Torgo's Review Thread 2.0

[Torgo]

418-Attack of the The Eye Creatures

The Movie

Note the extra “the” in the title. Originally entitled “The Eye Creatures” someone along the line thought the title needed to be punchier, so they slapped “Attack of the” onto it, oblivious that it already had the word “The” on it. Further proof that “They just didn’t care.”

Television remake of Invasion of the Saucer Men is played mostly for laughs, as teenage smoochers are terrorized by invading creatures made entirely out of eyes. Despite the military having the ability to spy on random people kissing throughout the film, they don’t seem to have much power to do anything else.

This incompetent production has a slight bit of charm in how lame it is. There’s something about a 1960’s movie made with a 1950’s script that just kind of has a cute little old-fashionedness to it. Is it a bad movie? Sure. The comedy, while it might have played out better in Invasion of the Saucer Men (haven’t seen it), is more grating than it is funny. The special effects also aren’t that special and the cinematography is an eyesore (no pun intended, but if you laughed then enjoy that).

All that taken into consideration, I did enjoy our two leads in this movie. It doesn’t hurt that Cynthia Hull is as cute as a button, but these characters of Stan and Susan have a plucky spirit that make them easy to root for. I enjoyed the movie when it focused on them, possibly because they were the only actors who weren’t trying to be funny so they didn’t have a chance to annoy me, but I did find myself invested in the little adventure they were having. I’m tempted to seek out Invasion of the Saucer Men to see if the storyline of this film plays out better in a proper decade context.

Missed opportunity to conquer the invasion: Call the Three Stooges. I guarantee they’d have every eye on every creature poked within the hour.

Movie Rating: 3/10

The Episode

Catalina Caper is a testament that when a film goes for the laughs, Joel and the bots can drown. They struggle at making Attack of the The Eye Creatures a more humorous enterprise. When the movie goes for a corny laugh, sometimes the best they can do is go for the “Bum-bah-buh-bah-buh-BOING” noises, and other times they get downright angry and yell at the movie. Their efforts are mixed, but at least they don’t crash and burn. They get funnier when the movie takes itself seriously enough for some solid riffing to take off, but those moments become few and far between.

The host segments give the same vibe. The only one I’d say goes the full mile is the “They just didn’t care segment!” that closes out the episode, with a montage of visible flaws in the movie (“Take a look at this guy! Take a good long look!”). I mostly enjoyed the prop comedy of the third segment, however the Rip Taylor impressions make it feel loud and overly long. I also kind of enjoy Tom’s desire to make out, even if I felt it kind of dwindled. The rest of the host segments flounder. The Earl Holliman segment just doesn’t do it for me, and while Joel’s funny gag fax machine ends with a cute Three Stooges style gag, the Invention Exchange is a bit of a loser (though I do like the creativity of the Router Ouija Board).

Attack of the The Eye Creatures is good enough for some jollies. The question I find myself asking is that even though it’s not a complete waste of time, is it good enough to recommend as something that must be seen before certain other episodes? While the episode hits some delightful highs, I’m afraid the answer is no. The movie can hurt if one watches it in the wrong mood and there is fairly little about things on the SOL end that scream to be seen. It’s one that can be safely put to the side while making your way to the series, even if when you finally watch it you might say “Oh that wasn’t that bad!”

Episode Rating: Average

Next Time: Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, can save a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found, was blind but now I see.

[Torgo]

Maybe it's my eagerness to fill this out as much as possible before the reboot arrives, but I think this weekend is going to bring another double feature! In fact, I have a three-day weekend this week, which could translate into a triple feature if I have enough time. No promises on that though.

Stay tuned! I also have another announcement coming up, that could help fill the gaps in even faster!

[Torgo]

908-The Touch of Satan

The Movie

Touching love story of finding where the fish lives tells us of a city boy Jodie falling in love with Melissa, the daughter of a walnut farmer. Of course wacky antics of meeting the parents ensue, though nothing as un-funny as Robert DeNiro with a lie detector, just the hilarity of Lucinda, a murderous old lady they keep locked up. This woman is actually Melissa’s sister, who Melissa saved from being burned as a witch over a century prior by selling her soul to the Devil.

Probably the one thing you realize about The Touch of Satan as it ends is that it didn’t really have such a bad story. If the movie had actual talent or maybe a budget to execute it, maybe The Touch of Satan could have rose above the inferno of bottom feeding fodder. It might have even achieved cult status. Unfortunately the production sucks. There’s really no way to steer past that. It has a kind of neat story buried by amateurs. The film is ugly at just about all ends (admittedly the lousy print the show features does the movie no favors) and the acting is stilted and uninvolved. The best that can be said about the actors is that lead actress Emby Mellay is easy on the eyes, and I’d probably sell my soul for her as well.

If the movie has any virtue of the production as is, it’s probably because it looks like a snuff film, kind of like Manos only not as other-worldly. The movie clearly wants to be creepy, but one can’t help but feel it’s a little sad that MST itself feels like it has more lavish production values than the film it’s mocking.

Movie Rating: 3/10

The Episode

The movie doesn’t quite fit the mould of the science fiction fodder they had been doing on the Sci-Fi Channel, as it’s mostly a dreary horror story and not some goofball cheesefest. It could possibly be that the crew hadn’t done a movie like this in so long that they are confused on how to approach it. They pick apart the lacking script, specifically some unfortunate dialogue (“This is where the fish lives” is pretty much an instant classic quote), but then they continue to drive run-on dialogue gags into the ground almost instantly before moving on to the next one the movie gives them. The SOL crew is at their best when they go after Lucinda, the movie’s biggest attempt at frightening the audience, trying desperately to be like Mother from Psycho but coming off more like Grandma Flanders from The Simpsons. There’s a goldmine of senile old bat jokes being thrown around.

The host segments are mostly winners, with top prize going to Steffi the Babysitter (played by prop master Beth “Beez” McKeever) filling in for Pearl as she travels off to consult film critic Leonard Maltin on what bad movies she should use to torment Mike (which will result in the next episode, Gorgo). Steffi makes for some of the best Mad segments since the golden days of Dr. Forrester and Frank, as her constant babying of Observer (AKA Brian) brings many laughs while her treatment of Bobo as the family pet is a scream (“NO CHEW!” “NO BARK!”). I find myself a bit saddened that this is the only time we see Steffi, but am also glad she wasn’t driven into the ground. She’s a rather brilliant one-shot character that did her business and left on a high note.

The other segments hold their own, mostly mocking the movie. I really like Mike’s walnut farming sketch, and Servo’s grandma is a hoot. One of the lesser ones is Crow thinking he’s a witch, but it features some pretty solid dialogue saving it. The opening Wassail segment falls under the same category, as it’s a bit of an odd duck but with a catchy beat.

As a whole though, The Touch of Satan is an episode that is hardly remembered as it ends. The dreary movie might be to blame, but it’s somewhat sad that the combined efforts of Lucinda and Steffi can’t make me think higher of this episode than I do. Unfortunately it’s just not one that I come back to, even if those two girls really hit a home run here.

Note: In the opening credits Crow makes reference to the movie being about “A hip Satan who solves crimes.” Seems kind of ridiculous at first, but then I’m reminded that it sounds like the new Fox series Lucifer. I’m starting to think Crow finally made it in show biz and sold his idea.

Episode Rating: Average

The DVD

The Touch of Satan was released by Rhino Home Video as a part of their all Sci-Fi era Volume 5 set. The episode featured great video (for everything except that washed out movie) as well as grand audio.

On the extras side, the disc offers an introduction by Mike Nelson, who calls the movie “A Touch of Satan.” There’s also a scratchy, widescreen trailer for the movie, which is in better shape than the movie appeared on the show (which isn’t saying much).

Next Time: I don’t know JACK…that’s nearly this MIGHTY!

[Torgo]

K14-Mighty Jack

The Movie

MIGHTY JACK! A Real Japanese Hero! Mighty Jack is there!

Maybe it’s just me but Mighty Jack always reminded me of GI Joe crossed with Atragon. Mighty Jack is a super organization designed to do battle with terrorists Q, just like the Joes and Cobra. Only with a giant battleship sub, like the good old Gotengo from Atragon (and the steroid version from Godzilla: Final Wars).

With that mindset, Mighty Jack is mildly amusing in its incoherency. Unfortunately that has all to do with the Sandy Frank edit of the TV series that was imported, in which the first and last episodes are used and leaving the viewer behind in transition. But to be fair, the show didn’t really look that interesting anyway, so who wants the episodes that came between?

Special effects are by the great Eiji Tsuburaya, creator of Godzilla and Ultraman. Mighty Jack was a television series by his very own Tsuburaya Productions (much like Time of the Apes and Fugitive Alien), which at the very least means we have some dynamic miniature work to look at. Mighty Jack might not be one of Tsuburaya’s greatest achievements but at least he gives it some energy.

Movie Rating: 3/10

The Episode

The theater work is fairly workmanlike. There’s not a lot special going on here. That said, occasionally the crew gets in a good punch, so laughs are had. I particularly enjoyed the crew’s random reflection on Gilligan’s Island about halfway through the episode (“You know after all those years on the island, why didn’t they just eat Gilligan?”). Unfortunately there’s too many low points for it to be considered a great KTMA episode, with Josh speaking gibberish while reading the Japanese cast list probably being the lowest. It’s about as amusing as Wild, Wild World of Batwoman chanting “WANG CHING CHONG CHOW!” They also straddle the lackluster line when they get into a lengthy “Big fat worm” gag, going back and forth to get Joel to say “I eight the big fat worm.” Pretty lame.

The host segments keep a fair amount of flavor going, The unofficial theme seems to be “What’s funny?” Tom and Crow try to figure out what humans find funny, only to find out what robots find funny is a bit different. I especially like the segment where Crow and Tom ponder whether or not killing Joel is “funny” (the answer is yes). Joel playing games with the bots was remade in the first national season for The Crawling Hand, with a much smoother presentation. It all ends with Servo getting a love letter from a MAGNIFICANT PAGAN SHE-BEAST!

This first venture into the wacky mess of Mighty Jack on a whole is entertaining enough, but nothing special. The third season take on the movie is definitely the laugh-getter.

Episode Rating: Average

Next Time: Believe it or not, I have an episode even earlier than this one coming up.

[Torgo]

SPECIAL UPDATE! Ladies and gents, Torgo's going on vacation! Not from this site, but from work. It's going to be a busy time, I got friends to hang with and family to visit; if I'm lucky women to woo as well. But right now my intention is to set aside some time every night to watch an MST episode. I have eight days off in a row, which means at most I'll get through eight episodes next week. I've already mapped out what these episodes will be, so what do I have in store?

Killer critters! Both insect and dog sized!
Zombies and mummies! Or as close as I can get!
A musclebound encounter with HERCULES!
Giant monster beasts from Japan! Is it the King of the Monsters or the Friend to Children of All?
A landmark game-changer of an episode!
Popping the cherries of the four seasons I haven't touched!
Episodes from all four riffing eras! We'll get tastes of Joel, Mike, Trace, Kevin, Bill, and Josh in their own unique glorious combinations!

Stay tuned! The first episode will be up by Saturday!

[Torgo]

K09-Phase IV

The Movie

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this movie. It has a pretty respectable score on IMDB, and when a movie featured on the show doesn’t automatically have five thousand nerds voting it a 1 because it was given the MST treatment, that’s an achievement to be sure.

As the movie starts I’m treated to an overlong continuous sequence of ants performing sign language. I…just…don’t have the words. It continues on into a prologue that is long, overdone, and boring, and I find my expectations coming into place. This movie was going to suck.

Here we see super intelligent ants attempt to take over the world. Mankind attempts to stop them by standing around and doing nothing but going “bwah?” On one hand, the special effects are well realized, but it’s all effectively ruined by presenting its subject in a rather boring manner. I mean, they called their killer ant movie “Phase IV,” for crying out loud. That was your big interesting title to get people to see this movie? That’s like titling Jaws “Project Swim.”

As an enjoyer of killer critter movies, I do kind of get what the film was going for. I do wish they had remained somewhat grounded in their ambitions and ideas, though. It also would have been better if it had an ending that didn’t feel like a crap cop-out.

Movie Rating: 3/10

The Episode

Servo’s observation: “This isn’t a Gamera movie! Their mouths are moving with the words!”

And might I say it’s nice to see the boys match wits with something that isn’t a giant turtle. It’s liberating to be sure, though the contrasting lack of goofiness makes it seem a bit blah in the aftermath. What can be said for Phase IV is that while the movie is boring, the flavor of the series it’s being featured on makes it endurable. Like adding spice to a dish, if you will. They are especially jokey during the ant attack scenes (“It was an ant, I swear!”), and laughs are not rare.

The host segments are more playful than hilarious, more or less just to belabor a concept, though a funny one. My favorite is the opener which takes quite a while to build up a gag about $40,000 the Mads need to bring Joel back to Earth. The payoff makes it worthwhile.

It’s a pretty solid smile episode. Not the best episode of the season, but one worth watching.

Episode Rating: Good

Next Time: Hercules, Hercules, Hercules!

[Torgo]

412-Hercules and the Captive Women

The Movie

“Today is dedicated to Uranus!”

Utterly confusing Hercules caper. Admittedly watching it through this particular series isn’t doing the film any favors, as it has undoubtedly been edited down and the riffing talks over much of the dialogue. What can be deciphered is that we have Hercules hitting the high seas and heading into random misadventures, including saving a woman from being eaten by an island, fighting a chameleon monster, and escaping the lost city of Atlantis. But can he conquer his greatest foe, sleep apnea?

Of what can be said about these foreign sword and sandal movies, they’re some of the more interesting productions ever featured on the show. They’re colorful and ambitious. As for the movie itself, it’s probably the least interesting Hercules movie featured on the show. It’s not as entertaining as Hercules and Hercules Unchained, nor as boobish as Hercules Against the Moon Men. Hercules and the Captive Women offers some fairly cool albeit wonky set-pieces. The shapeshifting monster in particular is a gas.

It’s not good, but I can think of worse ways to spend my time.

Movie Rating: 5/10

The Episode

The gimmick in the theater for this particular episode is that Gypsy is invited to watch the movie. How fun is it? Not very. Gypsy has about two real riffs, and the rest of the time she either stares blankly at the screen or starts questioning the idea of MST in general, to which Servo and Crow dismiss her while Joel tries to support her. Gypsy’s presence is a distraction. Not only is she larger than the others, which means she covers a good chunk of the movie, but attention is drawn away from the movie as the jokes start spending a good amount of time at her expense. Maybe if they played it for less awkwardness it might have been funnier, and while I get why they display Gypsy as not being very good in the theater, it’s pretty much just not the funniest skit they could have pulled together. Luckily Gypsy doesn’t even last until the first commercial break, when she begins to realize the movie isn’t very good. Then she bails.

The rest of the riffing is hit and miss. There are some highs, sometimes unintentional hilarity from the film itself (I laughed hysterically at the sequence where Herc fights a shapeshifting monster), but then there are lulls of quips that just don’t spark much of a reaction. It might not be their fault, as the movie itself is probably the least noteworthy Hercules movie they’ve tackled, but there seems to be less of an effort to rise to the occasion.

The host segments don’t do much for me. Things like the Hercules action figure and the good natured brawl are cute, but I never really laughed during them. The invention exchange is a swing and a miss. The theme is babies, and while the props are creative, the Deep 13 invention of a lawn mower baby buggy looks jumbled together without a real joke while Joel’s womb headphones are more clever than they are funny.

What Hercules and the Captive Women boils down to is a cubic zirconia in the crown jewels of Hercules episodes that just feels run of the mill instead of fun. Add in the opening gimmick that kind of backfires, and this one just doesn’t deliver. But Hercules movies are never boring, and often just lavish and/or goofy enough to keep interest in the audience all by themselves. If the theater work is on autopilot, at least the movie picks up the slack. Hell, the many conversations in this movie about Uranus alone make it worth at least a gander. Joel and the bots reacting to the statement “The Blood of Uranus” alone is a treat.

Episode Rating: Average

The DVD

Shout Factory released this Hercules not-so-classic on their Volume XXIX set, which included a solid print of the episode itself as good audio. On the extras side we start out with an intro by Joel, who claims admiration for the Hercules films as well as reflecting on the experiment itself. Interestingly enough he also gives an explanation why Gypsy is in the theater for a brief period, as the crew felt the opening narration of the film was too difficult to work with and felt they needed a gimmick to keep the episode fun until it was over.

Up next is a featurette on Steve Vance, who does the poster artwork for Shout Factory’s DVD sets. It’s a trip through the interesting process he takes to create such neat treats for MST fans to hang on their wall. Also included is a gallery of posters that Vance has made, up to this volume of course (he has made more since). There are seventy in total.

Next Time: A roar is heard in the distance.

[Torgo]

213-Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster

The Movie

*I HAVE SURVIVED WATCHING THIS MOVIE UNRIFFED*

One of my least favorite Godzilla flicks, Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster tells the tale of three nitwits who steal a boat and claim it’s “a gift from God.” The irony is that they unknowingly steal it from a criminal, who also tags along because he’s stuck with these clowns. Their mission: to find one of their lost kin, who had vanished at sea without a trace. Attacked by a sea monster, they wash ashore of an island which is taken over by soldiers bent on world domination. On the run for their lives they find that Godzilla is slumbering on their island and decide to awaken him to scare off the soldiers and the giant sea creature that’s keeping them on the island.

1960’s Godzilla productions are usually a gas, but Sea Monster is the exception, not the rule. This film offers some colorful sets and neat monster battles, but the script is sorely lacking. Plot is confused with coincidence and it struggles to skip from one scene to the next as quickly as possible without genuine flow to get from point A to point B. The idea that the criminal would let these morons spend the night on the boat with him is ludicrous. The main character’s brother is lost, and he eventually finds him by snagging his damn foot on a balloon, floating away helplessly, and landing on a separate island landing right in front of his brother. The script to this movie is bizarrely stupid.

That said, virtues of the production are present. Production values are beautiful, and the characters are likable enough. Godzilla himself is fairly well realized, better than he was in Godzilla vs. Megalon at any rate. There are moments where the weakness of suitimation sinks in (there is more than one moment where we can see water plugs in the Godzilla suit’s air holes), but for the most part the monster scenes couldn’t be more fun. And while the plotting is terrible, the story is breezy and diverting.

What it boils down to is that while it has its fun elements, Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster is by no means a good movie, even if you’re looking at it by Godzilla standards (in other words, down with the kaiju crowd and fully embracing the rubber costumes). It could have been great, but instead it just kind of dwindles its bright moments.

Movie Rating: 4/10

The Episode

I know I’m in the minority, but I enjoy this episode more than Godzilla vs. Megalon. I found Megalon a bit too lopsided, with all the best riffs being made during the finale while the first few theater segments kind of drag on. There’s a much steadier riff-pace in this one, plus Sea Monster just in general is a more enjoyable movie.

To an extent, it feels as if Joel and the bots are enjoying the movie much more as well. They needed the monsters to be present to kick into high gear with Megalon, but with Sea Monster they pick up the cornball tone and settle into a cornball groove. Because of this they play off the human cast much more successfully, which makes for a more glorious whole instead of just one glorious segment. The movie itself blends well with the riffing, and it never really comes off the worse for it. You’ll definitely not be reeling in pain based on the movie selection this week.

There’s a fairly cute running gag where our crew doesn’t know the title of the movie, because they missed the opening credits. It’s a fairly odd beginning because we spend about a minute with empty theater seats when the movie first starts. I remember hearing rumors on this site that this might have been because they didn’t have proper rights to riff on the credits, since they took footage from Son of Godzilla. As time goes on I find this unlikely for several reasons. First, it’s so early on in the series that I don’t believe that they looked deeply enough into film rights that they questioned whether or not they had the right to riff an opening credit sequence. Second, it’s been documented since then that Comedy Central secured the rights and the folks on the show just went through screener copies and told the channel what movies they wanted. Third, Toho Company Ltd, who own the rights to Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster and Son of Godzilla (as well as Godzilla vs. Megalon), didn’t have as much control over US distribution as they do now, and the show would have only had to do business with an American distributor, which explains why these movies appeared on the show at all given how protective Toho is with their Godzilla character.

Ultimately, I believe the reason they missed the opening credits was because they thought it would be funny. And it is pretty funny, to be honest. It’s a riff on getting to a movie late for whatever reason.

The host segments add a hint of flavor to an already delicious dish. The best segment is the catchy Godzilla Genealogy Bop, which chronicles the thunder lizard’s family tree. The space madness sketch has some laughs, and there are a lot of cool drawings in the final sketch. The Invention Exchange is a simple delight, as Joel and the Mads invent new types of guitars that look really neat (Joel’s is mind controlled while the Mads’ are made of squeak toys). Probably the closest to a dud is the visit from Mothra, which is neat but never really takes off. Mike does the voice of the giant moth, but his turn as Gamera next season is much more memorable.

All things considered, I have to go against the grain on this one. Not only is it the better of the two Godzilla episodes, I think it’s kind of obviously better. I guess there’s something to Godzilla vs. Megalon that I’m just missing, but as it stands I’m very happy with my opinion on Sea Monster. But given that these two episodes are both high points of both the season and the series, it’s a shame they were never able to tap into this well again (the closest we received was a Rifftrax for the 1998 Hollywood Godzilla film, which is hilarious but just not the same as these early movies).

Episode Rating: Classic

Next Time: Woof! I mean…whatever sound a shrew makes!

[Torgo]

407-The Killer Shrews (With Short: “Junior Rodeo Daredevils”)

The Short

Two juvenile delinquents decide to be idiots and vandalize a horse’s rear end. Instead of doing the sane thing and letting the horse kick them, old cowpoke Billy Slater convinces them to use their energy by organizing a junior rodeo, because these kids are obviously focused enough to do such a thing.

I hate rodeos. I grew up with them, because my mother and sister were horse riders and both had been part of them several times (my mother was a barrel racer while my sister just marched through them with the US flag). However, I just could never get into the sport. I was constantly told that the only real men were bull riders. I’m sorry that not tying up a bull’s testicles and being stupid enough to climb on its back makes me not a “real man,” but personally I can live with that.

Rodeos feel like animal cruelty for entertainment, which just doesn’t gel with me. Needless to say, this short bugs the hell out of me. Not just the rodeos, but the obnoxious kids and shameless western drawl narrator just makes me want to burn this thing. Rodeos can go to hell. And this junior rodeo can rot right beside it.

The Movie

I love myself a crappy monster movie. The Killer Shrews, however, might just be that one monster movie that is crappy in all the wrong ways. Our story is about a group of people trapped on an island by a hurricane, where a scientist has been conducting experiments on making human beings smaller in an attempt to prevent overpopulation. Unfortunately his experiments also create a giant breed of shrew, who can kill with a single bite!

Originally a quickly filmed second half of a double feature with The Giant Gila Monster, The Killer Shrews fares fairly poorly as a movie on its own. Gila Monster may not be a great movie, but it has some base competencies that Shrews lacks, which means you’re probably better off bailing on this double feature after the first movie is over.

Killer Shrews mostly takes place inside of a single set, which makes the majority of the film seem like a play. It’s not a terribly exciting play, because the exposition being hammered into our heads is hardly compelling drama and the characters exist to provide a very base relationship with each other (there’s a love triangle because of course there is). The film becomes a bit dull as we wait endlessly for some shrew action.

When we finally get to some promised shrew action, the movie doesn’t disappoint. Well…it will disappoint those who were hoping it would be exciting. Those hoping it would be hilarious will get their money’s worth. The shrews look ridiculous, as the crew opts to put silly shaggy costumes on a group of dogs and have them chase our actors. They look kooky, and the movie is dead set on making them come off as a threat. It’s funny to see them try so hard with so little.

Finale is a hoot. The rest of the movie stinks.

Movie Rating: 3/10

The Episode

One of my least favorite experiments starts with what could be my least favorite short. Not only is the short annoying, but the riffing doesn’t cut it. It gets off to a bad start after the title is announced in a thick country accent, “Junior Rodeo Daredevils,” and Joel pipes up “Smothered in gravy, TEXAS STYLE!” I understand what this is a reference to, and to a lesser extent I understand why he made the riff. The problem is it isn’t funny. And when I say I don’t find it funny, I mean that I don’t find it funny at all. The short is littered with similar riffs, where I get them but don’t find them funny. As the short goes on there seems like there should be a lot that can be done with the material, but at times Joel and the bots become content with repeating the same lame jokes over and over. It grows tiresome hearing “And the crowd goes wild!” “Yaaaaaaaaaaay.” repeatedly over the short’s brief runtime. Junior Rodeo Daredevils is a tiresome chore.

The episode would be worth watching if the movie picked up the slack, but it never does. With the self-seriousness goofiness of the movie, one would think this episode would be a slam dunk. While they’re sharper than they were with the short, this episode falls short of greatness by a good margin. The first thing you realize about their work here is that the print of the movie they’re working with is really bad, which makes making out the dialogue a bit difficult. The boys quickly making a running gag out of this, as they try to make out lines of dialogue as being something entirely different because they can’t make it out. It’s amusing, but wears out its welcome. They also try to play to the play-like nature of the movie, which is mostly shot on one set. The results are mixed, skewing slightly disappointing. The crew does have some fun with pointing out that the “shrews” are really dressed up dogs, and there are one or two good drunk jokes too.

As for the host segments, they’re passable but don’t really improve the episode. I like that Killer Shrews board game Servo and Crow make (it’s not as funny as the one they did for The Unearthly though), but the segment drowns when they start breaking down over the movie. The Killer Shrew cocktail they invent is kind of neat also. I dig the Invention Exchange, which has Dr. Forrester almost destroying the world, but finds his invention is no match for Joel’s Jim Henson’s Edgar Winter Babies.

This episode just doesn’t rise to the occasion. It’s sad that they couldn’t do better with this particular movie, but you win some, you lose some. This one just happened to be a loser.

Episode Rating: Not Recommended

The DVD

Killer Shrews was released by Rhino Home Video on their Volume 7 set. While the video and audio were both fine, original discs that were sold were accidentally edited, and the opening narration of the film was lost. The issue was corrected, replacement discs were sent, and the sets Rhino made since featured the corrected disc. The one I purchased was the corrected version, so I never had this problem, but on these boards…man that was a sh*t storm.

The disc features three bonus shorts. The first is an unreleased short called Assignment: Venezuela, which was created as an exclusive for a CD-ROM version of the series (unfortunately it was cancelled, though this and a lost second short were both filmed), making this an awesome feature to have. The short is pretty funny, as well, though the other shorts might just be funnier. Taken from the Sci-Fi era, we also have Century 21 Calling (from Space Children) and A Case of Spring Fever (from Squirm). The latter is my favorite of the group, personally.

The short featured on the episode, Junior Rodeo Daredevils, was featured on the Shorts Volume 1 compilation featured on Rhino’s Volume 2 collection. Here the short enjoyed an introduction by Tom Servo. This compilation is set to be re-released by Shout Factory in their re-release of Volume 2, which is due out on May 24, 2016. Whether the Tom Servo introduction will remain is unknown.

Next Time: Second longest title on the show.

[Torgo]

812-The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies

The Movie

Schlock-master and future porn director Ray Dennis Steckler brings us this tale of a douchebag named Jerry (played by Steckler himself) who shuns his perfectly good girlfriend in order to see a trashy burlesque show that wasn’t worth the dime he spent to get in. Receiving a note from a stripper to meet her backstage, he is taken by a gypsy fortune teller who hypnotizes him into doing her bidding, including MURDER!

I find this movie difficult to have a genuine opinion of. I mean, sure I can say some particularly nasty things about it (and most of my fellow MSTies will), but it always felt to me like just some terminally strange movie that happened to exist for some reason. It’s ineptly made, but it was also made for no money so I could give it a pass (but then again, films like The Evil Dead and El Mariachi were made for little money as well). Steckler himself is tenacious, if nothing else. It takes determination to make a movie with no money, and, even if you hate the result, it’s kind of hard to claim he didn’t have a vision.

Personally I don’t enjoy the movie. It’s the film equivalent of a hallucination brought upon by the worst fever of your life. It’s attempts at being sexy are putrid, it’s attempts at being scary are laughable, and it doesn’t really try much else to help save it. The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies is unquestionably a bad movie, this much is to be sure. Mileage may vary on just how much you hate it. I know a lot of MSTies do, but I don’t get very worked up over it.

Movie Rating: 1/10

The Episode

Incredibly Strange Creatures is arguably the roughest movie they’ve contended with at that point during their Sci-Fi run (which had mostly consisted of easy 50’s Universal and AIP fare). I was pretty new to the show when this episode debuted (it might have been the second episode I watched, after The Deadly Mantis) and such a different kind of movie could have been a bit jarring…if the SOL crew didn’t have a talent of taking a movie’s weakness and turning it into a strength. It’s nothing short of amazing the way they work with such a crazy movie and play up the insanity to bring golden comedy. This episode could have easily been a disaster, and if they had this movie during season two it might have, but they are so good at their craft right now that failure isn’t an option. The riffing is bloody hysterical, making Incredibly Strange Creatures a highlight of not just the eighth season, but the entire series.

The host segments struggle to match the brilliant theater work, but they do manage to take Ortega and turn him into a classic movie character. Our gypsy woman’s foul little henchman has his own catering business, of which Crow and Servo are eager to try, and Mike is disgusted by. The segment is hands down the highlight outside of the theater, and successfully turns Ortega into the Torgo of the Sci-Fi run. The other segments struggle to catch up, while offer up moderate amusement: Mike gets a massive beehive haircut, Crow and Servo put on a fortune telling scam, and they all go on a walk-a-thon for noble charities W.A.L.K.A.T.H.O.N. and H.E.L.P.I.N.G.C.H.I.L.D.R.E.N.T.H.R.O.U.G.H.R.E.S.E.A.R.C.H.A.N.D.D.E.V.E.L.O.P.M.E.N.T. On the Mads’ side, Pearl is taking the Space Children home after the chaos they pulled in Parts: The Clonus Horror. It’s a fulfilling payoff to the classic segments of the previous episode.

Poopie!: Look carefully on the left hand side of the screen when Mike and the bots enter the theater in the first theater segment. There seems to be something moving around. Is somebody in the shot?

I hear that some people struggle through Incredibly Strange Creatures due to the vile movie they selected. While I cannot deny the movie is gross filth, I have to say it’s their loss. This episode features some of the most brilliant and consistent work the show has ever featured.

Episode Rating: Classic

The DVD

Rhino released this episode as a part of their Volume 9 set, featuring decent video and audio. There were no special features.

Shout Factory also released the episode as an online exclusive Shout Select disc. There also were no special features.

Next Time: “The Marty Feldman Story!” “Oh, Forrest Tucker! He’s the guy who makes sure all the trees shirttails are in.” “This movie looks kind of familiar, doesn’t it?”

[Torgo]

101-The Crawling Eye

The Movie

*I HAVE SURVIVED WATCHING THIS MOVIE UNRIFFED*

A group of people in an observatory in Switzerland are shaken up by people being decapitated while hiking the mountains. With a radioactive mist hovering around the mountains, rumors of extraterrestrial monsters begin to spread. Could these monsters by giant eyes? Why wouldn’t they be?

Delightful monster movie began as a British television serial called The Trollenberg Terror, and was edited together for theatrical release as The Crawling Eye. The movie, while unevenly paced and with hit and miss special effects work, has a lot of brilliant atmosphere. Not only that, but it never hesitates to get a little dark in its tone.

The monsters themselves look sensational. They admittedly look better in certain shots than others, but the design is wickedly cool. The monster scenes have a knack of hitting the gas in this movie, which is lucky when some of the human scenes drag on. Despite this there is some cool intrigue to what is actually going on before the big reveal. This monster movie delivers the goods.

Movie Rating: 7/10

The Episode

And with The Crawling Eye, MST went national (though some speculate that Robot vs. the Aztec Mummy was actually aired first, even though this episode was the first produced). The riffs are no longer improvised, and while the humor isn’t perfect there is definitely a better flow to these episodes than the KTMA ones. This first national season also benefits from better movie selections. I’ve already gushed about my enjoyment of The Crawling Eye, but this season was littered with cool little black and white goodies. Quality is debatable, but I love ‘em. And because of my love for the types of films that season one chose to show, I can be pretty easy on it.

The riffing in Crawling Eye is a sizable improvement over the riffing at KTMA. That’s not to say it sets the standard that all MST must be judged, but more like the standard that this season must be. Crawling Eye is one of the better ones, even if there is a bit of desperation to find the show’s identity underlining it. Some of the jokes seem like they were made to fill the gaps, or a joke for the sake of one. Every once in a while there’s a really good chuckle that breaks any awkwardness, and there are still a lot of smiles in between. It’s true that the episode benefits from a really fun monster movie, but I like to think that the theater segments are a solid success in this one.

The host segments are just as experimental. None of them are bad, but the best ones are just kind of witty, with Joel explaining why humans can’t survive decapitation highlighting. There’s also a swell host segment discussing the viability of the monster itself, which is something I like about these early episodes because they have a tendency to discuss the film itself, giving off that horror movie host flavor. Gypsy getting all tangled up is hit and miss, as is the very first Invention Exchange which offers Joel’s creative electric bagpipes and the Mads’ funny concept/lacking execution canine antiperspirant.

Poopie!: At the opening of the first theater segment, Servo just sits at the right side of the screen before entering. They much have thought he was off camera, but the Shadow-Rama caught it!
Poopie!: During the second host segment, you can clearly see a puppeteer’s shadow on the wall. I’m assuming it belongs to Jim Mallon, who voices Gypsy here for the first time. There’s a second human shadow on the wall, but I’m pretty sure it belongs to Joel.

Season one episodes may not be everybody’s cup of tea, but we all have to start somewhere. If one continues down this season, one can only hope future episodes are as good as this one. The Crawling Eye entertains, even if it is spotty.

Episode Rating: Good

The DVD

Shout Factory released this episode as a part of Volume XVII. Picture and sound is pretty rock solid, definitely a sight for sore eyes, as older MST episodes tend to be in much softer condition in the Tape Trading circuit. An official DVD taken from the actual master of this important episode is definitely welcome.

There are two special features, the first of which is an introduction by Joel Hodgson. He talks about the transition between KTMA and national TV and why they decided to go scripted instead of improvised, as well as the movie itself. It’s a great companion piece to the episode.

The second is a trailer for the film.

Next Time: Chronological order. Didn’t see that coming.

[Torgo]

102-The Robot vs. the Aztec Mummy (With Short: “Radar Men from the Moon: Chapter One – Moon Rocket”)

The Short

Serials. They sound like as delicious as a bowl of Trix, but not quite. Nowadays they’re best known for inspiring George Lucas to make Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark, but the dark reality is they aren’t very interesting or exciting.

The short follows Commando Cody, a super-scientist with a jet-pack (who also may or may not be the inspiration for the 1980’s retro-styled comic character The Rocketeer). He investigates atomic energy on the moon and discovers a plot by the evil civilization of moon men to conquer the Earth.

I don’t think one can adequately review a serial, so I don’t think I should try. Given what serials are, Radar Men from the Moon seems par for the course. My soft spot for superheroics enjoys parts of it, while my enjoyment of storytelling makes me yearn for something more ambitious. Since it’s only the first chapter, I’m not grunting in frustration yet, but I do know that day will come.

The Movie

Believe it or not Robot vs. the Aztec Mummy is actually the THIRD film of an ongoing Mexican horror series based around the Aztec Mummy, being a sequel to Attack of the Aztec Mummy and The Curse of the Aztec Mummy. Or maybe this is blatantly obvious, because two thirds of this movie is a damn flashback to these movies. This extensive setup from the previous films establishes the mad scientist Dr. Krup who desires the treasure of Popoca, a cursed Aztec mummy who will rise and kill anybody who takes it. His latest scheme involves building a cyborg to defend them and destroy Popoca.

Low rent foreign cash grab inspired by Universal’s The Mummy series, but once you get past that this Aztec Mummy schlock is a doofus time-waster that’s harmless. The movie is slow and honestly has no actual story until the third act (if you can call only having one act of event a story at all), but seeing how I have never seen the other Aztec Mummy movies I’m particularly unscathed from it. I’m sure if I had these scenes would be torture, much like that ten minute recap that opens Universal’s The Mummy’s Tomb, but right now I can live with it.

But I can’t in good conscience recommend the movie. It’s a certain kind of bad that only certain types of weirdoes like me will enjoy. And let’s face it, with forty minutes of recap and a pitiful twenty minutes of story, what exactly is there about this movie to recommend? It could possibly be climactic fight between a robot and a mummy, but unfortunately it only lasts less than a minute (and the mummy pretty much plows through the robot with ease…oh spoiler alert, by the way).

Whether you like it or not, there was also a fourth entry entitled Wrestling Women vs. the Aztec Mummy, a crossover with another popular Mexican series of female wrestlers. Why oh why wasn’t this featured on the show too? I would have loved to see women wrestling an undead corpse to the ground.

Movie Rating: 3/10

The Episode

According to legend, The Robot vs. the Aztec Mummy was the very first episode of MST aired nationally. And thus, MST as we know it started to bloom.

The riffing starts out with the very first short seen on the program, a chapter of the Commando Cody serial. Shorts would of course become a mainstay in the series, however they soon discovered industrial and educational films were better suited for the format than serials. However, the idea of riffing a serial is intriguing, offering up sort of mini-cliffhangers to try and keep viewers invested enough to watch each week. But the nature of a serial is that they were catering to a youth culture that’s out of date, and didn’t mind/notice that what they were watching was the same each and every week. Commando Cody is a failed experiment, but you wouldn’t know it here. With the serial so fresh and the production so goofy, the SOL crew is firing on all cylinders. They especially have fun poking at the logic holes at hand (“Isn’t ANY atomic activity on the moon unusual?”). It would definitely seem like a match made in heaven.

“The Robot?”
“YAAAAAAAAY!”
“Versus the Aztec Mummy?”
“BOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

Moving on to the movie, which is a different beast. We have a dreary and less spunky import from Mexico, a far cry from the lighthearted superhero antics of Commando Cody. They struggle to keep pace with their fun opener, but mostly the movie kind of makes the episode. It’s so bizarre and nutty that it kind of becomes required viewing for crap cinema lovers like myself. The crew gets a respectable amount of zingers at the movies expense, and one also notes that they’re further experimenting with what kind of jokes can be made. They play with the sound mix in this particular episode, as Joel stands up and muffles a singer’s mouth with his hand, muting the audio. They also add the sound of streaming water in another scene, giving off the idea that a group of men are relieving themselves. I find these instances amusing, because there’s a sort of interesting fourth wall break being made with them (hell, that might even be them breaking a fifth wall somewhere), but it’s easy to see why they never did it again.

Interestingly enough, the theaters seat tint is played around with in this episode, no doubt in trying to make the crew more visible against a black and white movie. In The Crawling Eye they went all grey, this week they’re adjusting the tint based upon the darkness of any particular scene. In instances where there is a lot of black, they switch to a grey tint like the previous episode, but for the majority of the movie they keep the theater seats black. In future episodes they’d become more obnoxious with tinting the theater seats, so this one is definitely not the worst of their experiments with it.

The host segments are given a story arc this time around, and the crew is wrestling around with toys in the form of “Demon Dogs” this week. There are highs and lows, and a lot of “marking territory” jokes being made. It’s passable. The invention exchange is a treat. The Motorcycle Helmet Airbag is fun and the Chalk Man is delightfully annoying.

I enjoy this episode. But one’s enjoyment of the movie will definitely affect the episode as a whole. If you don’t watch the series partially to dip into the bowels of cinema, then proceed with caution. I, on the other hand, had fun.

Episode Rating: Good

The DVD

Robot vs. the Aztec Mummy was released in Shout Factory’s Volume XV set with solid presentation of the episode itself.

While not quite related to the episode in question, the first feature are host segments taken from the MST3K Scrapbook, showing off glimpses of the KTMA era of the series, which is unfortunately as close as we’ll get to seeing these episodes on DVD. Some of these segments are taken from the lost episodes, so they’re worth watching.

Also included are promos for the series and the movie itself. Interestingly, the movie is advertised in a double feature with a movie called The Vampire’s Coffin. Not so surprisingly, the other movie looks better.

The Commando Cody short was included on a DVD that was paired up with Shout Factory’s Volume XXV set, which featured all nine Commando Cody shorts. The only extra was an intro by J. Elvis Weinstein where he goes into detail of why they decided to riff a serial and what he felt were the pros and cons. This disc was only available by purchasing the set through Shout Factory’s website.

Next Time: I express my disappointment at not getting to watch wrestling women fight a mummy, but it looks like I’m going to get wrestling women anyway. But to quote Servo from another episode “Strip naked and WRESTLE!”

[Torgo]

616-Racket Girls (With Short: “Are You Ready for Marriage?”)

The Short

BOING!

This educational short evaluates the relationships between man and woman and what it takes to build a successful marriage (my sister should have taken tips from it, as she was on her third husband by age thirty). Larry and Sue plan to get married right after high school, but after their parents scoff at the idea they decide to elope. Discussing it with marriage counselor Reuben Hall, they discover they might have a lot to learn about marriage compatibility.

Almost a companion piece for Is This Love?, Are You Ready for Marriage? isn’t nearly as melodramatic, a bit goofier, and features a moral hammered into the heads of all that watch it instead of acting as a discussion piece. Like Is This Love?, the material here is to sway youngsters from getting married too soon, and likely didn’t work because nothing can overwhelm the power of a 50’s teenager who is squishy. This particular short lends itself to riffing far better than Is This Love?, given the bad acting, lackluster “Just rappin’ with the kids” lecture, and overall overstaged oddness of the production.

The Movie

Many, many hours of wrestling footage is used as a front for a gangster making money off of gambling, drugs, and prostitution. Soon he gets in trouble with mob boss Mr. Big (possibly the same Mr. Big from Sex and the City), and tries to make a getaway with the money. But it doesn’t matter, because WOMEN WRESTLING!

Racket Girls stars real life women wrestlers Peaches Page, Clara Mortensen, and Rita Martinez (who is forced to bear an absurd Mexican accent because the director found the Mexican champion sounded “Too American”). I can’t find much about Page online, as this movie seems to be her only claim to fame, but Mortensen and Martinez apparently had quite a few real life bouts which they reenact for the climax of the film. Like in real life, Mortensen won most of them.

There is not much story here. I’d say the gangster plot is supposed to be the important point, but it’s padded out with the endless wrestling scenes that have very little to do with it. Breasts and asses are the star of the show, I reckon. I can only imagine this was supposed to be an exploitation film. There are many prolonged scenes of women in tights and undergarments exorcising, jumping up and down, and crawling all over each other. It’s not really sexy though. Sure Peaches Page’s bust takes up ninety percent of her body, but I’d be hardpressed to say I find her attractive. Specifically since she seems to only have one facial expression, which amounts to “guh?”

The most I can say about Racket Girls is that it led to the epiphany that this movie was ahead of its time. Yawn worthy sequences of choreographed wrestling? Padded out with nonsensical drama that nobody cares about? Correct me if I’m wrong but this sounds a lot like what pro wrestling is today. I think it’s time to critically reevaluate this forgotten masterpiece.

Movie Rating: 2/10

The Episode

This episode opens up with what is hands down one of the best shorts of the series. Are You Ready for Marriage? (“Yeah, I’m sick of sex anyway.”) is a likable lunkhead of a film, and the boys hold nothing back on it. They go after just about every aspect of it, specifically our two leads, enhancing their boneheaded peabrains into two of the most memorable characters ever featured on the show. Plus the short gave us one of the best stingers the show ever had…

“IT’S GONE!”
“WHERE’D IT GO?!”

When it gets down to the movie, for the most part it’s a hard takedown. While the movie might be bad, there’s not really a lot you can do with it. Ultimately I’m of the same opinion on this one as I am The Starfighters, where the riffing is an admirable effort but the movie itself makes the episode a beast of an experience. If you laugh, it’s unlikely you’ll remember. It’s also unlikely you’ll remember much of any riffs, as your brain will be clouded with images of musclebound female butts being slammed into a mat (“It’s kind of looking at an erotic cave painting.”). What riffs are there? A lot of talk about a filmmaker’s visualized sexual fantasies and pointing out that the women featured look like really large grandmothers. Technically they’re on point, but hearing these riffs nonstop for three theater segments makes me a little bored. They go a bit broader when the shady gym owners come into play, which results in the best material (“That’s the spirit we need in our hookers!”).

Highlighting the host segments is Tom Servo and Crow being inspired by the short into getting married…to each other. Theoretically they have known each other for six years, so they wouldn’t be rushing into it. It’s an odd series of segments that are mildly funny in premise alone, but they just kind of labor it on until it fizzles. The other segments tickle my fancy a little more. When commenting on the opening segment, I’ll have to admit I know very little about Lisa Loeb, and can’t speak for how well Bridget Jones portrays her. My only real subjection to Loeb is hearing her voice as Mary Jane in that (pretty sucky) animated Spider-Man show that MTV used to air, tying in to the 2002 Sam Raimi film. I will say I do react the way Mike and the bots do to several other musicians, so I get the joke. All of these taken into consideration, I think the most enjoyable segments this week belonged to the Mads, who have a security breach and try to fix it. Dr. Forrester’s attempts to communicate with Mike over a radio are hilarious, and I bust a gut when he started using flags.

I laughed fairly loud in portions of Racket Girls. There are even lines I’d say rank among my all-time favorites (“And how long have you been my doppelganger?”). It opens more brilliantly than most of my favorite episodes with one of the greatest shorts they’ve ever done. I’m just perplexed by the nose dive they take. This episode is a wonderful take off, engines sputtering, a threat of a crash landing, but making it to its destination relatively smoothly. I wish I could give it marks for promising to be amazing, though.

Episode Rating: Average

The DVD

Racket Girls was released in Shout Factory’s Volume XV set, with excellent video and audio. Special features were scarce but present.

First up is a brief excerpt from what appears to be a very low budget independent comedy film called Hamlet ADD, a humorous retelling of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet with a sci-fi twist. The scene depicted is The Mousetrap play, where Hamlet studies the reaction of Claudius to a reenactment of the supposed murder of the king. The reenactment is portrayed by three robots, who are voiced by Kevin Murphy, Trace Beaulieu, and the late Majel Barrett-Roddenberry (of Star Trek fame). Not as funny as the parody scene seen on The Simpsons (“Hey, I didn’t use THAT much poison!”), but it’s an interesting piece.

The only other extra is a promo for the film, under the title of “Blonde Pickup.” Hilariously the ad prominently features what looks like a still of a pinup girl who isn’t even in the movie, trying to sell sex appeal where there isn’t any.

The short, Are You Ready for Marriage?, was the final short on Mr. B’s Lost Shorts, which was featured on Rhino’s Volume 6 set. Wonderful way to close out that collection, I might add.

Next Time: Second of ten.

[Torgo]

WHEW! Boy that was fun, but a lot of work! Close shaves on a few (Hercules and Racket Girls both almost threw me off schedule), but I carried it out until the end. Really wanted to also, so I could have a review up for every season. I feel good about myself now.

Going back to work tomorrow. A bit tuckered out still, but I'm happy with my vacation. May take next week off seeing how I did quite a few episodes this week, but we'll see how I'm feeling next weekend.

[Torgo]

308-Gamera vs. Gaos

The Movie

*I HAVE SURVIVED WATCHING THIS MOVIE UNRIFFED*

Yay. More Gamera.

This week a giant bat/reptile thing is unleashed and begins eating people. Unfortunately Gemera butts in before he can eat our new Kenny, Itchy (no Scratchy?). Can Gamera stop the rampage of this bloodthirsty beast?

I don’t care. Just eat me now and get it over with.

Of the three seen on the show so far, this is the most painful yet. The first two Gamera films at least took themselves seriously. With this one the series degrades into child pandering. The monster scenes become self-aware to the point that all that’s missing is Gamera turning to the audience and winking.

I guess this movie is noteworthy for introducing Gamera’s most prominent foe, Gayos (Sandy Frank spells it Gaos), who would later appear in Gamera vs. Guiron, Super Monster Gamera (via stock footage), Gamera: Guardian of the Universe, Gamera: Revenge of Iris, and Gamera the Brave. He’s actually the only monster Gamera has fought more than once. I always preferred Guiron myself, though.

Movie Rating: 2/10

The Episode

It becomes fairly clear from the get-go that Joel and the bots are going through the motions with this one. They know they have another Gamera movie, they know what to expect (especially since they’ve seen them before), and if riffing were a dance they’re trying to let the movie lead. It’s a poor approach, because the movie trudges, and it feels like they’re dragging their feet waiting for something inspiring to happen. There are a few wonderful moments where the movie does spark their humor creativity, such as a scene where a meeting is held to discuss Gayos appearance and anatomy, which is hands down the funniest sequence in the episode (drunk Gayos is a close second). The monster scenes give the boys pep in their step as well, which is par for the course with kaiju features on the show. However, for the most part one can’t help but feel that they’re bored with this particular movie.

Host segments are creative but not very funny. Coming off the best is the Johnny Carson sketch, which at least gives off a few chuckles. Meanwhile, Joel’s Gayos crafts project and Gameradamerung both drown and the opening Lucille Ball/Harvey Fierstein impressions are more shrill than amusing. Invention exchange is fun, however, with the Mads’ Self Image Printers being the better of the two.

It’s always easy to recommend a third season revisit to their KTMA counterpart. Gamera vs. Gaos is no exception as there are more than several instances where you’ll be laughing harder than you would have in the earlier episode. For the most part, though, I find the episodes about even in quality. They never really riffed this movie to its full potential, which is sad because its asking for it.

Episode Rating: Average

The DVD

This was the third episode featured on Shout Factory’s Volume XXI: MST3K vs. Gamera set. Solid video and audio highlight the disc, as well as an interview with August Ragone, author of Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters. This interview, called Gamera Obscuria, runs a half an hour and covers Gamera’s entire history in Japan. His enthusiasm for the genre is commended, though in my opinion he overpraises the 90’s Gamera films quite a bit. I do share positive feelings for the third film, but always felt Guardian of the Universe to be mediocre and Attack of Legion to be laughable garbage (though as a kaiju fan I have to accept that I am alone in that opinion). But it’s nice that he contributed to the set, because from e-mails and messages I have had with him in the past I have the impression that he is not a fan of Mystery Science Theater. He has, however, expressed enthusiasm to come back to Shout for special features on Prince of Space and Invasion of the Neptune Men if they ever ask him.

Also included is a Japanese trailer for the film in anamorphic widescreen (no subtitles).

Next Time: Randomly getting first season episodes in production order comes in handy when it comes to Commando Cody.