Take in the hysterically half-baked cult classic, “Reefer Madness”

“Schlock and Awe” presents a free screening of the 1930s propaganda film with live comedic commentary at the Crucible on May 15.

A lurid tale of addiction, crime, decadence, and insanity, the preposterous quasi-documentary Reefer Madness (1936) has come to be regarded as the ultimate camp film. While it may rank among the worst movies ever made, this timeless, hysterical cult classic about the purported evils of marijuana ironically continues to provide sheer entertainment for potheads, stoners, and cannabis connoisseurs.

The “Schlock and Awe” film series at alternative nightclub Crucible returns this week with a free screening of Reefer Madness on Thursday, May 15 at 9 p.m., featuring live commentary from Madison comedians Cody Lemke, Sasha Rosser, and Alex Morris, who “make jokes during bad movies,” as their tagline goes. Although this low-grade paranoid melodrama has been in the public domain for decades and can be viewed in full on YouTube, seeing it with an audience—and the addition of barbed quips in real time—sounds like a highly enjoyable and unique experience.

(Alas, since the Wisconsin Legislature’s Republican-controlled budget committee recently voted along party lines to kill marijuana legalization once again, this selection feels especially timely.)

Reefer Madness began its cinematic life as a propaganda film titled Tell Your Children that was financed by a small church group. Originally intended as a cautionary tale to parents, the movie opens with a stern foreword asserting that “Marihuana is . . . a violent narcotic—an unspeakable scourge—The Real Public Enemy Number One!”

The half-baked plot concerns a pair of sinister pot pushers who lure innocent high school students to their sleazy apartment for wild, licentious parties to get them hooked on the devil’s lettuce, ultimately driving them to psychosis, murder, manslaughter, and uncontrollable laughter. (Of course the real dangers of smoking cannabis are conspicuously absent from the film, such as inhaling about four meals at once or simply conking out.)

Soon after Tell Your Children was shot, it was purchased by Dwain Esper, a notorious producer and director of exploitation movies (including Narcotic, Marihuana, and Maniac). Esper took the liberty of recutting the film and changing its title to Reefer Madness before distributing it on the roadshow circuit. He evidently tried to make a quick buck off of a forbidden subject while skirting the Motion Picture Production Code of 1930 (which prohibited the portrayal of immoral acts like drug use). Following a brief theatrical run, it was forgotten for several decades. Neither Esper nor the original filmmakers bothered to copyright the movie, and it eventually reverted to the public domain.

In 1971, Keith Stroup, the founder of NORML (the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws), salvaged a print of Reefer Madness from the Library of Congress film archive and began showing it at pro-marijuana festivals to raise money for his lobbying efforts. It was a big hit on college campuses and the midnight movie circuit. Thus, Reefer Madness was reborn as a satire.

At a time when marijuana laws are changing at a rapid pace and recreational use of cannabis has been legalized in 24 states (barring Wisconsin), the film seems more ridiculous than ever. While Reefer Madness categorically fails as a cautionary tale about marijuana use, it endures as a bizarre historical curiosity and a warning about how misinformation and falsehoods can be propagated to influence public perception. Some things haven’t changed much since the 1930s.