Big reveal for next season: Minsky sheds his mechanical “skin” and is revealed as charismatic leader of the Demon Dogs. GPC ate his stunt double instead of him!
Why?
It’s complicated.
2 Likes
I really had trouble getting through this one the first time and the combo of pacing issues and early show riffing density didn’t help much.
1 Like
5 Likes
The quality of the jokes are reminiscent of later MST. I smiled a ton on this. Joel and the Bots are on fire. When they open their mouths, no punches are spared. The movie obviously resonated. That’s clear when watching it. The sacrificial deaths and soup references or the slow jokes and the showdown. I’d nominate this for a re-riff. Imagine Jonah or Emily diving into this.
3 Likes
The Demon Dogs were inspired as Host Segments. They’re a prequel to Timmy.
4 Likes
Did I mention how much I love the Mexican movies? They seem like late night creature feature movies to me and I love them! Mad scientists? Check. Cheesy acting? Check. This one is my favorite of them! The riffing is really good for this early in season one. And the host segments? They’re actually decent except for the ridiculous clacking sound of the head devil dog. It overwhelms the segment. Still, you can see the potential here!
3 Likes
Heavy vibes of The Muppet Show here. Enoch is a symptom of the early days. A crude puppet that distracts from the fun.
1 Like
The antagonist of the movie, “The Bat”, is one of those early film bad guys who is only successful due to the complete indifference or incompetence of others. This cut of villain has more ham than a Christmas dinner and has so much in common with other similar bad guys (like Ratfink) that you can really swap them around with each other and there isn’t much lost in the effort.
Which is really a shame, because movies of this sort stand or fall by the quality of the bad guy. It’s OK to have a hammy bad guy … but they have to pull the audience along with charisma and at least some degree of interest. And Krupp does neither. Honestly his acid-washed flunky is a more compelling character than The Bat is. He’s got motives you understand and in a way you almost kind of want to see him vindicated.
As an MST episode this is vintage, early MST and everything that goes with it. The show was still finding its legs and it shows at times. Long LONG stretches where there’s no riffing … even in places where it was desperately needed. It has a basic charm, but not a particularly good episode even for an early one. 5 out of 10.
3 Likes
Yeah Dr Amada is one of those guys who the film wants you to just be enamored with (like his @$$-kissing scientist friends), but he really is an egotistical jerk.
Like when he surmises that his wife was hypnotized by The Bat, and decides to not tell her, thus leaving her further mentally confused as to why her nightgown was dirty.
He also has that habit of making guesses and being right 99% of the time (I guess this is the filmmakers trying to make him out to be brilliant?), let alone for a scientist, has an amazing ability to shoot things out of people’s hands. Where does he find the time to practice?
Oh, and that smug expression on his face that never changes.
3 Likes
I would say he’s nowhere near being in the same league in that regard as John Agar.
2 Likes
Sooo I’ve read a bunch of these posts now (because I decided to trawl through all the episode-number posts in MST3K Central while sick, for something to do) and I gotta ask… what’s with the intro posts all ending up in two riffs presented as an “or” question? Like there’s a summary, and some highlights of things that appeared, and then a list of selected riffs… but the last two are always given as “A” or “B”? and I don’t get it…
1 Like
An idiosyncrasy of my essay writing. Before I joined this forum, I led and moderated a private Facebook group called Cinesis which still exists. In it, I would start threads encapsulating a movie into snapshots or corresponding pieces. It’s how my mind works. Reducing something down to its essence then trying to cover all the bases in its summation ending with two extremes or facets that may or may not apply depending on who you are. Since MST3K is often defined by its riffs, my logic on the intros concluded with three quotes covering the memorable jokes then capping it with a question phrased in two riffs that represent the range of the experiment. That’s my thinking and how I finished each one attempting to give a taste of each show by delving into what made an episode memorable. By applying its parts to its summary. That was the general idea.
Huh. I guess I have not gotten this “represent[s] the range of the experiment” thing in… well, any of these cases. Like in this one:
“This movie is the producer’s answer to Montezuma’s Revenge”
“This whole movie’s a sleeper hold”
… are you saying these two riffs are somehow opposite ends of a spectrum or something?
(eta: sorry if it seems like I’m deliberately failing to understand, or something. not my intent.)
2 Likes
They’re actual scripted comments by the writers which touch upon puns, common language, and references that might embody their, our, or someone’s point of view of the picture in my opinion. Not everyone will think so. As someone who grew up soaking in culture, vernacular, trends, and expressions in conversation, these bits speak to me when watching the work so I applied them as I wrote them. Everyone’s mileage will vary. These are reflections of me to some extent though what I’m really doing is adding commentary to the commentary in short form. Again to each their own.
Ummm… I’m not sure what you mean… if you think I was accusing you of doing something wrong, I wasn’t… I just don’t understand the significance of the “or” and the question mark for the final pair of riffs rather than just continuing to list them. But I suppose it’s not that important.
2 Likes
I didn’t take offense. It’s simply a means of including additional comments in a rhetorical question of riffs meant to fit the film somehow.
The riffs in this segment rule. I don’t care what anyone says. [crosses arms defiantly]
4 Likes
I’m in full agreement with you there. The first chapter of Commando Cody is great and I like it a lot as a stand-alone option whenever I’m in a Shorts mood.
2 Likes
lol
The turkey is almost fully carved before Joel gets around to making a “Krups Coffee Maker” riff and I still chuckle anew each and every time.
3 Likes
The Demon Dogs story arc is a lot of fun and they are one of the biggest highlights of this episode.
(And I occasionally thought they would eventually somehow call back to the “fetch” conclusion and come back in another episode!)
4 Likes