In these ongoing retrospectives on MST3K episodes, the finished product and how it sits with you is the lasting say. Removed of our feedback from the Soft Launch and with everything said and done, is Santo in The Treasure of Dracula (1969) as good as we hoped? The cancellation by Netflix? Covid 19? A new Kickstarter? 3 1/2 years between seasons? Green Screen? Was it all worth it in the end? Moon 1, Crow’s Blinkers, The Gizmoplex, Jonah’s Shameful Secrets, QVSanto, Alexander Slam Bell and the Clear Crusader. “Oh, a little murder on the lens!”, “All those people played Santo?”, “This is actually my favorite Castlevania sequel.” “Rene, my man, give me cinco!” or “Cognac”?
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Note: As this new season of MST3K is a work in progress, earlier threads on 1301 exist. They chronicle the anticipation, immediate response, recommendations and suggestions, and its evolution these last few months. The links to these are below. This thread is dedicated to the final result now that the dust has cleared and will be linked with my ongoing episode threads.
Ok, so I wanted to make a place to air out thoughts for the first episode of the new season.
What worked, what needs a little love, and what might not have worked for you.
Across numerous responses I’ve seen that sound levels between the movie and the riffs need a better balance as well as comments on the compositing of the green screen.
It seemed the pacing of the riffs was on point and addressed some fan’s concerns they were a bit too rapid fire in season 11.
What else?
(If you have a cri…
Hello friends. I’m trying to gather some very informal early data on the audio volume issues some of you encountered during the live event on Friday night. This is a little baffling to me as the volume balance was fine for me (watching on an Amazon Fire Stick) but clearly this was a not uncommon occurrence for many of you! I am hopeful that we will figure this out, and your info will help.
To be clear, I am asking ONLY about AUDIO VOLUME balance, and not about syncing issues that happened as a …
We’re a week into our “soft launch”, and we’ve got new updates fresh off the griddle!
This week:
The Evolution of Backer Updates
Update on Redeeming Gizmoplex Passes
Invites to the Gizmoplex Virtual Theater
Now available: Episode 1301, the rough cut!
Help us troubleshoot audio issues!
And don’t forget to mark your calendar for our NEXT livestream – and our first GIZMOPLEX SPECIAL EVENT – next Friday, March 18th, at 8pm ET / 5pm PT.
Come for a brand new short riff! Stay for MST3K’s tribute t…
It could be some filmmaking approach or a design element, maybe the way things played out in the theater, or perhaps something more philosophical than tangible, but what was the most important aspect of this new episode for you?
For me, aside from the larger idea of MST3K coming back and being an independent production, I love how we got the number of host segments back to how things once were in Seasons 1 through 11 (as opposed to how the Season 12 episodes each had one fewer host segment).
W…
Because the complete credits weren’t yet added, we didn’t get the stinger at the end of the experiment.
What do you think should be the stinger for Santo in the Treasure of Dracula?
I’m thinking that it’s going to be the goofy sidekick swallowing the whistle and making whistle noises.
[a meteor crashes into the Gizmoplex]
Kinga to Max: “The Gizmoplex! We’re ruined! Now our only option is to turn to Dr. Cabal, the strange financier from the future! That is the last thing we need!”
So, any theories or speculation about the enigmatic Dr. Cabal?
Is a mysterious new Mad set to land on the scene, or will this be some character from MST3K’s past that we’ve seen before? What makes this Dr. Cabal so strange? What does it mean that this individual has apparently come from the future…
Revealed as an imposter shortly after the 24:45 time stamp…
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The final cut with credits and all. Will it not be available until we get the downloads, or will it stream before that?
The MST3K Dedicated Episode Directory. Every thread others or myself have done on specific shows can be found here. If you wish to add yours to this listing, please send me a message. Thanks!
optiMSTie argued Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973) is “the first true masterpiece of the show’s run”. Speed Racer, Jennifer Beals, Jack Nicholson, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969). The nods cover so much and the level of pop culture references engulf you like the monsters. This won me as a teenager and hasn’t lost anything. Rex Dart, The Jet Jaguar Song, Orvile Redenbacher and his Grandson’s Journey Into Night. Is it as good as ever? The start of MST’s Golden Age?
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A pivotal one for me. MST3K and Godzilla. 2 for 1. The seafood jokes, “Batman!”, “A planet where apes evolved from men?”, The Godzilla Genealogy Bop, Crow and Servo as the Mothra Twins, a Tippi Hedren riff. This is near and dear to my heart. Almost as much as Cave Dwellers (1984). The emergence of the Golden Era of the show is there in the episode. The replay is high and I pop it in often. First impressions? What do you recall or remember?
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The show that changed my life. Lonely, depressed, a kid without friends, I gambled on a VHS named Cave Dwellers with weird silhouettes at the bottom. I went home, placed it in the player, and I was transported to another dimension I immediately fell for. “Music by The Super Mario Bros”, “a Mark VII Production”, “Warriors come out and PLAY-AY!!!” The hits just keep on coming in this opus of riffs and incompetence. Is this one of MST’s Greatest Hits? A classic?
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My second MST experience. Having loved Cave Dwellers (1984), I ran back into my local On Cue and snatched this hoping for a repeat. “Daktari”, “Potatoes”, “With a name like Smuckers…” It had everything. Host Segments, running gags, aliens. “Pepperidge Farm remembers…” and I never forgot. The Wizard of Oz (1939) of Mystery Science? Does it “stink” today as it did then?
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One of my favorites. Love the riffs. However, I did find the source material of the miniseries on YT. 猿の軍団 - YouTube This is episode 1. The intro song is longer here. Also the comments are little boxes with numbers. You can read my comments though. Someone should fansub this. There is a DVD set. I think it’s out of print, Amazon shows it at $500. Anyone else like this? Or the longer series, if you understand Japanese?
Corman… Roger Corman… Roger directs this saga of Viking Women searching for their men. “Call me Ishmael”, “Take Your Hands Off Her! You Damn Dirty Ape!”, “Hey look! All My Vikings!” The Mad’s Meat Re-Animator, Joel’s Waffle Iron, Willy the Waffle, the Waffle Song. “Eric’s Small Cigars” or “Brought to You by a Grant from the Mobile Corporation”?
Note: The full title is The Saga of the Viking Women and their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent (1958) and it hit theaters April 10th 1958 …
I ordered this on VHS and I wasn’t disappointed. John Carradine and Tor Johnson? What a pair! “Hey your car is barking, better change your barkplugs!”, “What is this, Dog on a Hot Tin Roof?”, “Avon calling!” Dr. F’s Hard Pills To Swallow, a Life-Size Flintstone Vitamin, the Jackie Mason Jar, Posture Pals, “Time for go to bed.” A stinky black and white or “Music by the Edgar Allan Poe Marching Band”?
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An MST episode I hadn’t seen till a few days ago. My mind is blown. So much pain in this picture. It’s off the charts. Easily one of the worst experiments in the show’s run. If watching James Bond were going to the dentist, you’d have this. Memories of seeing Castle the first time or thoughts? Where does Fu Manchu fall in MST history?
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“A cable access version of Marooned” (1969) and directed by John Sturges, Space Travelers “is star-studded isn’t it?” Gregory Peck, Richard Crenna, David Janssen, James Franciscus, Gene Hackman. “Oh Gene Hackman… He’s good in anything.” Tons of money, Oscar-Winning Special Effects. Did it amount to much? Beats me. “We’re in it now… Up to our necks…”, “Ahh the One-Armed Man is chasing me… I need a drink…”, “Like Father like Son, think about it, won’t you?” Is it “the big blue marble brought to yo…
Comedy Central was my go-to on a good share of episodes. A bunch of Season 4 landed in my collection entirely because I’d videotape any MSTie listing I brushed across. Space Travelers (1969), City Limits (1984), Being from Another Planet (1982), Attack of the Giant Leeches (1959), Hercules Against the Moon Men (1964). I grabbed the lot and watched them to death. “Earth girls are easy!”, “Run, Toto, Run!”, “Thank you, sir, may I have another?” Teenagers from Outer Space (1959) easily rose to the …
Titled Time Walker (1982) and renamed owing to FVI’s repackaging, Being from Another Planet scalded me in my adolescence BIG TIME when my recording of MST3K led me into this corpse. Goofy titles, dumb university, young people waiting to die. The Boiler Room was the monster’s runway and the movie uses it over and over. Austin Stoker? Darwin Joston? Where’s John Carpenter? Tragic Moments, the Jack Palance Impersonator Kit. Petrified poodle or Dead Man Walking?
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Once Cave Dwellers (1984) and Pod People (1983) endeared themselves to me, I began taping episodes on Comedy Central. A few came and went before “DEEP HURTING!!!” found me. “SANDSTORM!!!”, “I AM the button”, “Pizza Pizza.” I was hooked. The Amazing Booby Trap Illusion, the Bots as musclemen, Pants!. This is ever so watchable. I can’t resist it whenever it’s on. Fan favorite? One for the ages?
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A hip boring misfire reduced to yelling “ONLY KIDDING!” at the end. Missing astronaut, rising radiation, mumbo-jumbo, and dancing filter into this slow dull dud of an oops. Incoherent isn’t even descriptive enough. Two directors, a four year gap, half the cast recast, one actor gaining so much weight he’s brought back as the brother of who he was before. A Frankenpicture if ever there was one. “This has been a test. Had this been an actual movie, you would have been entertained.” Quite right. Wo…
Originally called Sampo (1959), this Soviet-Finnish production lost 24 minutes in the U.S. release known as The Day the Earth Froze. Every scene was filmed 4 times using two cameras as the picture featured either Finnish or Russian dialogue. A pastoral spectacle adapted from Finnish poetry, it is ripe for the riffing. “The Adventures of Fjord Fairlane”, “Kenny G”, “It’s a nice day for a wet wedding.” The fantasy encourages the ribbing and Day embodies what we love about the show. Fool’s Gold or …
MST3K touches us as few programs can. Hilarity, irreverence, comaraderie, pain. Certain shows accomplish specific things. Cave Dwellers (1984) and Pod People (1983) were all-arounds. Good at everything, not too terrible, and great for beginners. Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973), Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster (1966), Hercules Against the Moon Men (1964). They were romps with a specific theme in this case the monsters or title character. Manos: The Hands of Fate (1966) stood as the torture test and holy…
After surviving The Castle of Fu Manchu (1969), I leapt to one of my favorite episodes. 506. Eegah (1962). Also on the shortlist of MST’s greatest offenders. Irony is this is so much a pleasure compared to Fu Manchu. Why is Eegah easier to go down compared to Manos (1966) or The Creeping Terror (1964)? Is it the genre, Richard Kiel, or the endless singing? Maybe the sitcom writing that disguises the truth? Where did you first see it and where does it rank in MST Deep Hurting?
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Wavering on whether or not to include this, the affection shown by fans convinced me. Morals, juvenile delinquency, Caprcorn, I Accuse My Parents (1944) tastes the rainbow of MST3K. Inspired writing, ideal subject, flawless elevation of the formula, Joel and Best Brains pulverize the target eviscerating what’s near into powder. Cake n’ Shake, the Junk-Drawer Organizer, Nude Tom Servo. The Pinocchio Syndrome, the Bots draw their families, Jimmy’s lies. “Jules and Jim!”, A young Al Bundy!", “Liar…
A fave of mine even without the riffing. Three servants, a mad old woman, a nuclear scientist. Sounds like a sitcom. Weird narrator, brain transplants, people constantly using the stairs. “So we chaaaaaaaange partners!” “Selznick International Pictures”, “The Strange Loves of Martha Washington”, “Tonight on a very special Grandma Ironside.” Peak early Mike or a whole lot of darkness?
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The music alone escorts me to the first time I saw it. “Da dada dada da da da…” Mike showing off his sound system driving the bots away, The Satellite of Love Coffee Shop, Tom and Crow crawling into Gypsy. Has a monster taking the scenic route ever felt this long? “The Unbearable Whiteness of Being” or Mike’s Manos (1966)?
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The Skydivers (1963). Frank summed it as “kinda like Manos without the lucid plot.” Love Triangles, Acid in Parachutes, the FAA, Francisland is everywhere. Bleak living, pained faces, liquid comfort. Show choirs, “Uranus”, shop class. “This Is downright Hitchcockian…” “Robyn Hitchcock.” “I wet 'em!”, “They should set a place for Eraserhead.” “Let’s do the Sky Diver!!!” or “a National Geographic Special”?
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I haven’t seen a thread about this episode yet, but once I saw this news, I had to create one:
Vinegar Syndrome’s partner label Deaf Crocodile is releasing THE SWORD AND THE DRAGON (a.k.a. Ilya Muromets) on Blu-ray this month???
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Some pretty interesting special features on this disc, along with some really rad cover art (as is usual). The distributor also has the rights to The Day The Earth Froze (Sampo) so that’s likely heading our way as well.
Thoughts on this release? The film? …
Coleman Francis directs and stars? What more could anyone ask? John Carradine singing, Curly jokes aplenty, “Hi! I’m Cherokee Jack!” Coffee, crime, everlasting close-ups. This, Creeping Terror (1964), and Yucca Flats (1961) are neck and neck as Mike’s worst experiment. As Crow said, “I want to hurt this movie, but I could never hurt it as it hurt me.” Chemotherapy or “Sal Mineo for Viceroy”?
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In my teens taping Mystery Science episodes off of Comedy Central, this one felt perfect. Two shorts (Money Talks! and Progress Island U.S.A.), one terrible movie, and that Comedy Central flavor in every bite. Choice skits like Crow’s Anti-Film Preservation Society, the wait for 11:30, and the victory and concession speeches shove this into higher territory. The riffs, energy, and pace mark Beast as the best of the Mike era. There’s very little negative I can say. This typifies why I fell for th…
Ideal for those who’ve never seen the program. Exceptionally strong and the riffs burn like steaks on the Fourth of July. Peter Lawford, Jack Palance, Jim Backus, Alan Hale Jr, Pat Buttrum, Arthur Godfrey. The familiar faces lace this with nostalgia as Charlie’s A-Team takes a bite out of crime. Rollie Fingers and Tug McGraw, Chocolate Jones and the Temple of Funk, Mike as The Fonz. “Kelly LeBrock’s Heroes!”, “Fox Force Five!”, “The Mommies: An action-packed adventure.” Season Six Greatness or …
Thread Directory continued…
The last episode in season eight and one of the best. I’ve always respected Raul Julia as an actor even in this clunker. Lots of memorable moments in this one. Thoughts anyone?
In the heat of my Sci-Fi Channel binging, Girl in Gold Boots (1968) gobsmacked me in those old familiar ways. Riffs that won’t quit, a Black Hole of a movie, endearing Host Segments, and a flair for slow roasting till the cheese falls off the film. The selection felt like a time machine from the mid-90s. Exploitation, non-existing quality, sleaze in color, and no Science Fiction or Horror in sight. I was stunned and still am. A doozy of an episode and an all-time standout, Gold Boots shimmies “T…
And I took The Neverending Story (1984) as grim. A blending of two projects by director Kenneth J. Berton, Merlin’s Shop (1996) merges Berton’s The Devil’s Gift (1984) detailing the destruction caused by a toy monkey with cymbals into an anthology story bookended and interrupted by Ernest Borgnine. Kenneth guts his Devil’s Gift forming the second half of Mystical Wonders pruning large sections not even sparing the ending where David and Michael die in a house explosion. The new hybrid shoves Mer…
It slipped by me in 1999. Decades after, I finally witnessed Charles B. Pierce’s vision. What there is of it. Look At Me: The Movie. With Bigfoot and Son. Pierce has a fondness for narration. Noteworthy in The Legend of Boggy Creek (1973) and The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976). Vern Stierman voiced those and as annoying and obvious as he was Pierce trumps him as his own narrator in The Legend Continues (1985). Throw in Pierce directing, producing, starring, and lighting the set, it dawns on yo…
Angels Revenge (1979) helmer Greydon Clark pours us another round of Joe Don Baker. Clark cameos as the Sheriff shot in the opening minutes and his unique mash of crime and cop films is criminal. Homespun wisdom, Spaghetti Western seasoning, cliches upon cliches. This sings MST3K and delivers. “Some enchanted evening!”, “Can I get a balloon?”, “The Ugly, the Ugly, and the Ugly.” “Owner of a Lonely Heart”, “Same Shot Used Twice”, Mike re-enacting Joel’s Goodbye from Mitchell (1975). Full circle o…
The penultimate experiment of the Sci-Fi Years. A Case of Spring Fever, Mikey the Mike Sprite, Tom plauged by Southern Belle-ness, Crow wearing HIGH heels. “JEDDDDD!!!”, “Jame Gumb rents this shack!”, “ISN’T SHE LOVELY?” Oozing atmosphere, Squirm (1976) needles you and it isn’t pretty. A fan of it, I once travelled to a screening in Pennsylvania and met Jeff Lieberman and he signed my Blus of Squirm, Blue Sunshine (1978), and Just Before Dawn (1981). While there, he hadn’t lost his irritation on…
The end of the line. Or so we thought. Mike and the Bots’ Last Dance with Mary Jane. “One more time to kill the pain…” Going out on a psychedelic 60s movie, Diabolik (1968) crackles stem to stern. The Morricone music (“Gonna go to the store!”, “Gonna pick up some bread!”), the lovemaking (“Paper cuts are brutal”, “The young Alan Greenspan!”), press conferences (“Dan Quayle announces his candidacy.”) Pearl’s handbook, packing their bags, the Mads new job opportunities. I couldn’t be happier how g…
Seventeen and a half years passed between Seasons 10 and 11. A bulk of us hadn’t a clue it would ever be back or that the father of modern film riffing Joel Hodgson might be its face. In a month of crowdfunding, the Kickstarter and Backer Add-Ons raised 6.3 million collectively and on December 11th, 2015, we had money for 14 new episodes of MST. A year and change of work resulted and in February and March 2017 Red Carpet Screenings of Reptilicus (1961) played to select backers in NYC, Chicago, a…
Buzzing in the wake of Reptilicus (1961), I binged on. Turkey Theremin, Carvel Ice Cream Clock, Cry Wilderness Cereal, Red Crow stealing Jonah’s Backjack. The care put into it read off every line. Joel Era Mystery Science alive and well modernized to today. “The last Borders Bookstore customer”, “BANG!”, “Alfred Hitchcock’s The Bird.” A sequel to Pod People (1983) or The Legend Continues?
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“Ib Melchior? The man behind Reptilicus?” Yes Jonah. Who else? A bunch of lame scientists and a wormy sidekick are stranded in the future. Dr Crow’s Edible Silica Packets, Afterlife Alert, Seminar on Time Safety, Jonah constructing a new line of robots. Is this 1993? “Aah! Right in the Ketchup packet!”, “Somewhere out there!”, “Ladies and Gentlemen… The Blandtastic Four.” “MERRY ANDERS!!! ONE AND ALL!!!” or “You are watching the Venetian Blinds Channel”?
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From one Franken wimp to another, Danny is now McDade. Instead of wasteland, we have snow. Priced at $6.5 million, Roger Corman shrunk Avalanche (1978) in cost. Filmed around the Purgatory Resort north of Durango, Colorado, it was rushed to finish in 8 weeks. Once in theaters, audiences supposedly laughed when Stryofoam appeared. Starring Rock Hudson, Mia Farrow, and Robert Forster, the expected smash underperformed at the box office. Mad Bots, Mouth Vacuum, the Don la Font-aine 3000, Neil Patri…
Leaving the Rockies for Mexico. A story concept by Willis O’Brien. This is the earliest mashup of cowboys and dinosaurs in movies. Currently the oldest film spotlighted in the Netflix or Gizmoplex seasons, The Beast of Hollow Mountain (1956) defies true badness till the final reel. The Disco Cannon, The Titanic Hot Water Cannon, Tom and Crow’s Monster Pitches, the Mexican Themed Fashion Show. “More brains!”, “Stephen King’s Children of the Maize”, “Aista La Vista, Baby.” “Establishing Shot: The …
Departing the West and beaming to Space, “Star Wars… This isn’t Star Wars… Even with Plummer it’s not even CLOSE!!!” George Lucas dreamed a dream. One only he be!ieved in. Alan Ladd Jr stood behind him, his wife Marcia, and John Williams, but that’s it. The board at Fox tried to stop his 5 Million Dollar Space Opera even after it was greenlit citing commercial prospects and silly premise. George soldiered on undeterred finishing photography as Fox shut down the production. Releasing the film ran…
The Robinsons become the Marshall Family. Co-financed by American International Pictures and starring Doug McClure, John McEnery, Susan Penhaligon, Keith Barron, and Anthony Ainley, The Land That Time Forgot (1974) emerged as the first of three Edgar Rice Burroughs adaptations by Amicus Productions. Shot at Shepperton Studios for 16 weeks, hand puppets were used on the creatures to produce fine detail and a greater fluid motion to the dinosaurs. A small VistaVision camera recorded the monster ba…
Jonah’s Hercules Movie. A try to capitalize on the Steve Reeves Hercules (1958) craze by casting Jayne Mansfield and her husband in the main parts, The Loves of Hercules (1960) steers Greek Mythology into Game of Thrones land. The Chief Minister of Ecalia betrays his own king, setups up Hercules, and plays events to his advantage as love blooms on and off screen. Oracles, Amazons, the Underworld, myth or Days of Our Greeks? Wings, Fried Turkey Dunk Tank, Mexican Jumping Beanbag Chair, Whether To…
South Korea’s answer to Godzilla. Wedding, Itch Ray, “CAPSULE!!!”, Petroleum fills the monster’s needs. Watch out for Mr. Clean! He may hold the answer. Dream journal, Tiny Desk, Hitler Coffee, Astronauts’ Music Tastes, Yongary Nights. “This feels like the kind of music they play when Kirk goes to one of those make-out planets”, “Wait, it’s over? Did we just skip to the end of the movie?”, “Don’t Cry For Me South Korea!!!” “Wow that is a long title” or Yongary, Monster from the Deep (1967)?
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Among ten pictures Roger Corman produced in Argentina in the 80s beginning with Deathstalker (1983), Wizards of the Lost Kingdom (1985) goes full 80s. Child hero, nefarious baddie, adult sidekick, fantasy. Fully cut the footage lasted 58 minutes. Corman ordered several editors to cull whatever was serviceable from his earlier sword and sorcery fare and a 15-20 minute prologue was born. Max’s discovery, Verbal Smoke Bombs, The Sponsor Clock, Warrior Nicknames, “The Magic in You”, Letters. “Mortal…
When at a wedding reception attended by Roger Corman, writer of Wizards of the Lost Kingdom (1985) Ed Naha once recounted reminiscing with Roger on Wizards and Corman confessing “Oh, y’know that did very well in video. We filmed the sequel!” “Second verse, same the first”? Stock footage, entire scenes and battles reused and dubbed over from other Corman flicks, plot and props snatched from Deathstalker (1983) and its sequel, more of the same or Wizards of the Lost Kingdom II (1989)? Raining outs…
For 20 years, no prints existed. In 2009, a 35mm copy surfaced. Sweaty, icky, unpleasant, Carnival Magic (1983) hurts to watch it. A collision of the circus and The Dukes of Hazzard, nothing is safe. Joe Exotic, Dr. Oz, a talking chimp, the rest is white noise. So much cliche, so much filler, but “Where’s the Beef?” Tom-Talk, Yeasta-Pet, Flavor-Sweat, Cop Jargon, Mark Hamill. “George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Carnies”, “Not the Mama! Not the Mama!”, “Mongo only pawn in game of life”. Excre…
Titled Il Natale Che Quasi Non Fu in Italian, The Christmas That Almost Wasn’t (1966) smells of dubbing, greasy men, and the 60s. A down on his luck lawyer nets Santa as his client protecting him from an uncaring landlord named Prune. Santa owes rent and has to pay or get evicted. Christmas Carols, The Re-Gifter, Humbug FM, Toy Manufacturing, Creepy Looking Toys. “Fall in line, kids. You’ve been drafted into the cartoon army”, “Yeah, the war on Christmas starts earlier every year”, “He’ll be per…
The second of three Edgar Rice Burrough’s adaptations from Amicus Productions, At The Earth’s Core (1976) reteams Doug McClure and director Kevin Connor to drill for monsters and further box office. Peter Cushing, Caroline Munro, Cy Grant, the expense beats The Land That Time Forgot (1974) and the beasts impress yet it’s here anyway. Growler, Permanent Temporary Tattoos, The Rip Taylor Urn Cannon, Steampunk Bots, The Wedding. “Doug McClure? I forgot him like that land that time did!”, “Wow, this…
Paul Rudd’s mostest? Fabled cult fav imploded when dropped on audiences. Home video, cable, and devoted fans revived it into a mascot of bad entertainment. Alien family is vacuumed by a visiting space probe and transported back to Earth where they escape and seek soda pop. E.T. (1982), Poltergeist (1982), Alan Silvestri. What went wrong? The Gauntlet, Algernon, Spez Dispensers, Alien Whistles, Jonah McDonah. “I think we landed too far from the movie”, “Eh, the Epcot Post-Apocalyptic Pavillion’s …
A hot button choice. Newer movie, self-aware, The Asylum, Atlantic Rim (2013) is Pacific Rim (2013) only crappier. Inflatable Air-Dancer Organ, Supposi-Stories, “Get In Your Mech”, Military Frat-Boys, Jonah pouring out a drink for every soul who died. “Atlantic Rim? Could you be more Pacific?”, “It’s Crappy-Land. The world’s saddest most isolated amusement park!”, “So, who’s my designated driver?” “Did the ocean poop?” or is “This movie’s rigged”?
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1989 flooded with underwater productions. The Abyss (1989), Leviathan (1989), Lords of the Deep (1989), DeepStar Six (1989). The wave of water drama washed into theaters seizing the moment. “With a name like” Roger Corman, “it HAS to be good!” Blueprints, The Hand-Dryer Air-Hockey Table, Drone Probes, Truth Goop, Nursery Rhyme Games, Good Morning with Kinga and Max! “Hey, I used to live there!”, “The Oscar Meyer Sub-Mobile!”, “The most realistic sex scene ever.” “In the beginning the movie was w…
Produced by Charles Band and distributed by Compass International Pictures, The Day Time Ended (1980) bombards the senses with every manner of effects. Stop Motion, Models, Matte Paintings. The window dressing is more developed than the story. The Vault, The Fortune Meal, Spray-On Mustard Gas, Musing on How to Die, “Concepts”, Dr. Erhardt. “International, international? This film’s more international than a house of pancakes”, “Hey Y’all prepare yourself for the Charles Band… Man!”, “Oh that’s s…
Plenty of bankable names and directed by Tarantino idol Antonio Margheriti, Killer Fish (1979) according to Monthly Film Bulletin “appears to have a greater budget than Piranha” and “exhibits considerably less imagination.” Sporting Lee Majors, Karen Black, Margaux Hemingway, Marisa Berensen, James Franciscus, the Italian-French-Brazilian romp grants the title critters star status as the movie stars “line up to be a hot lunch.” “Idiot Control Now”, Alchemy Glue, Time-Travel Oven, Where are the K…
“This is the part of the film we like to call “she had to ask.””, “Jeez, Tolkien couldn’t follow this plot!”, “Again?” “No!!!” These are the jokes I hear when thinking of Ator, The Fighting Eagle (1982). Yes they are riffs from the sequel yet the spirit lives on and those flashbacks are “with us always.” Secret Plan, Swiss Army Cheese, Totino’s Pizza Roll Popper, Ator’s Training Sequence, Kiog the Bear Cub. “Ah, finally, I can yell “Fire” in a crowded theater”, “Remind me again, how much Keefe i…
In these ongoing retrospectives on MST3K episodes, the finished product and how it sits with you is the lasting say. Removed of our feedback from the Soft Launch and with everything said and done, is Santo in The Treasure of Dracula (1969) as good as we hoped? The cancellation by Netflix? Covid 19? A new Kickstarter? 3 1/2 years between seasons? Green Screen? Was it all worth it in the end? Moon 1, Crow’s Blinkers, The Gizmoplex, Jonah’s Shameful Secrets, QVSanto, Alexander Slam Bell and the Cle…
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Treasure of Dracula came out in 1969, the same year as the original Scooby Doo. The main cast can be seen as analogous to the Scooby Gang. Stalwart leader Santo is equivalent to Fred, skinny coward Perico to Shaggy, and redhead bombshell Luisa to Daphne. By default, this would leave Dr. Supulveda as Velma, which is where it all kind of falls apart.
It was written by Alfredo Salazar who also wrote The Robot vs the Aztec Mummy, hence why the two movies bear such a strong resemblance.
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Sitting_Duck:
Treasure of Dracula came out in 1969, the same year as the original Scooby Doo. The main cast can be seen as analogous to the Scooby Gang. Stalwart leader Santo is equivalent to Fred, skinny coward Perico to Shaggy, and redhead bombshell Luisa to Daphne. By default, this would leave Dr. Supulveda as Velma, which is where it all kind of falls apart.
See, I would have put Santo as Velma. Snazzy sweaters, good with science, powerless without their face coverings.
It’s still probably a bit too soon to really look back on this one, but I still think it was a really strong opener. It’s a very ludicrous, riffable movie, the writing’s sharp, and the sketches are great. I think the wrestling scene will go down as one of the greats.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to get some cognac.
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MOD HAT:
There are several discussions regarding this episode as noted above. Closing this thread for review.