If decades of horror movies have taught us one thing, it’s that certain demographics don’t typically make it to the end credits alive. But while we’re all aware that promiscuous teenagers, popular jocks, and practically any minority are often met with a grisly fate, the stoner also often finds him or herself at the pointy end of a machete. How frequently does a cannabis enthusiast get got? To find out, I dug through four and a half decades’ worth of horror movies and found 25 examples where enjoying a joint toke or bong rip resulted in an abruptly shortened life span, proving that while in the real world we have yet to come across a marijuana-induced death, in the horror movie universe, cannabis really does kill. Disclaimer: I’m both a movie buff and a horror movie enthusiast, but even I admit that my knowledge of stoner deaths in horror movies was somewhat limited to a couple of examples. To come up with this data, I combed through a list of horror movies that have been released from 1970 through 2016 and searched for plot references to cannabis, marijuana, pot, weed, joint, stoner, and stoned. I primarily focused on mainstream movies, so I’m sure you’ll chime in with an obscure title that didn’t make the cut. Also, I disregarded any stoners who managed to survive throughout the entire movie (looking at you, Idle Hands), as well as any obvious spoofs (e.g., the Scary Moviefranchise, Tommy Chong’s absurd Evil Bong film series). Is the resulting data 100% comprehensive? No, of course not (I did miss this gem of a scene from Freddy vs. Jason, alas). Should you enjoy it, anyway? Yes, absolutely. Analysis Movies Featuring Stoner Deaths by Decade: 1970s: 1 1980s: 10 1990s: 1 2000s: 10 2010s: 3 The 1970s had a lone entry in stoner death canon, but it’s a classic: Halloween. Not only does it feature a stoner demise, but the stoner chick who does survive to the very end is Ms. Ultimate Final Girl herself, the main character Laurie (played, of course, by the iconic Jamie Lee Curtis). In the beginning of the film, she shares a joint with her friend Annie, and while Annie later gets her throat slit by Michael Myers, Laurie lives to puff another day. Unsurprisingly, the ’80s were a popular decade for horror movie stoner deaths, coinciding with the rise in slasher genre popularity (the Friday the 13th franchise, Slumber Party Massacre, Sleepaway Camp II, etc.). Friday the 13th Part III (1982) If you were a stoner in the ’90s, however, your chances of survival were far greater. The ’90s were a collage of subgenres, with teen slashers dwindling in favor of tonally serious adult films (Misery, Jacob’s Ladder), ghost stories (The Sixth Sense, Stir of Echoes), and the beginning of the Asian horror movie boom (Ringu, Audition). When teen-oriented slashers did emerge (Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Urban Legend), they were shockingly absent of onscreen cannabis use. (I guess the D.A.R.E. program was successful, after all!) The sole death from the 1990s goes to Jack Black, who cameos in I Still Know What You Did Last Summer as a dreadlocked Rasta poolboy that gets impaled with a pair of garden shears (but not before he enjoys some top shelf bud one last time). Thankfully, the 2000s marked a return to glorious stoner deaths. Genre-wise, this decade was far more diverse than the 1980s. Genre Breakdown of Movies Featuring Stoner Deaths in the 1980s: Slasher: 9 Zombie: 1 Genre Breakdown of Movies Featuring Stoner Deaths in the 2000s: Monster: 3 Slasher: 2 Exploitation (Revenge): 2 Supernatural: 1 Zombie: 1 Virus: 1 Cabin Fever (2002) While slasher films were represented in the new millennium, we were also treated to a few monster movies (werewolf, leprechaun, and vampire, respectively), throwback exploitation films (Death Proof, The Last House on the Left), and the beginnings of the supernatural genre that would become more prevalent in the 2010s (along with the current resurgence of “found footage” movies). So far, the 2010s have three entries in the “Movies That Kill Off Stoners” Hall of Fame: Paranormal Activity 3, The Cabin in the Woods (a favorite among many cannabis enthusiasts), and V/H/S. If our current decade is to outpace the glorious output of the ’80s and ’00s, movie studios need to start picking up the pace over the next 3+ years. After all, if we can get legalization happening in this decade, why not some more stoner representation in horror films? Better yet, how’s about some more Stoner Final Girls (and Guys) à la Halloween? It’s time to buck the stereotype that cannabis enthusiasts are too baked to make it to the end. We can be survivors, too! (https://www.leafly.com/news/lifestyle/how-many-stoners-die-in-horror-movies)
Ctfu good thread v o s t o k I see you did your research! I have 2 strikes against me but I still think I would survive Much respect to you for the mention of cabin in the woods. The stoner guy survives until the very end! And Freddy vs Jason lol i know what scene that is without even looking ~Toni~
Cabin in the Woods yeah I did a double take on that flick I remember settling into what I thought was another cheesy B' flick with the camera moving towards the bedroom mirror then like in Terminator flipping to the clinical other side of the mirror ....lol a serious double take I was toking good stuff at the time