    The fact that a guy kills his entire family with an ax is priceless.
  • webalina
    May 9, 2007
    webalina
    The horrors of smoking marijuana. Hysterical if you're sober, and I'll bet it's even funnier if you're high.
  • hypathio7
    August 20, 2010
    hypathio7
    Better with the RiffTrax. I had seen this back in college online through a moving image archive (http://www.archive.org/details/moviesandfilms). Now I've had the chance to see the colorized version with a running hilarious audio track by the RiffTrax guys. It is an exploitatio... read moren film, but I had forgotten how much skin the ladies show. The main thing that sticks with you is the fear tactic preaching of Joseph Forte who plays a school principal trying to arouse the audience to stamp out the "soul destroying" "violent narcotic" marijuana. Also the maniacal grins and laughter exhibited by the jittery reefer users (Dave O'Brien giving an unbelievably creepy performance) while puffing various colored marijuana smoke are unintentionally the funniest parts of the movie.

View All Reefer Madness (Tell Your Children) (Doped Youth) Reviews

Critic Reviews

Dave Kehr
March 28, 2007
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. Full Review

March 28, 2007
TV Guide's Movie Guide

All the performers either overact laughably or underact to the point of just standing in place and speaking lines in a monotone. Full Review

Phil Villarreal
January 21, 2007
Phil Villarreal, Arizona Daily Star

"Reefer Madness" is so outrageously over the top that it's tough to imagine it was taken seriously even in the 1930s. Full Review

June 24, 2006
Time Out

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

Dennis Schwartz
February 28, 2006
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

The film is so idiotic that it almost demands being seen to confirm how bad it is. Full Review

Dan Jardine
August 24, 2004
Dan Jardine, Apollo Guide

As the evidence mounts before us, it becomes clear that the general purpose of Reefer Madness was not pedantry, but vicarious lasciviousness. Full Review

Matt Brunson
April 19, 2004
Matt Brunson, Creative Loafing

The most famous of all the vintage "message" movies from the 30s and 40s only gets, uh, better with age. Full Review

John J. Puccio
March 11, 2004
John J. Puccio, Movie Metropolis

...probably the granddaddy of all so-bad-it's-good cult films. I'm not sure it started a welcome trend. Full Review

Bob Bloom
February 25, 2004
Bob Bloom, Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN)

A true guilty pleasure; laughable today. More fun than educational.

Brian Mckay
March 19, 2003
Brian Mckay, eFilmCritic.com

A laughable and ignorant indictment of marijuana culture. Even the camp appeal isn't worthwhile.

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