Welcome to “Is It Worth the High?”, where our writers see newly released movies, listen to the latest album drops, and try other experiences while high to determine whether they’re worth your time, money, and most importantly, your cannabis buzz. This week, Dante Jordan returns to a movie he initially dismissed last 4/20, Grow House. Does this industry comedy deserve a second chance, or has that bowl long been cashed?
Products Enjoyed: Two joints of some Master OG
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High Experienced (1-10): 10. Boy, I was OUTTA there.
Last 4/20, when Grow House came out I went to see it in theaters. My initial review: “Yo this shit is trash.” In fact, I thought it was so bad that I actually walked out of the theater before it was over. But that was unfair because I was SOOOOOO high that I fell asleep multiple times during the film, so how could I really know how good or bad it was?
To right this wrong, I rewatched Grow House recently to truly determine whether the movie was worth the high.
First and foremost, I owe Grow House an apology. It is NOT trash. In fact, Grow House is downright hilarious. Starring DeRay Davis (EMPIRE, 21 Jump Street, Wild ‘N Out) and Lil’ Duval (Scary Movie 5, Meet the Blacks, various MTV shows), Grow House is a film about two friends who decide to start a cannabis grow operation with hopes of selling their product to surrounding dispensaries. The only problem? They have absolutely no clue what the hell they’re doing.
After securing a medical marijuana card, a Bel-air mansion to be used for their grow, and funding from Snoop Dogg himself, the pair soon finds out that there are still plenty of obstacles that stand in the way of their green goals, which leads to a bunch of comical missteps. What ensues is a complete fiasco that results in a very fun and entertaining movie.
Currently sitting at a 73% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, Grow House is the type of stoner flick that we’ve needed for a long time: a “stupid” movie rooted in exaggerated ridiculousness that’s meant solely for the purpose of being enjoyed while/after ingesting a considerable amount of THC. Sure, Seth Rogen has been giving us cannabis-related films over the years, but Grow House is one of the first to come along in a while that’s specifically cannabis-themed. It’s meant strictly for people who love to get high, restoring the long-lost feeling of classics like Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, Half-Baked, and Dude, Where’s My Car?
So if this movie is so great, why has there been absolutely no buzz about Grow House? The creators of the film seem to believe that it’s because the Hollywood elite are doing to their best to silence it. According to them, the movie almost never got made due to its overwhelming promotion of cannabis through its trailers, posters, and the film’s central content. Much like mainstream everything (hi, YouTube, we see you), it seems as if Hollywood bigwigs try to keep overt cannabis use and promotion in the dark as much as possible.
According to Marcus Morton, the film’s producer, “It was one of the hardest movies to make; everything that could go wrong did go wrong, and at the time marijuana was still largely illegal in the country.” He added, “When you see all the trials the guys go through in the film trying to get their grow business going, well, let’s just say [that when] making this film we had those same complications. I felt like I was in a Twilight Zone episode on this film…but it could have been the smoke coming from the cast.”
It would be great if the cannabis community supported movies like Grow House. Money talks, and the success of this movie, much like Up in Smoke, could open up the door to many more just like it. Grow House could be the catalyst that revives the extremely dormant stoner movie genre.
Is It Worth the High? Absolutely yes. I’m annoyed with myself for not seeing that before. Grow House is now available for digital download at GrowHouseMovie.com, and you should definitely watch it. It’s also available on YouTube, Google Play, Amazon Video, Vudu, and iTunes. Watch it, love it, share it, talk to people about it, and let everyone know about how perfect a stoner movie this is, because honestly, it has all the makings of a classic.
