All Mullins had to do was live up to the title, which he does more than adequately. The production is almost a little too good for something trying to be cheap on purpose. The editing is sharp, the camera angles are spirited, and you can tell some care went into this. Also, the reefer beast itself is more than decent. You have to admire the balance on display between the cheap parts of the body suit with the higher-end mask work. The ugly maw of the beast is pant-damping disturbing, like a dope-faced Dr. Freudstein. Even some of the kill scenes with their gory aftermath are impressive, even though they didn’t have to be. Topping this weed-laced sundae is a big bloody cherry of a good ending. And as any fan of these movies will tell you, such factors determine the regard held for a greasy mutilation jamboree like this one.
“…the kill scenes with their gory aftermath are impressive…”
Mind you, like many other movies in this genre, Curse of the Reefer Beast takes its sweet time getting to the psychoactive stuff. This means you are going to have to pre-game like never before, as half of the movie falls flat in the test pattern zone. Nothing of any interest at all occurs until a stop at a gas station gets us to the local legend backstory for the weed monster. During this section, stoners can marvel at the stacks of chips with Canadian brands like Old Dutch and Humpty Dumpty. Then that’s it, buddy, until a long stretch later when the weed comes out, and folks start dying. So you will need the hardest liquors and the strongest strains of weed. I had to do a whole Blues Brother Rocket 88 joint of infused frosted donuts.
Curse of the Reefer Beast is a party movie meant for a group to get completely f****d up in front of while braying like jackasses. Having nothing happen in the first half means no one misses anything while courting oblivion. It also means once the onslaught of the good stuff occurs, everyone will be in a state of subconscious invigoration. Imagine a long boring fall off this impossibly tall cliff only to land in a grove of green stick pillows. This is a greasy blast of B-movie brain scramble that gets going once there.
"…a greasy blast of B-movie brain scramble..."
