The MST3K thread, revisited

greg · Post by **greg** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 7:55 pm

I just saw this latest update on mst3k.com:

LATEST NEWS -- February 2

VOLUME 7: THE LINE-UP
Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection, Volume 7 due out in April, will contain (hold on to your hat):

episode 407- THE KILLER SHREWS (with short: JUNIOR RODEO DAREDEVILS)
episode 408- HERCULES UNCHAINED
episode 410- HERCULES AGAINST THE MOON MEN
episode 816- PRINCE OF SPACE
A bonus feature will be ASSIGNMENT: VENEZUELA, the short originally MSTed for the ill-fated CD-ROM project and which was never shown on television. That's all we have for now, more updates as soon as we get them.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Prince of Space! Heck yah! "He has defeated us numerous times! What makes him think he can do it again?" I wish they would have put Invasion of the Neptune Men in the same box set. Still, it's cool we're getting two Hurcules movies at once. I haven't seen those episodes.

Neon · Post by **Neon** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 8:38 pm

I don't think anything can top Red Zone Cuba.

ArrogantBastard · Post by **ArrogantBastard** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 8:46 pm

Or Manos.

Gydocker45 · Post by **Gydocker45** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 8:56 pm

My favorite episode (right now anyways) is "I Accuse My Parents". I'm really looking forward to Vol.7 since I've never seen any of the Hercules episodes. Thanks for the good news Greg.

Kiken · Post by **Kiken** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 9:52 pm

Neon wrote:I don't think anything can top Red Zone Cuba.

Cave Dwellers.

Ator is like that!

MadSteelDarkness · Post by **MadSteelDarkness** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 1:49 am

All the above mentioned episodes are tops....

But guys, I got two words for you:

POD PEOPLE

Kiken · Post by **Kiken** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 2:42 am

MadSteelDarkness wrote:All the above mentioned episodes are tops....

But guys, I got two words for you:

POD PEOPLE

Pod People is a close second to Cave Dwellers.

MadSteelDarkness · Post by **MadSteelDarkness** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 4:43 am

Yeah man, Cave Dwellers is true class. It's all about the hang-gliding sequence.

Say, Kiken...

How much Keefe is in that film, anyway?

Kiken · Post by **Kiken** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 1:36 pm

MadSteelDarkness wrote:Yeah man, Cave Dwellers is true class. It's all about the hang-gliding sequence.

Oh, and he made bombs too.

MadSteelDarkness wrote: Say, Kiken...

How much Keefe is in that film, anyway?

Oh, Miles O'Keefe!

greg · Post by **greg** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 7:25 pm

Speaking of Cave Dwellers and Pod People, those two films were by the same movie company, right? they both have those non-sequitir beginning and ending credits with that bizarre half-screen perspective that have nothing really to do with the dumb movies.

gmw · Post by **gmw** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 8:58 pm

My favorite episode by far is "Jack Frost" - seen it tons of times, but I still fall on the floor cracking up every time.

MadSteelDarkness · Post by **MadSteelDarkness** » Sat Feb 05, 2005 12:42 am

Greg, both films were distributed by a company called "Film Ventures", I believe. What Film Ventures did, I think, was buy up the rights to crappy films no one else wanted the rights to and tacked on crappy non-sequiter opening sequences. I'm guessing those new opening sequences were done to protect some of the less well-known people who worked on those stinkers, but didn't want their names attached. Notice that the name of composer "Karl Michael Demer" or "Karl Demer" is credited to films as diverse as Cave Dwellers (which was actually an Italian-made installment in the "Ator" series) and Master Ninja I (which was the first two episodes of a truly craptacular TV action show from the eighties, shot in Cali). The music in each film is pretty different, though equally awful. I actually work as a cinematographer (very occasionally), and I know that I wouldn't want my name on some of those flicks. I've done a few, erm, less-than-stellar films myself.

A less-than-complete list of films given the Film Ventures "treatment":

Cave Dwellers
Pod People
Master Ninja I
Stranded in Space
Space Travellers
City Limits
Being from Another Planet,
and probably a whole bunch of others....

In fact, it makes me wonder if "Film Ventures" wasn't really MST3K's producers in disguise, just doing what they needed to secure the rights to air those films.

Dylan1CC · Post by **Dylan1CC** » Sat Feb 05, 2005 1:56 am

Neon wrote:I don't think anything can top Red Zone Cuba.

One line in Red Zone that kills one of my friends is when all those guys run up to that little helicopter with the small cockpit, and they all kind of pause and go "...uh" then split up and take different planes. One of the guys says "So are we ALL gonna fit in that or...?" haha

Anyways this is an awesome lineup, finally we are getting some more episodes from the Comedy Central era. I haven't seen any of the Hercules eps yet. I can safely say however Killer Shrews and Prince of Space are hilarious.

Prince of Space: "Fools! Your weapons have no effect on me!"

*bad guys shoot lazers at him while he ducks*

Mike: "Your weapons have no effect on me but they DO scare the heck outta me!"

lol

Also, the lead actor in the Killer Shrews is none other than James Best, aka Rosco P. Coltrane and his nemesis (if you can call him that) is Ken Curt aka Gunsmoke's Festus.

greg · Post by **greg** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 1:39 am

MadSteelDarkness wrote:Cave Dwellers (which was actually an Italian-made installment in the "Ator" series)

Ah, I figured it was a sequel or something, with that long flashback about Ator killing that giant spider puppet.

Kiken · Post by **Kiken** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 4:10 am

greg wrote:
MadSteelDarkness wrote:Cave Dwellers (which was actually an Italian-made installment in the "Ator" series)
Ah, I figured it was a sequel or something, with that long flashback about Ator killing that giant spider puppet.

Yes... those would be Ator's home movies.

dbd · Post by **dbd** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 2:37 pm

Oh what, I haven't even bought volume 6 yet, I need so much money for all the stuff I NEED, like every MST3K DVD for a start.......

Excellent news, I haven't seen any of those, nor Red Zone Cube......

Time Chasers, off Volume 5, that one gets me every time.

"Now I'll have to kill me, hollow me out, and live in me."

'Isn't there some law against wearing two different plaids?'

Santa Claus Verses the Martians - "pack your other moustache!"

Merlin's Shop of Mysticall Wonders.........

The Touch of Satan - "there's been a walnut uprising!"

"who's got it going on? Me! that's who"

The Movie of MST3K - "here Mao, try this, it'll knock your socks off"

greg · Post by **greg** » Mon Feb 21, 2005 6:51 pm

I just saw Women of the Prehistoric Planet over the weekend. It's episode #104, but in reality it should've come after #113. Now I finally have seen the origin of "Hi-Keeba!" I've been watching through all of the first season lately, and this is certainly one of the best ones. The movie isn't all that terrible actually... it's a bit like Star Trek, and it has a very anti-racism (especially towards Asians) message. I think this was made during the time when people were starting to realize that Asian women are totally hot, I guess. This minority, called Centauris, are all played by Chinese (I think) actors and acrtesses, and they have to overcome racism. It even goes as far as to surmise that Adam and Eve were essentially half-Asian, half-Caucasian. Anyhow, plenty of great humor in this one.

Probably my most favorite from the first season so far has been Robot Monster, #107. Oh my gosh, this is a really inept movie. It's like a post-apocalyptic Lost In Space, yet even more surreal. The Ro-Man is a guy in a big ape suit with a bubble helmet. My favorite part is when he sneaks up on and attacks a newly-wed couple who are walking off to go have sex or something in the hills. The man starts fighting the Ro-Man, and when he gets knocked over his wife starts wailing on him, and when the Ro-Man fights back she shrieks and runs off, then it's the husband's turn again, and on and on. My friend and I were laughing our asses off. I told him, "Gosh, I can watch this all night." Anyhow, this is the source of another well-used quote, "To be like the Hu-Man, to live like the Hu-Man...." Awesome stuff, and you get to see alligators in dinosaur makeup wrestling around in some non-sequitir scene. Also the Ro-Man strangles a cute little girl to death. It reminded me a bit like #701, Night of the Blood Beast.

Blue Lander · Post by **Blue Lander** » Mon Feb 21, 2005 7:21 pm

Women of the Prehistoric Planet... was that the one with the Isaac Asimov doomsday device? I love that episode, probably my favorite from season one.

greg · Post by **greg** » Mon Feb 21, 2005 10:18 pm

Blue Lander wrote:Women of the Prehistoric Planet... was that the one with the Isaac Asimov doomsday device? I love that episode, probably my favorite from season one.

Yup, that's the one! The "Doomsday device" detonates and turns the three of them into Asimov clones.

Dylan1CC · Post by **Dylan1CC** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 1:24 am

Last night me and 4 friends watched Track of the Moon Beast. Been a few years since I had watched it.

"Moon rock, oh wow!"

Crow: "Uh Paul (guy who turns into monster), your killing people wouldn't be so bad if you didn't leave the victims in humorous poses...." LOL

I can't wait for the #7 DVD volume. 4 movies and at least 3 shorts, very good package. They're pricey though. One of my best friends was recently able to get volume # 6 at some big bookstore in Montana (not Barnes 'n Noble is all i know) for just $15!

Season one is harder to get into at times because that is when they were still doing a lot of ad libbing instead of writing the jokes (part of the reason Josh Weinstein left). At first I didn't care for Weinstein as Servo but he grows on ya. I still haven't seen any of the KTMA episodes.

captain ahar · Post by **captain ahar** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 2:26 am

the last one i saw was "Catalina Caper." that song Creepy Girl just stays with me... wish i could remember the lyrics.

anyways, that is great news. i didn't know that they were releasing on DVD.

by the by, does anyone know how many episodes were made?

Dylan1CC · Post by **Dylan1CC** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 2:59 am

captain ahar wrote:the last one i saw was "Catalina Caper." that song Creepy Girl just stays with me... wish i could remember the lyrics.

anyways, that is great news. i didn't know that they were releasing on DVD.

by the by, does anyone know how many episodes were made?

Almost 200 according to the official site if that helps.

Some seasons had really short runs depending on the network's mood at the time, there are a few seasons that had no more than 5-7 episodes.

And Catalina Caper was hard for me to sit through. Joel and the crew said it was so boring it drove them nuts trying to write for it. Another hard one to sit through is when Mike and the bots riffed an obscure, dubbed German version of Hamlet. One of the few episodes my brother (also a hardcore fan) refuses to watch. haha

Blue Lander · Post by **Blue Lander** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 3:04 am

Dylan1CC wrote: Season one is harder to get into at times because that is when they were still doing a lot of ad libbing instead of writing the jokes (part of the reason Josh Weinstein left). At first I didn't care for Weinstein as Servo but he grows on ya. I still haven't seen any of the KTMA episodes.

I feel the same way. The episodes are really "hit or miss", and sometimes they can be quite dull. Weinstein as Servo isn't as consistantly funny as Kevin Murphey, but sometimes he pulls out some really funny lines.

The KTMA ones are really tough to sit through, because they often don't say anything for large tracts of time. I wouldn't recommend watching them except out of curiousity about how the show started.

Dylan1CC · Post by **Dylan1CC** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 3:13 am

Blue Lander wrote:
Dylan1CC wrote: Season one is harder to get into at times because that is when they were still doing a lot of ad libbing instead of writing the jokes (part of the reason Josh Weinstein left). At first I didn't care for Weinstein as Servo but he grows on ya. I still haven't seen any of the KTMA episodes.
I feel the same way. The episodes are really "hit or miss", and sometimes they can be quite dull. Weinstein as Servo isn't as consistantly funny as Kevin Murphey, but sometimes he pulls out some really funny lines.

Yeah, it all depends on the episode. There are actually a lot of season one episodes I haven't seen. One I'm glad I bought on DVD was The Crawling Hand. It takes awhile before the lines get good, but when they do there are a few gems.

The KTMA ones are really tough to sit through, because they often don't say anything for large tracts of time. I wouldn't recommend watching them except out of curiousity about how the show started.

A friend of mine who often burns episodes for me has said the same thing.

MadSteelDarkness · Post by **MadSteelDarkness** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 5:39 am

It's true that the KTMA episodes are probably the toughest to watch overall, but they do offer some pretty choice obscure film viewing.

Case in point: Humanoid Woman

It....defies description.

Plus: it is kind of cute to watch Minnesota weather alerts from 15 years ago. Strictly for the hardcore MSTies out there.

Dylan1CC · Post by **Dylan1CC** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 5:50 am

Humanoid Woman, I will have to check it out. I tried downloading some KTMA episodes on Limewire tonight at work with no luck. Bah.

greg · Post by **greg** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 7:04 pm

Great avatar, Kosh/Dylan! The pic of Mike & The Bots is backwards, though...

Does anyone here like watching terrible movies that aren't done by MST3k? Lately I picked up Plan 9 From Outer Space. Bela Lugosi died halfway through making the movie, so they had some stand-in who covered his face with his cape. This is one cult classic that the writers from MST3k purposely stayed away from.

A few years back I discovered a really bad 1979 sci-fi movie called Star Crash. It featured a very young David Hasselhoff as the emperor's son (The emperor is Christopher Plummer), a half-naked chick who's supposed to be a brilliant space pilot and who is obviously allergic to clothing, a pistol packing hick robot who's afraid of his own shadow and always seems to get blasted by space lesbians and bashed by cavemen, a lightsaber weilding dork (Marjoe Gortner) who's supposed to be an android or something who can forsee the future but yet couldn't forsee a slow moving stop-motion robot sneaking up on him to whack him with a sword, a planet of amazon women and their dumb floozy queen who's almost as naked as the star of the movie, and a completely pointless space battle at the end of the movie with some cape wearing moron with an ego problem and a horrible super weapon that didn't really seem to do anything that bad except to attack people with lava lamp bubbles. Oh yeah, and it also features a 60 foot tall sword-weilding giant C-3PO looking robot with breasts. I haven't enjoyed a movie that horrible in a long time.

My friend from Australia sent me a DVD of a terrible movie called Stone. I haven't seen it yet, but it's about a guy who infiltrates a Satanic-cult biker gang. Should be better than Hellcats.

Also, a local friend of mine got this big DVD box set that has tons of terrible old movies, including some done by MST3K like Teenagers from Outer Space. Can't wait to borrow it...

sffan · Post by **sffan** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 7:37 pm

A great bad movie: The Beast Within (1982)

The DVD has full widescreen panavision, and the trailer. A must-see.

greg · Post by **greg** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 8:06 pm

I forgot to mention, I recently picked up the terrible "horror" movie Frogs on DVD for only $5 at Wal Mart or some place like that. Everyone in the big family gets killed by different animal (yet nobody seems to get killed by frogs...). The one that stumps me is how the mom is killed by a giant lake turtle (?). The cover shows the grandma in quicksand, which is from a scene shown in the trailer, yet in the movie she's killed by something else (spiders, I think).

Dylan1CC · Post by **Dylan1CC** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 8:11 pm

greg wrote:Great avatar, Kosh/Dylan! The pic of Mike & The Bots is backwards, though...

Does anyone here like watching terrible movies that aren't done by MST3k? Lately I picked up Plan 9 From Outer Space. Bela Lugosi died halfway through making the movie, so they had some stand-in who covered his face with his cape. This is one cult classic that the writers from MST3k purposely stayed away from.

EDIT: Forgot to add, that Star Crash Hasselhoff flick sounds like it would have made a killer episode.

Thanks for noticing, I just fixed the avatar.

The crew said they didn't riff Plan 9 because it is so bad it would be about as funny as telling "A priest, rabbit, ect. walk into a bar" type joke. ha. That said I haven't seen it myself. Lugosi was a total overacting goof in the ep Bride of the Monster.

Favorite line from that one:

Some police officer trips and goofily rolls to which Joel says "Ohhh, it's "Kooky the 'Crazy Clown Cop'!"

The "Kooky" name is also used in "The Wildcats" when a biker gets caught trying to pick up a stash. "It's Kooky the crazy crook!" Or something like that. haha

shmups.system11.org

The MST3K thread, revisited

The MST3K thread, revisited

You Have Monster!