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Post by pablum on Mar 29, 2011 20:06:07 GMT -5
As the title notes, this thread is to be about movies you think were oversold by the MST3K crew as to how bad they really were.
My choices off the top of my head include The Castle of Fu Manchu and Being From Another Planet.
Every host segment in Fu Manchu beat into our heads that the movie was too horrible for the crew to bear. If you had seen an episode like Ring of Terror prior to Fu Manchu you would not think this is the case. Sure the print was very dark and the movie was dull, but its leagues above the worst the show gave us by that point in its history or afterward. Compare the reaction here to say the reaction they had to a later movie like Monster a Go Go. Maybe they got desensitized to bad films by then? They did have a slight reaction after the end of the Monster a Go Go, but nothing like what was seen in Fu Manchu.
Being from Another Planet (aka Time Walker) had an ending credits sequence where Servo claimed the movie to have been the worst they'd seen up to that point save for Castle of Fu Manchu. Again an overselling of how bad the movie was. It was just a cheap 80s horror film and far more watchable than say Robot Holocaust from the same decade. And I'm saying that not just because Robot Holocaust was a season 1 episode. Being From Another Planet was just better in every way possible.
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Post by Mr. Atari on Mar 29, 2011 23:35:02 GMT -5
I absolutely agree about "Fu Manchu". I think people think of it as a worse film than it actually was because of the commentary in the host segments. I think at least a dozen episodes had worse films than "Fu". Possibly more.
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Post by Mighty Jack on Mar 29, 2011 23:43:50 GMT -5
Oh Fu was bad alright. I didn't need Joel and the bots to make me think that. For me, the bad is in the overall lack of professionalism in the sound, cinematography and editing. It's a flat out poorly constructed movie. And that for me, is worth every tear. I can't think of one they oversold off the top of my head. There might be different levels of bad... but bad is bad -- and pain is pain, whether it's a kick in the nuts or a paper-cut or sitting through Fu. They all still offer plenty of deep hurting. Edit: And I say all of that with a smile in my heart, because MST3K makes the medicine go down smooth and easy
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Post by BJ on Mar 30, 2011 0:38:53 GMT -5
^Yea, I think Fu Manchu is every bit as torturous as the gang does.
I also think it's important to remember that Tom is the one who hates Being from Another Planet so much. Everybody hates different things, and Crow and Joel clearly don't agree with him. It's also during one of those weird, unrelated credits scenes, so it fills time.
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Post by Mod City on Mar 30, 2011 0:44:08 GMT -5
Oh Fu was bad alright. I didn't need Joel and the bots to make me think that. For me, the bad is in the overall lack of professionalism in the sound, cinematography and editing. It's a flat out poorly constructed movie. And that for me, is worth every tear. Not to pile on Fu, but I agree. It's a boring movie and a boring episode. They did it with other episodes, too. I believe Cave Dwellers got the same kind of hype in its final host segment. It was bad (even if the episode is hilarious), but I don't think of it as being as bad as a few others that came before it, like Robot vs. The Aztec Mummy.
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Post by dph on Mar 30, 2011 6:50:58 GMT -5
I think they over sold Hypnoheliostaticstasis in Radar Secret Service. I didn't find it nearly as dull as the Rock Climbing scenes in Lost Continent. I actually like RSS.
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Torgo
Moderator Emeritus
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Post by Torgo on Mar 30, 2011 10:55:24 GMT -5
They did it with other episodes, too. I believe Cave Dwellers got the same kind of hype in its final host segment. It was bad (even if the episode is hilarious), but I don't think of it as being as bad as a few others that came before it, like Robot vs. The Aztec Mummy. I hear that. Cave Dwellers was silly, but watchable, yet Tom Servo states it was the "worst movie" they've watched on the show so far. I'd rather watch Cave Dwellers than Ring of Terror or Catalina Caper myself. I'd go as far to say Godzilla vs. Megalon as well, despite my Zilla fanhood. Honestly I don't find Invasion of the Neptune Men half as painful as they made it out to be either. It's not as much cheesy fun as Prince of Space either, but I always considered it more "meh" than anything.
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Post by frankenforcer on Mar 30, 2011 11:42:07 GMT -5
Whether they talked about it in the Host segment or the ACEG, Fu Manchu is complete doodoo. I can't remember a thing about was going on, and I've watched a handfull of times, it never stays in my brain. I'm constantly confused about what the sam heck it is I'm supposed to be seeing. It's grainy, horribly so and the audio is always tunred to a whisper. So that adds to it is that I can't tell who I'm looking at or what they're doing, and I can't hear what their saying so I don't really know what they're talking about.... MAN!
However, I do remember them blasting RSS and being surprised that it's not that bad. It's mroe watchable then some other ones. Different tastes I guess.
Time of the Apes too, I remember the horror they talked about in the ACEG with the time code situation, and worried about watching, only to find that I actually enjoyed the Planet rip off.
Oh yeah, and I 've been to Istanbul.
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Post by Mr. Atari on Mar 30, 2011 12:23:12 GMT -5
I think they over sold Hypnoheliostaticstasis in Radar Secret Service. I didn't find it nearly as dull as the Rock Climbing scenes in Lost Continent. I actually like RSS. Agreed. RSS was a fun movie. I remember thinking that they made too big a deal out of the Deep Hurting in "Hercules Against the Moon Men". Yeah, the sandstorm was rough, but it wasn't that bad. And since no one agrees with me, here are 15 movies worse than "The Castle of Fu Manchu" off the top of my head: Mad Monster Robot vs. the Aztec Mummy Corpse Vanishes Hellcats Ring of Terror Monster A Go-Go Manos Wild World of Batwoman Atomic Brain Creeping Terror Red Zone Cuba Skydivers Beast of Yucca Flats Incredibly Strange Creatures... Blood Waters of Dr. Z I'd enjoy an unriffed Fu much more than an unriffed any of those.
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Post by sb5 on Mar 30, 2011 12:41:25 GMT -5
Girl in Lovers' Lane - Specifically the ending.
I had read the ACEG entry before I ever saw the episode, and based on Paul Chaplin's vitriol towards the filmmakers about how it ended and how it was "not justified by the characters' actions and decisions", I expected it to be completely out of the blue and make me angry.
But the ending, while a huge downer that probably could have been happy, fit with the rest of the movie, and did make sense based on the way the characters acted throughout the film. I mean, it sucks they killed a likable character off, but that doesn't mean it didn't make sense within the context of the film.
Beyond that, Servo's end credit sequence from Being From Another Planet was the first thing that came to mind, though as plissken pointed out, that was more of a "this movie has long credits, we need a bit to fill time" thing.
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Post by TheNewMads on Mar 30, 2011 13:00:22 GMT -5
i think we have a few threads that are vaguely on this subject, no? not that i mind, it's funny this topic keeps coming up. i actually like a lot of the mst3k movies as movies, but my taste in movies has always been a bit questionable (too many late night creature features in my youth warped my mind). i'd include as passable movies, or at least sporadically interesting movies: phase IV humanoid woman city on fire hangar 18 last chase crawling eye slime people moon zero two first spaceship on venus stranded in space space travelers teenagers from outer space (yup, i said it, and i'd say it again. i really like this movie.) tormented rebel set monster a-go-go manos (again, yes i said it. i think manos has a mad, eccentric genius about it. there's a fascinating greek mythological subtext to that movie no one ever gets.) swamp diamonds i accuse my parents girl in lover's lane painted hills gunslinger radar secret service teen-age crime wave girls town invasion usa bloodlust san francisco international kitten with a whip high school big shot this island earth leech woman devil doll overdrawn at the memory bank deadly bees space children gorgo final justice hamlet squirm some of these are actually pretty good movies, IMO, like squirm and high school big shot. some are middling but i just find myself emotionally invested in the characters despite myself, like swamp diamonds. some are still frustrating or bad but i still manage to find things about them that interest me, like manos and slime people. none of them are bad the way, say, hellcats or blood waters of dr. z is bad. just kidding about monster a-go-go.
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Post by frankenforcer on Mar 30, 2011 13:05:07 GMT -5
I think they over sold Hypnoheliostaticstasis in Radar Secret Service. I didn't find it nearly as dull as the Rock Climbing scenes in Lost Continent. I actually like RSS. Agreed. RSS was a fun movie. I remember thinking that they made too big a deal out of the Deep Hurting in "Hercules Against the Moon Men". Yeah, the sandstorm was rough, but it wasn't that bad. And since no one agrees with me, here are 15 movies worse than "The Castle of Fu Manchu" off the top of my head: Mad Monster Robot vs. the Aztec Mummy Corpse Vanishes Hellcats Ring of Terror Monster A Go-Go Manos Wild World of Batwoman Atomic Brain Creeping Terror Red Zone Cuba Skydivers Beast of Yucca Flats Incredibly Strange Creatures... Blood Waters of Dr. Z I'd enjoy an unriffed Fu much more than an unriffed any of those. rOBOT VS. tHE aZTEC mUMMY: I'll agree with you there Yes. However, I will say this. Most of Season 1 is terrible in my opinion. Simply because they aren't as seasoned as they became. By Castle of FU, they had more than found their groove and yet they still couldn't salvage that film, again IMO, therefore I hold it to a harder standard than most Season 1. But Robot vs. The Aztec Mummy I will agree with that because I think more than likely they couldn't save it even if it was in the later seasons. more than half that film is people sitting and talking while flashbacks of previous films in the series are playing. Cheap and boring.
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Post by notundercovercop32 on Mar 30, 2011 13:32:00 GMT -5
I always thought manos was way overhyped by the mads. I think it's a pretty bad movie but it certianly isn't the worst movie they'd done to that point. I think if the mads hadn't hyped it in the way did than Manos wouldn't be regarded as one of the worst movies ever.
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Post by BJ on Mar 30, 2011 13:58:01 GMT -5
You guys realize that April Fools isn't until Friday, right?
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Post by frankenforcer on Mar 30, 2011 14:20:42 GMT -5
You guys realize that April Fools isn't until Friday, right? but isn't it a mstie tradition to rush the Holiday season? granted it's normally Halloween... but the spirit is still the same. EEYGAEUUH!!!!!
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