“Your movie this week is Teen-Age Crime Wave. It’s a documentary of some sort about the likes of Todd Bridges and Dana Plato.” Troubled teens, shooting spree, reform school, Jane is falsely accused of robbery and while being transferred is busted out. Freed by Mike the boyfriend of her cellmate, Jane is dragged along as the couple seizes a farmhouse and holds the people hostage. Soon the owners’ son arrives and this is one Happy Thanksgiving. Escape Attempt, Mace Mousse, Rocket Pack, Doughy Guys, The First Deli In Space, Mystos, Mail Call. “12 Angry Teens”, “Wow, sex and Buffum in the same sentence”, “You know, you just leave that gun laying around some kid’s gonna pick it up and start playing with it.” “That’s their right” or “Straight off the rack”?
Let’s start by stating the obvious, shall we? Jane is an idiot. First, she gets set up with a rotten blind double date where her partner had apparently felt free to grope her. Then the other participants finish the evening by mugging a random shmuck. After her wrong place at the wrong time arrest, she has every reason to squeal (though not like a pig). Since the others have records and she doesn’t, it’s feasible that she would be given the benefit of the doubt. Yet she stays quiet. My best guess is that she’s doing it to spite her judgmental mother, as teenagers are perfectly capable of not considering the long-term consequences of their actions. Still doesn’t stop it from feeling a bit contrived.
Worse than that is the second act, where the intrinsic tedium of hostage films comes out in force. If Mike and the Bots hadn’t been on their game, it would have been absolutely Hell. But even though they were firing on all cylinders, it’s still a relief when we go to the chase to the Griffith Observatory.
Let’s come up with additional varieties of Mace Mousse. Mine is Eau de Calumet Harbor.
This is from 522 not Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie (1996). I just heard it. Funny they’d return to that later. Thank You Griffith Observatory.
@optiMSTie Memories of this one? An experiment happening on Thanksgiving? Why haven’t I heard more about it? Rewatching this, it’s pretty strong. For a bleak picture, the writing more than meets the task.
