Reefer Madness - DVD Review

Unlike anything that hit the air this year - network, cable, or even theatrically - Showtime's Reefer Madness is a star-studded musical, based on an L.A. stage hit, based on a 1936 anti-marijuana scare flick. Got that? The original film, included in its entirety with the new DVD release of the Showtime movie, was a melodrama of the most extreme "melo-", showing people literally driven mad with their first toke of the wacky weed. Mining the "so bad it's funny" elements of the original, playwrights Kevin Murphy and Dan Studney created a Rocky Horror-esque look at propaganda and fear of the unknown, complete with toe-tapping musical numbers. Unlike a lot of stage musicals, Reefer Madness made the transition to the small screen of Showtime rather seamlessly, only occasionally feeling like a filmed play. Showtime's still the ugly little sister to HBO, but if they keep producing truly original programming like their series Weeds, Masters of Horror, and Reefer Madness, they may not be the underdog for long.

Now, a musical about paranoia may seem like a tough sell, but it's that very unusual nature of Reefer Madness that makes it so endearing. Filled with "ya don't see that every day" moments and enough catchy tunes to get you humming, Reefer Madness is pretty much enjoyable from beginning to end (although the camp gets a little tired at close to two hours). With scene-stealing performances by Alan Cumming and Veronica Mars' Kristen Bell (who does an S&M number that would make Veronica blush), the entire ensemble, a key element of a successful musical, makes the quirky material work. There are so many places that Reefer Madness could have gone horribly wrong, from flying too far over the top to forgetting to write good music, but Murphy, Studney, director Andy Fickman, and the entire ensemble hit every note just about right. This isn't landmark filmmaking, but Fickman and his crew take something that's very very difficult to pull off and don't seem to break a sweat as they make it work.

The DVD from Showtime is surprisingly fleshed out as well. You expect a handful of extras on theatrical hits, but not necessarily films that never played in a theater (unless you count Sundance, where Reefer Madness debuted). Showtime puts together a nice little nickel bag of DVD, complete with the hysterically bad 1936 original, a commentary from the cast and crew, cast biographies, and a behind-the-scenes featurette called "Grass Roots".

It's hard to say where Reefer Madness goes from here. It could disappear into DVD dustbins, an interesting footnote in the sure to be lengthy career of Kristen Bell, or it could develop a new cult following of its own. The creators tried to take the play off-Broadway and ran into the horrific luck of opening four days after 9/11. Theatre goers weren't ready for a comedy musical about pot that featured murder and cannibalism. Now? We're ready. This is one of those projects that deserves to find an audience, if only to support the undeniable originality that Showtime has been churning out in 2005. Check out the campy fun that is Reefer Madness on DVD and you might just get hooked.