The MST3K Movie Categorization Project

MST3K Central
#1

I’ve put together an Excel sheet that ‘categorizes’ each MST3K movie into a broader group. The goal wasn’t to have dozens of categories that get super specific, which would sort of defeat the point. The goal was to go fairly general and end up with as broad a set of buckets as possible. That being said, some movies didn’t lend themselves easily to big groups and so some broad categories have “subsets” … such as “Earth Drama - Revenge”, etc.

So ultimately stuff like “Earth Sci-Fi” is meant to be a broad category of all the movies that take place on Earth but have science fiction elements to them … (but are different from movies like It Conquered The World which fell into the “Lone Alien/Monster/Zombie On Earth” category).

Here it is … thoughts? Some of it is open to interpretation clearly.

EPISODE TITLE CATEGORY
101 The Crawling Eye Giant Monster / Kaiju
102 The Robot vs. The Aztec Mummy Mad Scientist With or Without Monsters
103 The Mad Monster Mad Scientist With or Without Monsters
104 Women of the Prehistoric Planet Outer Space / Sci-Fi
105 The Corpse Vanishes Mad Scientist With or Without Monsters
106 The Crawling Hand Lone Alien / Monster / Zombie On Earth
107 Robot Monster Lone Alien / Monster / Zombie On Earth
108 The Slime People Aliens / Monsters / Zombies On Earth
109 Project Moon Base Outer Space / Sci-Fi
110 Robot Holocaust Post Apocalypse
111 Moon Zero Two Outer Space / Sci-Fi
112 Untamed Youth Earth Drama - Teen / Rebel
113 The Black Scorpion Giant Monster / Kaiju
201 Rocketship XM Outer Space / Sci-Fi
202 The Side Hackers Earth Drama - Revenge
203 Jungle Goddess Earth Drama - Jungle / Hunted
204 Catalina Caper Earth Drama - Spy / Crime
205 Rocket Attack USA Earth Drama - Cold War / Military
206 Ring of Terror Earth Drama - Supernatural
207 Wild Rebels Earth Drama - Spy / Crime
208 Lost Continent Earth Sci-Fi
209 The Hellcats Earth Drama - Revenge
210 King Dinosaur Outer Space / Sci-Fi
211 First Spaceship on Venus Outer Space / Sci-Fi
212 Godzilla vs. Megalon Giant Monster / Kaiju
213 Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster Giant Monster / Kaiju
301 Cave Dwellers Fantasy
302 Gamera Giant Monster / Kaiju
303 Pod People Lone Alien / Monster / Zombie On Earth
304 Gamera vs. Barugon Giant Monster / Kaiju
305 Stranded in Space Outer Space / Sci-Fi
306 Time of the Apes Post Apocalypse
307 Daddy-O Earth Drama - Teen / Rebel
308 Gamera vs. Gaos Giant Monster / Kaiju
309 The Amazing Colossal Man Giant Monster / Kaiju
310 Fugitive Alien Outer Space / Sci-Fi
311 It Conquered the World Lone Alien / Monster / Zombie On Earth
312 Gamera vs. Guiron Giant Monster / Kaiju
313 Earth vs. The Spider Giant Monster / Kaiju
314 Mighty Jack Earth Drama - Spy / Crime
315 Teenage Caveman Post Apocalypse
316 Gamera vs. Zigra Giant Monster / Kaiju
317 Viking Women Fantasy
318 Fugitive Alien 2 Outer Space / Sci-Fi
319 War of the Colossal Beast Giant Monster / Kaiju
320 The Unearthly Mad Scientist With or Without Monsters
321 Santa Claus Conquers the Martians Holiday
322 Master Ninja 1 Earth Drama - Martial Arts
323 The Castle of Fu Manchu Earth Drama - Spy / Crime
324 Master Ninja 2 Earth Drama - Martial Arts
401 Space Travelers Outer Space / Sci-Fi
402 The Giant Gila Monster Giant Monster / Kaiju
403 City Limits Post Apocalypse
404 Teenagers from Outer Space Aliens / Monsters / Zombies On Earth
405 Being from Another Planet Lone Alien / Monster / Zombie On Earth
406 Attack of the Giant Leeches Giant Monster / Kaiju
407 The Killer Shrews Giant Monster / Kaiju
408 Hercules Unchained Fantasy
409 Indestructible Man Earth Sci-Fi
410 Hercules Against the Moon Men Fantasy
411 The Magic Sword Fantasy
412 Hercules and the Captive Women Fantasy
413 Manhunt in Space Outer Space / Sci-Fi
414 Tormented Earth Drama - Supernatural
415 The Beatniks Earth Drama - Spy / Crime
416 Fire Maidens of Outer Space Outer Space / Sci-Fi
417 Crash of Moons Outer Space / Sci-Fi
418 Attack of the the Eye Creatures Aliens / Monsters / Zombies On Earth
419 The Rebel Set Earth Drama - Spy / Crime
420 The Human Duplicators Aliens / Monsters / Zombies On Earth
421 Monster A Go Go Lone Alien / Monster / Zombie On Earth
422 The Day the Earth Froze Fantasy
423 Bride of the Monster Mad Scientist With or Without Monsters
424 Manos The Hands of Fate Earth Drama - Supernatural
501 Warrior of the Lost World Post Apocalypse
502 Hercules Fantasy
503 Swamp Diamonds Earth Drama - Spy / Crime
504 Secret Agent Super Dragon Earth Drama - Spy / Crime
505 The Magic Voyage of Sinbad Fantasy
506 Eegah Lone Alien / Monster / Zombie On Earth
507 I Accuse My Parents Earth Drama - Spy / Crime
508 Operation Double 007 Earth Drama - Spy / Crime
509 The Girl in Lovers Lane Earth Drama - Teen / Rebel
510 The Painted Hills Earth Drama - Western
511 Gunslinger Earth Drama - Western
512 Mitchell Earth Drama - Spy / Crime
513 The Brain that Wouldn’t Die Mad Scientist With or Without Monsters
514 Teen-Age Strangler Earth Drama - Revenge
515 The Wild Wild World of Batwoman Mad Scientist With or Without Monsters
516 Alien From LA Post Apocalypse
517 Beginning of the End Giant Monster / Kaiju
518 The Atomic Brain Mad Scientist With or Without Monsters
519 Outlaw Post Apocalypse
520 Radar Secret Service Earth Drama - Spy / Crime
521 Santa Claus Holiday
522 Teen-Age Crime Wave Earth Drama - Teen / Rebel
523 Village of the Giants Giant Monster / Kaiju
524 12 To The Moon Outer Space / Sci-Fi
601 Girls Town Earth Drama - Teen Rebel
602 Invasion USA Earth Drama - Cold War / Military
603 The Dead Talk Back Earth Drama - Supernatural
604 Zombie Nightmare Aliens / Monsters / Zombies On Earth
605 Colossus and the Headhunters Fantasy
606 The Creeping Terror Lone Alien / Monster / Zombie On Earth
607 Bloodlust! Earth Drama - Jungle / Hunted
608 Code Name Diamondhead Earth Drama - Spy / Crime
609 The Skydivers Earth Drama - Teen / Rebel
610 The Violent Years Earth Drama - Teen / Rebel
611 Last of the Wild Horses Earth Drama - Western
612 The Starfighters Earth Drama - Cold War / Military
613 The Sinister Urge Earth Drama - Spy / Crime
614 San Francisco International Earth Drama - Spy / Crime
615 Kitten With A Whip Earth Drama - Teen / Rebel
616 Racket Girls Earth Drama - Spy / Crime
617 The Sword and the Dragon Fantasy
618 High School Big Shot Earth Drama - Teen / Rebel
619 Red Zone Cuba Earth Drama - Cold War / Military
620 Danger! Death Ray Earth Drama - Spy / Crime
621 The Beast of Yucca Flats Lone Alien / Monster / Zombie On Earth
622 Angel’s Revenge Earth Drama - Spy / Crime
623 The Amazing Transparent Man Lone Alien / Monster / Zombie On Earth
624 Samson vs. The Vampire Women Earth Drama - Supernatural
701 Night of the Blood Beast Lone Alien / Monster / Zombie On Earth
702 The Brute Man Earth Drama - Revenge
703 Deathstalker and the Warriors from Hell Fantasy
704 The Incredible Melting Man Lone Alien / Monster / Zombie On Earth
705 Escape 2000 Post Apocalypse
706 Laserblast Lone Alien / Monster / Zombie On Earth
801 Revenge of the Creature Lone Alien / Monster / Zombie On Earth
802 The Leech Woman Earth Sci-Fi
803 The Mole People Aliens / Monsters / Zombies On Earth
804 The Deadly Mantis Giant Monster / Kaiju
805 The Thing That Couldn’t Die Lone Alien / Monster / Zombie On Earth
806 The Undead Earth Drama - Supernatural
807 Terror From the Year 5000 Earth Sci-Fi
808 The She-Creature Lone Alien / Monster / Zombie On Earth
809 I Was a Teenage Werewolf Lone Alien / Monster / Zombie On Earth
810 The Giant Spider Invasion Giant Monster / Kaiju
811 Parts: The Clonus Horror Earth Sci-Fi
812 Mixed Up Zombies Aliens / Monsters / Zombies On Earth
813 Jack Frost Fantasy
814 Riding With Death Earth Sci-Fi
815 Agent for HARM Earth Sci-Fi
816 Prince of Space Outer Space / Sci-Fi
817 The Horror At Party Beach Aliens / Monsters / Zombies On Earth
818 Devil Doll Earth Drama - Supernatural
819 Invasion of the Neptune Men Outer Space / Sci-Fi
820 Space Mutiny Outer Space / Sci-Fi
821 Time Chasers Earth Sci-Fi
822 Overdrawn At The Memory Bank Earth Sci-Fi
901 The Projected Man Mad Scientist With or Without Monsters
902 The Phantom Planet Outer Space / Sci-Fi
903 The Pumaman Earth Sci-Fi
904 Werewolf Lone Alien / Monster / Zombie On Earth
905 The Deadly Bees Earth Drama - Disaster
906 The Space Children Outer Space / Sci-Fi
907 Hobgoblins Aliens / Monsters / Zombies On Earth
908 The Touch of Satan Earth Drama - Supernatural
909 Gorgo Giant Monster / Kaiju
910 The Final Sacrifice Earth Drama - Supernatural
911 Devil Fish Lone Alien / Monster / Zombie On Earth
912 The Screaming Skull Earth Drama - Supernatural
913 Quest of the Delta Knights Fantasy
1001 Soultaker Earth Drama - Supernatural
1002 Girl in Gold Boots Earth Drama - Teen / Rebel
1003 Merlin’s Shop of Mystical Wonders Earth Drama - Supernatural
1004 Future War Aliens / Monsters / Zombies On Earth
1005 Blood Waters of Dr. Z Mad Scientist With or Without Monsters
1006 Boggy Creek 2 Earth Drama - Jungle / Hunted
1007 Track of the Moon Beast Lone Alien / Monster / Zombie On Earth
1008 Final Justice Earth Drama - Spy / Crime
1009 Hamlet Earth Drama - Revenge
1010 It Lives By Night Mad Scientist With or Without Monsters
1011 Horrors of Spider Island Lone Alien / Monster / Zombie On Earth
1012 Squirm Aliens / Monsters / Zombies On Earth
1013 Diabolik Earth Drama - Spy / Crime
1101 Reptilicus Giant Monster / Kaiju
1102 Cry Wilderness Lone Alien / Monster / Zombie On Earth
1103 The Time Travelers Earth Sci-Fi
1104 Avalanche Earth Drama - Disaster
1105 The Beast of Hollow Mountain Earth Sci-Fi
1106 Starcrash Outer Space / Sci-Fi
1107 The Land That Time Forgot Earth Sci-Fi
1108 The Loves of Hercules Fantasy
1109 Yongary - Monster From The Deep Giant Monster / Kaiju
1110 Wizards of the Lost Kingdom Fantasy
1111 Wizards of the Lost Kingdom 2 Fantasy
1112 Carnaval Magic Earth Drama - Supernatural
1113 The Christmas That Almost Wasn’t Holiday
1114 At The Earth’s Core Earth Sci-Fi
1201 Mac and Me Lone Alien / Monster / Zombie On Earth
1202 Atlantic Rim Giant Monster / Kaiju
1203 Lords of the Deep Earth Sci-Fi
1204 The Day Time Ended Earth Sci-Fi
1205 Killer Fish Earth Drama - Disaster
1206 Ator, The Fighting Eagle Fantasy
![image 97x500](upload://JesuJ2Sa7BzAo29XokShGoUbIK.png)
6 Likes
Genre-filtering could be better
#2

Some of that granularization can be rolled up into the venerable phrase “creature feature”.

6 Likes
#3

Not sure how Carnaval Magic is Supernatural, it is just a talking monkey.
Cry Wilderness is more supernatural than anything else.
also unclear why some have an Earth Designation and some don’t

2 Likes
#4

SPREADSHEETS!

NUMBER CRUNCHING!

And CATEGORIZATION

Average-sized men putting numbers into spreadsheets! Tweaking them! And adjusting them!

11 Likes
#5

I hear Trace’s announcers voice!

4 Likes
#6

i wouldn’t say ‘alien from LA’ is post-apocalypse, i’d say it’s more earth sci-fi. and i’d say ‘merlin’s shop of mystical wonders’ is more fantasy. it does have supernatural elements but i wouldn’t put it in the same category as ‘soultaker’ or ‘touch of satan’.

nice work tho, this must have taken forever to compile

3 Likes
#7

This is great! This will help me in my quest to make my own themed marathon playlists.
:v::heart::clapper::robot:

1 Like
#8

Woah! I am impressed! Great job! :slight_smile:
This is actually kinda helpful, especially to introduce someone to MST3k, you could ask their favorite genre and have an easy list. :slight_smile:

2 Likes
#9

Personally, I would categorize Outlaw as being more Pecs & Pulchritude fantasy. Here’s another category idea:

Hidden World: Where someone from contemporary society uncovers the existence of a previously unknown locale, typically either underground or on an uncharted landmass. Will often feature either prehistoric fauna or a culture commonly believed to be mythical. These include The Lost Continent, Godzilla vs Megalon, Alien from L.A., The Mole People, The Land That Time Forgot, and At the Earth’s Core.

2 Likes
#10

I’d probably be inclined to add a fourth column and have “Subcategory”. Ultimately it has to be said that a lot of movies cross multiple boundaries. For example … is The Indestructible Man a “Earth Drama - Revenge” movie or is it an “Earth Sci-Fi”? Well, it’s both of course. :slight_smile: But in the end the fact that it’s got a guy in it who somehow magically becomes impervious to weapons and super strong gave it the nod to call it Earth Sci-Fi.

Adding a 4th column for ‘subcategory’ makes a lot of sense really because there’s so many of the movies that have so much category crossing that adding subcategories is probably a good thing. For example Pod People, Daddy O, Beatniks, and Gila Monster could all have a subcategory of “Music Career” … but that doesn’t deserve to have its own primary category by any stretch. :slight_smile:

So for all the list I’d say there’s plenty of room for debate over which movie belongs in which category. As I said originally … some of it is open to interpretation. Now that the grid is here feel free to tweak it to your pleasure. For people who think Outlaw isn’t Post Apocalypse (debatable sure) then by all means tweak to your content. My interpretation isn’t the One True Gospel or anything. :slight_smile: I made my best stab at it with my own judgement, but it’s mutable.

2 Likes
#11

First off, great list! I just finished compiling a spreadsheet of all the episodes (including KTMA) for purposes of tracking all that I own, and which format(s) they are in, and have gotten started on watching all of the 100 or so episodes I do have, in the order in which they aired. Hopefully, I will get through them all before season 13 arrives. I definitely plan to steal your work, and add it as a new column, likely with some tweaks. The idea of using it for putting together themed marathons is compelling to me.

Now, on to the great controversy:

Outlaw is obviously not Post Apocalyptic, as it does not take place on Earth. It takes place on Gor, another planet in our solar system that shares the same orbit as Earth that is (was?) hidden because it is on the opposite side of the Sun. That technically makes it Outer Space / Sci-Fi, but it is really a Fantasy movie. I would put it in the category of “Science Fantasy”, and I think Cave Dwellers and Ator belong in that category as well. Although whether those two actually take place on Earth is a bit more up in the air, and if they do take place on Earth, I think they are more in the Post Apocalyptic vein than Outlaw as a nuclear weapon is involved.

3 Likes
#12

Aren’t Cave Dwellers and Ator set in the past?

I think if you’re getting caught up in what is technically post-apocalyptic or not, you’ll run into trouble. If you look at your list with a hankering to watch post-apoc and you settle on Ator, your hankering will not be sated. You will immediately think “this isn’t what I had in mind”.

3 Likes
#13

Very cool! I had started work on something similar before my laptop was killed by Hurricane Zeta.

3 Likes
#14

Alien From LA, At Earths Core, and The Mole People are all Hollow Earth stories.

3 Likes
#15

“Speluncinema”, if you will.

5 Likes
#16

Just a quick comment on all the comments about subcategories; there can be more than one subcategory for each episode. It can have one primary high level category such as in the list already, and then like five other columns with multiple subcategories. That way you could filter on the primary key and then one or more of the secondary keys to find the movies that suit your tastes. We could even have some categories that tell us the types of riffs and sketches that are in the episodes, like maybe I want to find all the Joel episodes where Tom servo gets tortured or blown up in some way. :rofl::v::heart::clapper:

2 Likes
#17

Thought about that, but other movies like Lost Continent are kind of the same sort of thing just with a slightly different setting (Continent instead of underground, etc). That’s why I left them at either Earth Sci-Fi or Aliens/Monsters/Zombies on Earth as more generic categories. Hollow Earth sounds like a definite subcategory though.

And Outlaw really was a tough one to classify. It starts on Earth … it goes to some alien world … but it’s Sword & Sandals for the bulk of it. I really wanted to call it Fantasy, but I ended up on Post Apocalypse. But the arguments against that are good so I think in my own file I’ll reclassify it as “Outer Space Sci-Fi” but with a strong Fantasy subcategorization. Similarly, stuff like Robot Holocaust is Post Apocalypse, but it’s got both Fantasy and Sci Fi underpinnings.

4 Likes
#18

Feature request – add a column that pairs the episodes with their poorly explained plots:

1 Like
#19

Another potential column people could add would be an “Episode Rating” column so they could arrange by category and then by how good the episode was. I have my own ratings there, but I didn’t include them because everyone’s standards in that regard are different.

For example … here’s my “Best of Category” list when I sort first by Category and then by Rating…

Best “Aliens/Monsters/Zombies On Earth” … a two-way tie between Teenagers from Outer Space and Attack of the the Eye Creatures with 6 out of 10.
Best “Earth Drama - Spy/Crime” … Mitchel of course with 9 out of 10.
Best “Earth Drama - Supernatural” … Manos The Hands of Fate with 7 out of 10.
Best “Earth Drama - Teen / Rebel” … The Girl In Lover’s Lane with 7 out of 10.
Best “Earth Sci-Fi” … a 3 way tie between Lost Continent, Indestructible Man, and Pumaman (all 6 of 10).
Best “Fantasy” … two way tie between Cave Dwellers and Hercules Against the Moon Men
Best “Giant Monster / Kaiju” … Godzilla vs. Megalon (7 of 10).
Best “Holiday” … Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (6 of 10).
Best “Lone Alien/Monster/Zombie On Earth” … It Conquered the World (8 of 10).
Best “Mad Scientist” … “The Brain That Wouldn’t Die” (5 of 1`0)
Best “Outer Space Sci-Fi” … Fugitive Alien (7 of 10).
Best “Post Apocalypse” … two way tie between Time of the Apes and Warrior of the Lost World (7 of 10).

Or … alternatively … my Top 20 list with categories…

EPISODE TITLE CATEGORY SUBCATEGORIES RATING
512 Mitchell Earth Drama - Spy / Crime Police 9
301 Cave Dwellers Fantasy Science Fantasy 8
311 It Conquered the World Lone Alien / Monster / Zombie On Earth Earth invasion 8
422 The Day the Earth Froze Fantasy Sword & Sorcery / Historical 8
507 I Accuse My Parents Earth Drama - Spy / Crime Teen 8
620 Danger! Death Ray Earth Drama - Spy / Crime Secret Agent 8
212 Godzilla vs. Megalon Giant Monster / Kaiju Hollow Earth / Robot 7
302 Gamera Giant Monster / Kaiju 7
303 Pod People Lone Alien / Monster / Zombie On Earth Musical career / Teens / Kid protagonist 7
306 Time of the Apes Post Apocalypse Earth paralell / Military / Revenge / Kid sidekick 7
310 Fugitive Alien Outer Space / Sci-Fi Earth invasion / Journey to Save 7
410 Hercules Against the Moon Men Fantasy Sword & Sandal / Alien invasion / Moon 7
424 Manos The Hands of Fate Earth Drama - Supernatural Cult / Satanic 7
501 Warrior of the Lost World Post Apocalypse Driving / Uprising 7
506 Eegah Lone Alien / Monster / Zombie On Earth Caveman / Teen / Musical 7
508 Operation Double 007 Earth Drama - Spy / Crime Secret Agent 7
509 The Girl in Lovers Lane Earth Drama - Teen / Rebel Crime / Tragedy 7
517 Beginning of the End Giant Monster / Kaiju Military 7
606 The Creeping Terror Lone Alien / Monster / Zombie On Earth Earth invasion / Human as prey 7
816 Prince of Space Outer Space / Sci-Fi Alien invasion / Superhero / Kid sidekick 7
1102 Cry Wilderness Lone Alien / Monster / Zombie On Earth Kid sidekick 7
4 Likes
#20

I love seeing all of these categories and sub-categories. I hope to see this type of thing on the Gizmoplex!

4 Likes