Murder Was the Case: The Movie (1995) (V)

Directors:

Dr. Dre
Fab 5 Freddy

Writers:

Philip G. Atwell (writer)
Snoop Dogg (story)

Release Date:

14 February 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Short | Comedy | Crime | Drama | Horror | Music

Tagline:

In Beloved Memory: Calvin Broadus (1972-1994)

Plot:

Follows the exploits of Snoop Doggy Dogg as he gets shot, and makes a deal with the devil to survive. |

Plot Keywords:

Reference To Charles Manson | Policewoman | Profanity | Marijuana | Music Video

Cast

Snoop Dogg	...	Himself (as Snoop Doggy Dogg)
Charles Q. Murphy	...	JC'
Gregory Scott Cummins	...	Devil
Freez Luv	...	Himself
Goldie Williams	...	Looney
Banco Outlaw	...	Shavel
Miya McGhee	...	Tammey
Cylk Cozart	...	Paramedic #1
Bruce Williams	...	Paramedic #2
Sam Sneed	...	Himself
Bob Minor	...	Store Owner
Ricky Harris	...	Eyewitness / Ta-Dow / Snoop's Father
John Witherspoon	...	Drunk #1
Jeris Poindexter	...	Drunk #2
Mikki Blair	...	Girl #1

Runtime:

18 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Canada:13+ (Quebec) | UK:18

Company:

Death Row Records

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Welcome to Death Row (2001) (V)

twenty minutes of "gangsta life".

My friend and I were at a Cactus Music store and we were in the "music videos" section. It was there that we stumbled across the gem that is the _Murder was the Case_ movie. It was $5.99. I mean, I had some ideas about what went on in this movie (from the shortened MTV music video), but there is nothing like seeing it. It is a pretty fun little twenty minutes.

Charles Murphy plays a character named "JC". For those of you who saw CB4, JC is pretty much a reprisal of his role as Gusto. Anyway, Snoop went and got JC's girlfriend pregnant and JC finds out about it. So he goes out with some of his friends to do a drive-by on Snoop. <start music>

Now I'll just say right now that I don't totally get what happens in Snoop's song. He gets shot and then talks to Satan and Satan brings him back to life. So he smokes a lot of pot, and pisses Satan off. Satan sees it fit to send him to jail for his crimes or something like that. Hey, I'd be lying if I said that I understood it, but that's what I can deduce from the lyrics.

Yes, this is in a lot of ways just a long music video, but there are a couple of parts that really make the experience worth it. For example, JC starts to shoot at the ambulence that is transporting Snoop's body and one of the stoned ambulence drivers pulls out a gun! Oh, and there are a few explosions and things like that. It is a lot like the N.W.A. videos from 1991 with the nudity, profanity, marijuana, and guns and things like that.

So now is the time to ask yourself: do you like gangsta rap? Would you like to see what a 20 minute music video glorifying all sorts of immorality and violence? Interested in Snoop's acting debut or Dr. Dre's directing debut? If the answer to any of these questions is "yes", then by all means see _Murder was the Case_.

I'll just point out that the tape comes with other funny stuff, like a brief video clip of the Dogg Pound getting high and listening to their own music and driving around Long Beach. Oh and there are these "serious" interview segments with Snoop where he tries to be really profound and pretentious. Its so funny. Plus, there's also "What's My Name?"(the video that single-handedly killed morphing technology as a trend), "Gin and Juice", and "Doggy Dogg World" music videos and the Ice Cube and Dr. Dre director's cut of "Natural Born Killaz" (Ice Cube and Dr. Dre reenact OJ!). That last video alone is worth the price of this tape!