Rhino MST Collection Reviews

[vanhagar3000]

The Mystery Science Theater Collection Volume 1

The Episodes
204- Catalina Caper:
Comedy movie can be death for riff quality and this episode proves that in some parts. Catalina Caper is a beach party movie featuring Tommy Kirk, Lyle Waggoner, Del Moore, Little Richard looking coked up, and a bunch of swimsuit clad teenagers. There is a loose plot about a rare scroll, but it’s an excuse to make a beach party movie. It ‘s pretty interesting to see MST3K do their only real beach party movie. But, this wasn’t an episode for Joel, Mike would have done better as he had the killer instinct for these bad comedy movies. There is more pop culture humor in this one, but not enough, as observational humor doesn’t work on bad comedy. It gets weak when we hear a sarcastic laugh for the fifth time. The host segments are a good bunch as season two had some of the sharpest host segment writing. The highlight of the episode is Servo’s musical tribute to the creepy foreign girl from the film. An alright movie choice, with average riffing, and great host segments make for a fun two hour ride. ***

606- The Creeping Terror:
The carpet monster episode. The movie is about a monster (which looks like a carpet) “eating” (the so called victims climb into the mouth) people (money marks put in the movie). Most of the “action” is narrated by some unknown doofus, actually most of the dialogue is narrated too. See this movie was actually some sort of big con and the producer ran off with money shortly after the film was complete. Season six had a ton of dreary ugly films, likely because Comedy Central had hit the bottom of the barrel for distributors. This film and episode are similar to another dreary ugly film from this season, Coleman Francis’ the Beast of Yucca Flats. If you sit back and let the ineptitude and sheer awfulness of the movies hit you, you realize it’s more cheesy than dark, and then it becomes an enjoyable (unintentional) comedy film. Just about every frame of this movie has something wrong with it, and the riffing just enhances it. Some of the movie is funnier than the riffs that could be thought up. The host segments aren’t the best or worst, although Mike listening to the goofy song from the movie was simple and funny. If you put yourself in the right frame of mind, this is a near classic episode. ****

607- Bloodlust! (With Short: Uncle Jim’s Dairy Farm)
This is the episode that introduced us to Pearl Forrester. The host segments revolve around her visiting her son Dr. Clayton Forrester, and her friendship and love of Frank. They weren’t bad, but seeing them it makes you wonder why they chose this character to replace Frank in season seven. Going into the theater, the short is about some kids on their Uncle Jim’s dairy farm. This is actually a step below Mike other shorts, but it’s still good. The feature film is about a bunch of teens (including a young hunky “Mr. Brady” Robert Reed) getting stuck on an island, where a man plans to hunt them. This episode would have fit better in season four where the Brady Bunch riffs could have been let loose. Instead the writers intentionally limited themselves to only one Brady Bunch riff. (according to the ACEG) That turned out to be a mistake, as this episode was weaker than usual and could have used those riffs badly. The host segments and short are the best of this episode, while the feature film is a big disappointment. *** [S: **** | F: **1/2]

609- The Skydivers: (With Short: Why Study Industrial Arts?)
The first entry in the Coleman Francis trilogy is not as excellent as it’s two brothers, but still the best thing on the volume 1 collection. The movie is about cheating spouses, and skydivers. Actually it’s really about Coleman Francis’ mind and soul, it features all his trademarks from sets, actors, film making style, and references to coffee. That’s what makes these dark dreary movies enjoyable slices of pie. Before the movie we get a short on why we should study industrial arts. The creepy main dork in this movie (who talks lovingly about cutting wood, and filing metal) is rightfully and humorously ripped apart by the SOL gang. That turns out to be the highlight of the episode, and it still stands as one of my personal favorite shorts. They were still adjusting to riffing the abysmalness of Coleman Francis’ film making, but they do a fine job. The host segments are unmemorable and not worth talking about. Otherwise this episode is well worth your money. ****½ [S: ***** | F: ****]

The Video
The video quality is darn good, but not the shining brimming nature of Eegah. It’s very clear and bright, so it’s only a couple of notches below it.

The Audio
The audio is presented in mono. I can’t fault Comedy Central, MST3K, or Rhino for releasing these episodes on mono, but my ears can. The Rhino releases at times are hard to hear in mono unless you turn your TV way up, and becomes a problem sometimes. Stereo would be better because of the multilayed audio that each episode has. Can’t deduct too much, but you can’t deduct nothing either.

The Extras
*Trailers for all films except The Creeping Terror
*Uncut version of all the films
A nice job by Rhino to put some effort in this first box set. The trailers are a nice touch, which I wish they’d put in every release they could. The uncut movies aren’t what I’d call a treat, most of them would be unwatchable with MST3K. It’s a good thing to have on the DVDs though, and it’s more good than bad.

The Final Word
Rhino put together a decent mix of episodes (unfortunately there is no theme which would become the way Rhino releases things). The video and audio aren’t anything to get up in arms about for this one. The extras are a decent effort by Rhino. The first DVD collection was a decent effort. A good but lacking total package.

Episodes: 7
Video: 8
Audio: 7
Extras: 7
Final Grade: 7.5

Just as a note, the episode average is weighed and rounded down. The final grade is what I feel is an approximate rating for the overall quality of the box sets.

[XerxesTheCat]

The Creeping Terror is easily my favorite season 6 episode. The movie is more cheesy and laughable, then ultra bad. Catalina Caper is also a great episode IMO. The riffing may be low-key, but at least the movie's watchable.

"I thnk I hit on something! Stay away from his mouth! Don't let him eat you! That's hit!" -- Mike, The Creeping Terror

[jjb3k]

"The Creeping Terror" is a great one, yes, but I think "The Skydivers" was the episode from this set that got the most laughs out of me. For some reason, it was much more watchable than the rest of Coleman's oeurve, probably due to all the crazy random stuff he put in. And, of course, the riffing is hilarious.

[braindeadzombie]

I feel that the first set had too much from the sixth season so I would pick Catalina Caper over the other three. It's an okay selection but the variety and quality of the chosen shows doesn't really say "Volume one" to me.

I have a definite issue with the sound. As the single DVDs were okay {not great but I don't have to play them at 70%}, I don't believe the problem can just be attributed to it being in mono.

[vanhagar3000]

xerxesthecat said:

The Creeping Terror is easily my favorite season 6 episode. The movie is more cheesy and laughable

There is a difference between a bad movie and a movie you hate. The Creeping Terror is by far one of the worst movie ever made. It was nothing more than a giant scam from what I've read. There was no dialouge, everything was dubbed, the monster was ridiculous, the editing was terrible, the premise was ludicrous. But yeah, it was still more entertaining than a boring movie, but that doesn't make it technically better.

For example, yesterday I watched Girl in Gold Boots and Larry The Cable Guy: Health Inspector a masochist s dream double feature. GIGB was the worse movie. It featured poorly shot scenes, greasy people, a twitching henchmen, terrible actors, no plot, and the world's worst editing. Health Inspector though, even though there was little of the same mistakes GIGB did, I hated so much more. I hated it with a passion and will go on a rant in CFM in a minute.

[dangfish]

braindeadzombie said:

I feel that the first set had too much from the sixth season so I would pick Catalina Caper over the other three. It's an okay selection but the variety and quality of the chosen shows doesn't really say "Volume one" to me.

I have a definite issue with the sound. As the single DVDs were okay {not great but I don't have to play them at 70%}, I don't believe the problem can just be attributed to it being in mono.

I agree. It's got to be more than the mono thing. I've been watching quite a few rhinos lately. I just got volume one recently. I watched Catalina Caper a couple nights ago and the sound is WAY lower in that one than in many of the shows in later volumes. And as you say, even some of the earlier single releases sound a bit louder. Have all of the later volumes been released in mono? If so, then there was something else going on with volume one.

[vanhagar3000]

The Mystery Science Theater Collection Volume 2

The Episodes
301- Cave Dwellers
Cave Dwellers is one of the best and most important Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes. The film is from the Italian Ator series, essentially a poor man’s Conan the Barbarian. The plot revolves around a John Saxony type guy trying to get possession on some sort of megaweapon (but not THE Megaweapon) from a really old and boring guy, so the old guy’s hot daughter goes to get Ator and his trusty sidekick, Thong to help. This movie is about as good as you’d expect a bad Conan ripoff being. The episode itself is excellent and classic MST3K, finally reaching the riff count amount they’d continue to have for the rest of the series. So it’s important in that it was one of the first bigger riffed episode. This episode is filled with a ton of pop culture references, and every joke is worthy of a laugh or chuckle. I loved all the host segments from this episode, especially the one making fun of the Cave Dwellers (and most of the FVI catalog) opening credits and final one previewing 418's “They Just Didn’t Care” segment. It’s a classic episode of MST3K, and well loved for a reason. *****

303- Pod People
One of the all-time best episode of MST3K. The film is a bizarre mix of an ET ripoff film and a serious horror movie. When it comes together on the screen it fails miserably, it’s poorly directed, acted, dubbed, and written. By itself the movie is comedy and a complete farce. That’s what made it click with the MST3K writers. This is a hilarious and perfect episode. Trace is brilliant doing an interpretation of what the movie monster Trumpy may have to say, including an excellent running gag about potatoes. Joel gets in some classic lines like “Oh anything can happen during the jump cut.” Kevin also has the memorable “Huzzah!” line. This is also the source of the “Chief? McCloud!” bit and the “It Stinks!” line. The host segments are some of the best, and parody some goofy scenes in the movie. The song “A Clown in the Sky” for the last host segment is great. Some memorable material here, which may be a problem. After viewing it once you remember it too well, and need time between viewing it again. So watch this just once a year, on a special day, and it’ll be one of the most hilarious things you’ve seen every time out. *****

622- Angels’ Revenge
Angels’ Revenge is a goofy mid 70s T&A flick featuring cameos by Peter Lawford, Jack Palance, Jim Backus, Pat Buttrum, and Neville Brand (on the UnMSTied version). It features some comedy, so sometimes it’s hard to riff, but otherwise this episode has grown on me. This episode gets funnier after every viewing. The cameos by the celebrities really help the riffing, and the rest of the movie is pretty dumb by itself. The host segments for the episode aren’t that memorable. I always pop this episode in if I feel like getting in a good mood. It’s a very good MST3K episode, bordering on classic status. ****½

Shorts Volume 1
Featuring: The Home Economics Story, Junior Rodeo Daredevils, Body Care & Gromming, Cheating, A Date with Your Family, Why Study Industrial Arts?, and Chicken of Tomorrow
It’s time for a little revelation, the shorts are in my opinion, the most consistently excellent part of the show. While there are many classic full length feature episodes, there are also some average ones and a few stinkers. But overall, besides serials, the shorts are the most consistent source for big laughs. So I love this compilation. The best of this compilation are Cheating, A Date with Your Family, Why Study Industrial Arts?, and Chicken of Tomorrow. While it kind of sucks that some of these are already on other Rhino DVDs, it’s good to see some of them included that wouldn’t otherwise get a release. *****

The Video
The video quality on this is again alright for when Rhino doesn’t flapjacks up. Not exceedingly awesome like Eegah once was, but not as bad as things would become. Pretty much no difference between this and Volume 1.

The Audio
Same here with difference from Volume 1. I still had trouble hearing certain parts of the movie, unless I turned things way up. The MST3K track always comes clear, but I can understand it would get complicated with two layers of audio already.

The Extras
Not one extra feature. Even though two episodes had Mystery Science Theater Hours. Piss off Rhino.

The Final Word
The lack of extras really hurt this box set. The choices were excellent, and I would say it’s the strongest box set. It’s too bad they couldn’t have thrown on the MST Hours for the Joel episodes or the uncut movies (since INI looks to be sitting on them). I also wish they would have put on similar episodes, like maybe the Master Ninjas if possible or City Limits. The video/audio is about average, there are no extras, but there are two classic episodes, with a very good one, and shorts comp, so it’s probably the most solid box set in star ratings Rhino has released.

Episodes: 10
Video: 8
Audio: 7
Extras: 0
Final Grade: 7

[XerxesTheCat]

I always liked how at the end of Cave Dwellers, Servo mentions that it's the worst movie they've ever had to watch. His opinion would surely change by the end of season 4.

[vanhagar3000]

The Mystery Science Theater Collection Volume 3

The Episodes
202- Sidehackers
MST3K continues to blossom and find itself (like a gooey teeanger) in this episode with some important firsts. Sidehackers is a late 60s pseudo counterculture film about Rommel (Ross Hagen), a participant in a new sport called sidehacking, where a passenger rides and tilts to whichever side for curves. Without giving too much away, it turns into a dreary revenge story. Terrible film similar of many biker films from the 60s. The episode itself however is very good, but there are a few slow spots in riffing. Cambot gets in a rare “riff” when a ESPN like readout appears on the screen. The host segments are better and somewhat historical. This is the first episode with an appearance from Gerry & Sylvia, The Mole People. Another milestone is reach with the first traditional song on MST3K, the hilarious “Sidehackin’.” But that isn’t even the best song of the episode, instead it’s the final host segment’s “Only Love Pads the Film,” set to music from Sidehackers which Joel performs awesomely. There is a terminology of Sidehacking segment, that I thought was superfluous and could have been done in the theater. The slinky inventions from this episode are cool, and Joel’s pet slinky was a funny bit. Not a classic, but a pretty good episode. ***½

320- The Unearthly
With Shorts: Posture Pals and Appreciating Your Parents
An episode that’s weakest part is the feature film riffing, but everything else is excellent. The feature film stars John Carridine as mad scientist Dr. Charles Conway, with Tor Johnson as his trusty sidekick Lobo. The mad scientist plot of the week is attempting to further longevity with a gland of some kind, he experiments on his mental facility patients. The first short is about a bunch of loser kids and creepy narrator being obsessive about posture. The second short is about why you should appreciate your parents (duh!). The strongest part of the episode is the first short, as the kids in the short are made out to be complete dorks and are easy targets. The second short is a little less funnier, but still good riffing material. The feature film was riffed at a pretty average rate. The episode contains the classic line from Tor Johnson, “Time for go to bed,” and Joel with perfect comic timing and delivery replies “Well said!” Joel may have been no actor, but he was a hell of a comedian. The host segments are about as good as most of season three, especially spoofing the short with “Appreciating Gypsy” and The Many Faces of Tor Johnson. While the riffing of the feature film can be slow at times, there are some gutbusters that make it worth it. Plus the shorts and host segments are very strong. Another great entry into MST3K’s magical season three. **** [S1: ***** | S2: ****½ | F: ***½]

518- The Atomic Brain
With Short: What About Juvenile Delinquency?
Mike continues to get stronger in this episode. The feature is a dreary mad scientist movie, this one about putting some old woman’s brain in a new young female body. The short is about some gang beating up one of their member’s dads by accident, and the aftermath. Hey, if the guy raised a kid to join a gang like that, doesn’t he deserve a beating anyway? This is a solid episode, but it’s too bad Joel didn’t get a crack at it before he left. Mike did a good job though, but inexperience probably hurt a little still. The host segments are forgettable for the most part. The best one is Magic Voice talking to the movie’s narrator. Unfortunately, Magic Voice is played by Mary Jo Pehl here, who I didn’t like as magic voice for some reason (probably because she’s too recognizable). By this point, they were just stretching to find things they could still call invention exchanges as the “inventions” are just the crews doing impressions of one another. Otherwise, a great outing for an inexperienced Mike. ****½ [S: ***** | F: ****]

Shorts Volume 2
Featuring: Catching Trouble, What to Do on A Date, Last Clear Chance, A Day at the Fair, Keeping, Clean & Neat, and The Days of Our Years
Another great series of shorts, this one more Mike centric than volume one. This may be the best short comp, if only for the double feature of depressing Union Pacific industrial shorts in Last Clear Chance and The Days of Our Years. Despite the fact the main characters in the shorts are a officer of the law and a priest respectively, they’re dark depressing little features, bordering on being misanthropic. Keeping Neat & Clean is one of my favorite Mike shorts. A nice little comp of shorts. *****

The Video
The video quality here is fair, and everything comes through clear. I think it may be missing a little brightness, especially on The Atomic Brain, but otherwise there is nothing to complain about.

The Audio
Again, these episodes were all taped in Mono and Rhino released them like that. Unfortunately, when I’m watching them in my basement at two in the morning. I want to turn it up loud enough so I can hear quiet dialogue in the movie, but still not wake my parents up with loud noises from the MST3K track. That doesn’t always seem to work out great. There are also audio problems in the Atomic Brain extra footage, which knocks the rating down a bit.

The Extras
The only extras are alternate takes of the host segments. While it’s a nice little feature to have, it’s kind of disappointing, and to be honest a little boring, as rarely things happen unless it makes it to Poopie. It was a nice idea and I’m happy it’s on there, but it wasn’t necessary to have it.

The Final Word
Well, Rhino is starting to slip. The episode choices were mediocre, but any MST3K is good. Just none of these are classic episodes. This box set was pretty much done to release the rest of Rhino’s MST3K VHS episodes on DVD. (Only Gunslinger and Shorts Volume 3 was left after this) The audio quality was a annoying. The lack of decent extras is also frustrating. Rhino is starting to sour.

Episodes: 8
Video: 7
Audio: 6
Extras: 5
Final Grade: 6

[vanhagar3000]

The Mystery Science Theater Collection Volume 4

The Episodes
820- Space Mutiny
Classic episode only marred by some bad host segments. On Earth, Pearl, Bobo, and Observer are in a Roman prison, and have to make a daring escape by the episode’s end. The movie is one of those up with Godzilla vs. Megalon and Pod People, as a movie not only made for MST3K, but everything in the theater clicked. It’s about a Battlestar Galactica like plot (oh, and they lift special effects from the actual show too) of a group of people traveling to a new home planet, and there is a mutiny on the ship captained by a Santa Claus looking Cameron Mitchell. It’s one of the cheesiest and campiest movies I have ever seen. The theater riffing was great with the chief target being the lead buff action hero. A great running gag through the show was to give him names like “Bulk Vanderhuge.” Also John Phillip Law as the cackling Kalgon (take me away) played his role to hammy perfection. Despite being set in the future, the movie is trapped in a time warp in the 80s. Thankfully the directors prediction of the 80s living on for centuries was not met. The riffing is some of the best of the series, but the host segments lack great quality. There is a just idiotic skit with Crow & Servo ruining some escape pods. The only part I liked of the host segments were puns on bringing “Mike down” to Roman Times Earth. The host segments drag down the episode, but otherwise it’s great MST3K. ****½

822- Overdrawn at the Memory Bank
The SOL remains in limbo, while Pearl start a public television station as a money making scheme. Also from public television is today’s feature which starts Raul Julia as a man who gets stuck in some sort of dystopia’s computer main frame. Or not. We don’t really know, this is one of the more confusing movies ever shown on MST3K, with things never being clear. They crammed too many concepts into one movie, which you would think would make it exciting, but it’s not. This is a boring movie as well, and the SOL gang use that as fodder for their riffs. The movie is pretty ridiculous with low tech special effects, and looks budgeted to a soap opera episode budget. This is great MST3K and they rip this awful movie apart. Mike was made for episodes like these. The laugh count is high, but barely misses the mark as a perfect episode. The host segments are pretty good, and a highlight is Pearl and Observer singing “Loving Lovers.” That host segment has warmed on me with time. While nearly missing classic status, it’s a good episode and a must see. ****½

1002- Girl in Gold Boots
A well remembered episode, that Mike Nelson has said is one of his personal favorites. The movie is a sleazy counter culture movie about....well nothing really, some girl wants to become a dancer, meets up with a drifter or two, etc. etc. This movie is one of the worst the show has ever had. No plot, terrible editing, idiotic direction, greasy bad actors, and a twitching henchmen. However the episode is very good and another strong outing during season ten. The movie worked well for MST3K, as it was awful, but not boring. The host segments are okay, and we begin the short Pearl’s inclusion to the Institute of Mad Science story arch, that lasted about five episodes. The host segments started to slowly get better in this episode. A good outing and it’s not hard to see why Mike considers it a favorite. ****½

1009- Hamlet
The all-time worst episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000. This is a dreary 1960s dubbed German made for TV version of Hamlet. That movie just didn’t work for MST3K, and you can tell MST3K was at the bottom of the barrel for movies to riff. The movie was too slow, too talkative, and too actionless for MST3K. I can’t believe they’d choose this over Plan 9 from Outer Space which they said was too dialogue heavy. But the problem continues from there as they really hit rock bottom as far as riffing. Many supporters of this episode will say the episode is too high brow for some people. They’re full of poopie. This is one of the more vulgar MST3K episodes that I remember, and it uses a ton of scatological humor. I guess they were trying to contrast their humor with the dignified Hamlet, but it got annoying. However the final act of Hamlet has some okay riffs pop up that got laughs. The host segments were all forgettable, except for Mike doing a Joe Don Baker impression. This episode isn’t just bad MST3K, it’s bad period. After 200 episodes, I guess one was bound to suck really really bad. Absolutely dreadful waste of two hours, and something BBI shouldn’t be proud of. If I did negative stars for MST3K, this episode would get it. DUD

The Video
The video quality is alright on this one. There is not much to write about here. Not Eegah, but not as bad as what would happen next.

The Audio
The audio was recorded in stereo, but released in mono. I’ve already complained about the volume, but the stereo really could have improved the sound quality. It’s not like it’s needed for MST3K, but that little bit of extra effort from Rhino would have been nice.

The Extras
There is a TV spot and theatrical trailer for Girl in Gold Boots on it’s disc. All four episodes have a roughly forty second introduction by star and head writer Mike Nelson. The intros are nice, the trailer and spot are a nice touch, but instead of that why not release the set in stereo? Or other possible extras.

The Final Word
This set is good for episodes as Rhino tapped into a fresh batch of episodes. Too bad one turned out to be really rotten (Hamlet). They seemed to try and put in some more effort, but no stereo is somewhat bothersome. This is something to get for the cheapest price possible, as it really lacks in some departments.

Episodes: 6.5
Video: 7
Audio: 5
Extras: 6
Final Grade: 6

[jjb3k]

"Space Mutiny", being the first episode I ever saw, holds a special place in my heart, as it's also one of the flat-out funniest episodes of Season 8 (even the host segments get some giggles out of me). "Hamlet", however, holds the dishonor of being the first episode to ever put me to sleep. I've actually given it other chances since then, but it just didn't do anything for me. Few things are less disappointing than an episode of MST3K that doesn't make me laugh.

[vanhagar3000]

The Mystery Science Theater Collection Volume 5

The Episodes
821- Time Chasers
From the director of Illegal Aliens comes this early 90s independent movie about a geeky guy who creates a time machine, and sells it to an evil corporation, then tries to undo the damage they create by using the time machine as a weapon. At some points, it gets confusing when there are two geeky guys from different time periods in the American revolution. The movie is actually damn good considering the budget constraints and inexperience of the director. The acting though, is something out of a group of community theater rejects. This is fodder for the gang of MST3K, who take shots at the antagonists (Bob Evil) hammy performance, and baratone voice. The geeky star also take a few ribs. The host segments are excellent, as Crow goes back in time to stop Mike from being shot up on the SOL. Instead, they get his brother- Eddie. Originally, the star of Time Chasers was suppose to be on the episode itself, but scheduling conflicts got in the way. However there was an episode debut party with Best Brains and the crew of TC, which the short little pink guy from the movie got drunk at and then got angry at the MST3K gang. Now that’s something I’d like to see. Just a short angry drunk man in a pink suit. The rest of the world though enjoys this episode, including myself. This is a very well written and overall good SciFi era episode of MST3K. ****½

908- The Touch of Satan
Directed by Billy Jack himself, Tom Laughlin (under the pseudonym Don Henderson), this movie isn’t about Satan’s grubby hands or Mike Conners, the movie is about a guy who ends up getting wrapped up with a witch with a murdering grandmother/sister while traveling cross country. So remember when rollin’ on down the highway, NEVER stop at a walnut farm with a beautiful 134 year old witch. Or watch Navy Seals. The murdering grandmother is the star of the show, and the gang of the SOL really riff on her calling her names from “Grandma Crapapplehead” and “Grandma Kramer.” There are more barbs about her bad age makeup and constant killings. The movie is pretty hick, similar to many seen in season ten, which can draw laughs for those of us north of the Mason-Dixon. This movie includes the infamous and puzzling “This is where the fish lives” line. On Earth, Pearl is gone and left Bobo and Observer with babysitter Steffi, played by the lovely Beth "Beez" McKeever. These are probably the best mad segments of the SciFi era, with Steffi treating Bobo like a dog, and Observer like a child. The SOL host segments are pretty good as well. For a trivia note, this episode is has the lowest writer count of the entire national series, with only five. This is one of the more solid and tighter episodes of the SciFi era with all parts clicking. ****

1003- Merlin’s Shop of Mystical Wonders
The movie is a Princess Bride ripoff, with Grandpa Ernest Borgnine telling two unrelated Merlin stories that are completely inappropriate for the grandson he tells it to. The episode starts well as the MST3K gang riff the opening segment with Borgnine and the introduction to Merlin and some jerk store reviewer (who is the most powerful man in twenty states or something like that). The actors are low grade, and the SOL crew takes advantage of it. The over the top jerk store reviewer is especially hammy and a good target for riffs. There are a ton of gutbusters here, along with a couple of slow spots. Then the second half of the movie is an edited version of the 1984 film Devil’s Gift. This part isn’t nearly as strong, but still has some good stuff. (Including Rock N’ Roll Martian) The theater segments are fairly uneven, and at points it seems like it’s going to be a classic, then it falls flat, then it picks back up. The host segments are very good with some great spoof on the movie including Grandpa Borgnine’s children’s books. Season ten would actually continue to improve host segments, being the most consistent since probably season four or five. Technically this was the final MST3K show to make the air, and made it on after the finale as a lost episode. Well it’s a good thing they found it, because it’s a really funny episode. ****

1006- Boggy Creek II
The southern fried justice of season ten continues with Boggy Creek II based in Arkansas. The story is about a group of people searching for the boggy creek creature (basically a bigfoot of the Ozarks). The movie itself isn’t terrible, it’s okay, but a little too southern fried for my tastes. The episode riffing is again a little uneven here, and can go from great to silence and back again. The highlight would be the final theater segment with “Old Man Crenshaw” and the riffing really picks up. So the pacing and building of humor turned out to be good, at least they finished with the funny. This episode also features some really good host segments again, including the goofing on the flashbacks in the movie. Not a classic episode, but it defiantly brings the funny. ****

The Video
The video in this one is bad. Really bad, the transfer for Merlin’s Shop of Mystical Wonders is very dark, and my old (but admittedly it was rarely used) VHS tape had better overall quality. This is pretty bad from a professional company. I think, Sky or Cheepins could do a better job from their DVDs if they really tried. The transfer on Time Chasers is also dark, but not nearly as bad. The days of Eegah like quality are gone.

The Audio
The audio is again in mono, and hard to hear. The transfer of the audio doesn’t seem to be in great shape either, not terrible, but to an unkeen ear, it’s noticable.

The Extras
The extras include an intro to every episode by Mike, and a interview with Kevin Murphy and Mike Nelson. Besides the intro to Time Chasers, Mike intros are relatively pointless besides maybe a good punchline. The interview with Mike and Kevin is alright, but most of that information was available elsewhere, and the only thing really learned is Child Brides was once screened and rejected. It’s nice to see the two, and they have real life chemistry that makes them interesting. Otherwise, the money used on extras should have been used on a decent transfer.

The Final Word
The episodes and okay extras save this box set from being rock bottom of all Rhino collections. Rhino tries to confuse you into thinking they put in some effort with a “special interview,” but it’s really a lazier effort than usual. Where was that interview taped anyway? It looks like some hotel room.

Episodes: 8
Video: 3
Audio: 5
Extras: 7
Final Score: 5

[jjb3k]

All four of this set's episodes are pretty solid in my book, but no matter how many times I watch "The Touch of Satan", it always makes me laugh like hell (which is appropriate, I guess). The 1970s flicks seem to bring out the best in the Brains.

"Pay attention to the word of God."
"For He loves you, and He may kill you if you don't."

[vanhagar3000]

Well, unfortunately, I don't think I'll be finishing these anytime soon. I've got a ton of things (both positive and negative) going on, and this is kind of towards the end of my list. This may be my last post for a while.

[vanhagar3000]

This may return in the future.