Reefer Madness
Reefer Madness is a 1936 film from the USA, directed by Louis J. Gasnier, running 65 minutes. reelscum files it under classical exploitation.
- Year
- 1936
- Country
- USA
- Runtime
- 65 min
- Director
- Louis J. Gasnier
- Updated
- 29 Oct 2026
- Obscurity
- known (25/100)
- Also known as
- Dope Addict · Doped Youth · Love Madness · The Burning Question · Reefer Madness · Reefer Madness: Tell Your Children
Defined in the glossary: Classical exploitation
A church-funded warning that became a comedy 40 years later.
A church-financed cautionary film about the horrors of marijuana, which went nowhere on release and was rediscovered in the 1970s to become an accidental comedy classic. Wholesome teenagers try a single joint and descend immediately into madness, manslaughter and ruin, played with a hysterical sincerity that is now hilarious.
It survives entirely as camp, a monument to drug-panic propaganda so overheated it loops into entertainment. Its afterlife as a midnight movie is far larger than its original life.
Terrible on purpose in ways its makers never intended, and funny for it.
Trailer
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Legal options in USA
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The cycle in depth
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Filed alongside
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The Immoral Mr. Teas
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Marihuana
Esper again. One reefer leads directly to nude swimming and death.
Maniac
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Scum of the Earth
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