“Reefer Madness” is latest live theater event for Rifftrax crew
From left, Bill Corbett, Kevin Murphy and Mike Nelson of Rifftrax
On Thursday, the movie-watching wisecrackers behind Rifftrax will bring their mocking to theatergoers live, as part of the Fathom Events presentation of “Reefer Madness.”
Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett, formerly of “Mystery Science Theater 3000,” will present live humorous commentary with the film as it is presented across the country. This is the third nationwide live theater event for the Rifftrax crew.
“The thing I like the most about it is that we are able to get this show, live, to places in the country that otherwise would not be able to see anything like this,” Murphy said. “You don’t have to live in a big city in order to enjoy us live on screen.”
“Reefer Madness” originally was released in 1938 and had been intended as a morality tale showing the dangers of marijuana use. However, the over-the-top acting and low budget made the film an unintentional comedy, with the film becoming a cult classic in the 1970s.
The Rifftrax crew said the way films were made in the 1930s often allows for successful riffing.
“‘Reefer Madness’ gives us that heavily late ’30s, early ’40s, where everybody’s wearing suits, no matter what they do, even if they’re 10 years old,” Murphy said. “And everybody looks and talks exactly the same. I can barely tell any of the characters apart from one another.”
Also, the performances can lead to humorous interpretations.
“It might have been because they were mostly all stage actors, and the soundstages weren’t miked very well, but everybody seems to be yelling at each other all the time, which amuses me,” Corbett said.
Locally, the film will be shown at AMC Quail Springs 24, 2501 W Memorial Road; Tinseltown USA, 6001 N Martin Luther King Ave.; and Spotlight 14, 1100 N Interstate Drive in Norman. In Tulsa, the film will be shown at Cinemark Tulsa 17, 10802 E 71st St.
The event also will feature three brand-new riffs on three short films.
“We’re doing our first animated (short) … it’s really, really old and terrifying animation, and the story itself is sort of impenetrable,” Nelson said. “And of course, everyone bobs up and down at all times.”
Another short is about making crafts.
“I think it’s from the ’70s, but it seems to be from some world of madness,” Nelson said. “It’s just these kids that are supposed to be making crafts with grasses, and it ends up being — truly, it is the most astonishing thing.”
Murphy interjected his theory.
“I think it came through a hole in a parallel universe, Mike.”
Nelson responded, “Yeah, it’s one of those things. We used to do that with movies, where you try to figure out, ‘OK, what, who made this? What possible motive? What?’ and it ended up being your obsession, like, ‘How did this happen?’ and this is one of those shorts.”
Tickets are on sale at www.FathomEvents.com. For more information, go to www.Rifftrax.com.
- By Matthew Price
From Wednesday’s The Oklahoman
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