Any experiment underpeform as a riffing subject? Is it too good or not bad enough to be MSTie fodder? Or perhaps right on the line? What failed the grade or barely passed?
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I think any movie can be effectively riffed. You could riff Casablanca or Citizen Kane and get a funny result. Having it be a bad movie just means the movie itself can do some of the work.
In general I would say the more boring a movie is, the harder it is to riff well overall. It’s like doing standup comedy in a room full of people on Thorazine.
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That Hamlet episode.
It’s all just unpleasant. The color, the sound design, Mr. Schell’s voice is a bit grating. There are some good riffs but on balance it’s not worth exposing myself to that many tedious irritants.
Edit: I think I goofed on the theme of thread. But I don’t take it back; Hamlet stinks.
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The episodes I struggle with are when something really awful happens to the characters and they’re just good enough actors to make me feel horrible about it.
Sidehackers is infamous for the fact that they had to cut out the scene where Rita was raped and killed. However, while they make fun of Ross Hagen’s acting skills, I think he pulls it off just enough that the end of this movie got to me.
In a similar way, The Girl in Lover’s Lane does the same thing. Same with High School Big Shot. I just have a hard time enjoying the riffing when the movie itself is semi-competent at showing emotion. Silly as it is, I have the same issue with the teenage werewolf movie with Michael Landon.
When the movie and/or actors are incompetent at showing those emotional scenes, I don’t feel the same regret and the riffing doesn’t feel in conflict with what is being shown on the screen.
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I love The Phantom Planet, but I understand that it has cheesy special effects, so it’s riffable. However, I think Devil Doll and Tormented are a little too good, and definitely too dark.
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Resonance treads to investment. Performers emoting effectively defies fully discounting what they’re doing. I also tussle on assessing how to react to riffing of acting that actually works. Among a sea of incompetence, a fine turn within pivots what to observe and comment on. Our idols are only human and this line is subjective and varies.
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Oh, I don’t think I Was A Teenaged Werewolf is silly at all; Michael Landon absolutely makes a violent jerk of a teenager sympathetic. When he finally decides to get help, because of Landon’s terrific acting, you genuinely hope he gets better, which makes his torment and death tragic instead of earned.
I’ve mentioned before that I cannot watch High School Big Shot because the main character is so wounded and pathetic through the whole thing. But while I enjoy The Girl In Lover’s Lane and Ross Hagen’s two episodes, it’s because of the quality of the riffing, not any deficiency of the actors. Hagen deserves better than Sidehackers for sure, and I think Joyce Meadows as Carrie gives one of the best performances I’ve seen in an MST episode.
Rather than pick movies that are too good or too bad (possible? The answer may shock you!) to be riffed, I’m going to bring up episodes that riff on movies that seem perfect, but as the Original Poster says, “underperform[ed]” or are “right on the line.” Which I think is one of the things @BruceLeePullen is asking for? I don’t know.
So I would say First Spaceship on Venus, Bloodlust!, and It Lives By Night all seem like perfect movies for the show, but I’ve never connected with them. Most other episodes I don’t like, I have a sense of why. But I just don’t know why with these three. I’ll certainly be giving them another chance, but of the three, I have watched Bloodlust! a lot. And other than a few jokes ("The Johnson Coat Rack Company issued a recall today . . . "), it usually just leaves me cold.
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Yes, he does. You contrast the pain of Michael Landon’s performance with the lackluster performance in Werewolf. I feel no sympathy for that one, but I really do with Michael Landon.
I think Hagen does the understated emotions very well. Perhaps he has a limited range, but within that range, he does well.
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I think the movies that are hardest to riff well are the comedies. Like, Catalina Caper is well regarded, but I have trouble thinking of memorable riffs.
And then there’s Wizards Of The Lost Kingdom II. That episode is a chore to to get through.
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Tormented. It’s a bad movie to be sure but I feel like it is far less boring than pretty much ANY of Bert’s monster movies.
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My friend in Germany thought that “Teenagers From Outer Space” was a good enough movie that there were times he wished Joel and the Bots would slow the riffs so he could focus (he hasn’t mentioned having this with other movies they did yet, but he did say he could see watching “Gunslinger” unriffed).
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Manos is still pretty awful, but at least it’s coherent for the most part. They’ve done much worse.
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I’ve often said, not entirely in jest, that Teenagers from Outer Space is the primary template for The Terminator.
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I would say The Christmas That Almost Wasn’t. Santa Claus Conquers The Martians had a ridiculous premise and Santa Claus had more laughable lore for Santa Claus than usual (like Merlin? WTF?), but I thought TCTAW was competently made with the exception of the irritating musical numbers. I felt angrier at the riffers than at the movie in that case.
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It had a lot of plot stuff that was messy.
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The cinematography in The Painted Hills is fantastic and I enjoy the episode just for the really professional shots of the wilderness. The plot flows fine and it’s a product of its era with a competent staff, and it’s a Lassie movie, but there are just some movies that you get lost in the story.
The Unearthly is kind of like that for me, but I’m a bit of a John Carradine fan.
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The Unearthly is kind of like that for me, but I’m a bit of a John Carradine fan.
The Unearthly has my favorite movie quote of all time: “Time For Go To Bed.”
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I have seen the Gunslinger unriffed. It’s not that bad.
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I’m gonna come right out and make the claim that Santa Claus is a good movie! If I had been a little 6 year old in 1959 and my parents took me to see that movie in the days leading up to Christmas, I would have been absolutely amazed and delighted by it.
The film is a delight to watch. You can tell they had a decent budget with which to work, compared to say, that movie about Santa’s adventures on Mars. They even had money for a crowd of extras during the Temptation of Lupita scene in the market. The sets for Santa’s castle in space are a visual treat. The entire movie is a colorful, fanciful experience that can be enjoyed by kids and parents alike.
In fact, did you know this movie is an actual award winner? It won the the Golden Gate Award for Best International Family Film at the San Francisco International Film Festival in 1959.
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Some of these movies get closer to being watchable alone than others, but… nah. I’m fine with everything that got riffed.
The closest I get is thinking that Diabolique was a lackluster closer. It’s nearly a real film, but not quite. I mostly watch the episode for the segments and not whatever’s happening onscreen. (Also, I remain baffled at why anyone enjoys the soundtrack. IDGAF about its pedigree. It’s the aural equivalent of having a strained neck and having some jackass tap you on the shoulder and making you swing your head around… over and over again for a hour. Yarrgghh!)
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