Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.5

Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical Blu-ray Movie Review

"Quit squawkin'. You got more static than the radio."

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown January 9, 2025

First released on Blu-ray by FilmRise in 2016, Reefer Madness: The Musical, a zany, semi-star-studded spin on the cult classic 1936 propaganda film, returns to Blu-ray courtesy of Dark Star Pictures. Written and directed by Kevin Murphy and Dan Studney, the madcap musical version stars Kristen Bell, Christian Campbell, Alan Cumming, Ana Gasteyer, Neve Campbell, Steven Weber, John Kassir, Christine Lakin, Amy Spanger, Robert Torti and Kevin McNulty. Bottom line, though... is it funny? Are the songs infectious? Is it worth your time? How good is it high? Erm, I mean how good is it... just in general... while completely sober... not while eating gummies or anything cause that would be a hypothetical that definitely doesn't apply here... uh... question mark?

"It's time for parents to take a stand / For the preservation of this great land / 'Till the things that scare us are burned or banned / Or smashed to smithereens! / And once the reefer has been destroyed / We'll start on Darwin and Sigmund Freud / And sex depicted on celluloid / And communists and queers! / When danger's near, exploit their fear!"

Based on the musical of the same name that premiered on Santa Monica Boulevard in 1998, the film reveals a new menace sweeping the nation, ready to ensnare and seduce the youth and drag them down into a life of sin. In smalltown, America, a high school drama club, led by the gravely stern Lecturer (Cumming), illustrates the perils of the "leafy green assassin" sweeping the nation. He tells the story of Jimmy (Christian Campbell, still filling the role on stage in 2025 last I checked), a fine, upstanding, All-American boy whose life falls apart because of the nasty, nasty reefer. Jimmy is a good kid, with a bright future ahead of him. He even has a sweetheart he loves dearly, the wholesome and sweet Mary Lane (Kristen Bell). But when Jimmy is tricked into taking his first puff of marijuana, his life quickly spirals downward. It begins with a neglect of family, schoolwork, even love, in order to spend all his time smoking joints at the Reefer Den, an establishment run by Mae Coleman (Ana Gasteyer) and her abusive boyfriend Jack Stone (Steven Weber). His addiction leads him to debauchery in the company of Sally DeBanis (Amy Spanger), sin, theft, murder (most accidental but deadly all the same) and, ultimately, the electric chair. The lesson? Be careful, kids. Marijuana use leads to the death penalty!

The 2005 film production is a whirlwind of color, music and comedy, leaning into the play's penchant for the absurd. Every actor is oh so serious, making Jimmy's downward plummet into hell a hilarious descent into the horrified minds of stalwart religious fanatics and stuffy politicians. (The 1936 propaganda film might be nearly ninety years old, but the same fears still prevail in well-intentioned people and the not-so-well intentioned moral police in 2024.) Campbell and Bell are front and center, and thankfully so, belting songs and biting the scenery with an abandon that's damn near riveting. The terrors clip along at such a breakneck musical pace that the entire cast must've been left in puddles of sweat by each performance night's end, and they bring the same energy and devilish enthusiasm to the screen. The fourth wall is shattered from the outset, as is any semblance of rest or respite. Jimmy is damaged goods and so is anyone who follows him into the breach, or is already waiting there. Smoke billows, blood sprays, Romeo and Juliette are invoked, and murder most foul (more than one too!) drags the entire town to the brink of toe-tapping destruction.

Whether the film compares favorably to the stage production is beyond my scope, but Reefer Madness: The Musical lured me in, had me laughing out loud, and left me humming quite a few of its deliriously funny songs. Part of the joy here is realizing just how overblown fears of the dreaded "gateway drug" were, are and may always be, while alcohol, one of the deadliest vices the world over, and lung-ravaging cigarettes get a miraculously ironic free pass. Three cheers for fatal car accidents, liver disease and lung cancer! The stars deliver more-than-capable renditions of the songs too, though some are clearly stronger singers than others. Still, the lesser voices are used to obvious comic ends, so it all works out. The real magic to the musical is its sincerity, which amps up the hilarity that much more with each passing minute. The lack of pause makes it a bit of an exhausting, at-times one-note watch, admittedly. But there's a savagery and frantic ease to the slapstick and cartoonish bits that keep things clicking into place even at the production's most tiresome. The minute it grows thin, a new, more bizarre twist of fate comes along to bolster the comedy and amp up the danger poor Jimmy inadvertently drags to Mary's doorstep.

And good God, could I ever listen to '30s slang and verbal swagger all day long. "See ya in the funny papers" and "that was half a' jay of good mooter you just wasted," indeed. "I can't wait to read the ending! / I can't either! But I bet it turns out real swell! I bet Romeo marries his Juliet... / They have a baby! / And make lots of friends! / That's prob'ly the way the play ends!"

Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Reefer Madness: The Musical boasts a solid 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentation that really only has one issue: slight but persistent artifacting that pops up from time to time. The film's fine veneer of grain is largely consistent, but every now and then blocking flitters into brief view (one third-act shot of Mae with a bloody ax is particularly problematic). It never proves to be a major distraction, mind you. Just one that leaves a few scenes resembling a streaming version of the musical. Otherwise, all is as it should be. Colors are as bold and garish as intended, with splashy primaries and satisfying, nicely contrasted black levels. Detail is typically excellent, with crisp edges, revealing delineation, and refined textures that showcase the costumes and production design. Dance numbers get a touch soft on occasion, but nothing is too out of sorts. All in all, the presentation hits the mark and delivers. It's "happy, young and hemorrhaging blood!"

Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

But with a musical it's the audio that really counts, right? Fortunately, Reefer Madness: The Musical delivers in that department as well. Voices are clear, intelligible and neatly nestled in the soundscape, front and center. Instrumentation and chorus lines are bright and bouncy, with plenty of dynamic punch, while the intermittent dialogue bits are prioritized without a hitch. LFE output does a good job lending weight and bolstering rhythm, and rear speaker activity, though the tiniest bit too reserved, creates a suitably enveloping soundfield that makes immersion a cinch.

Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The only extra included is a trailer, which is a shame considering how appreciated a featurette or documentary tracking the now twenty-seven year run of the LA and New York stage production would have been.

Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"Do your children enjoy jazz music? For I am here to tell you that Cab Calloway, Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, and the whole weed-blowing ginger- colored lot are merely masquerading as musicians and are, in fact, agents of evil. Reefer slows down the smoker's sense of time, allowing him to squeeze in unnecessary grace notes, giving this voodoo music the power to hypnotize white women into indulging in acts of unspeakable degradation."

Reefer Madness madness may have hit in the late '90s, so this Blu-ray release may seem a tad late to the party, but its movie musical is no less funny and entertaining than it's always been. Add to that a solid disc with a strong AV presentation and you have a musical on BD worthy of consideration.