(Credit: Amazon.com)
Created by
Joel Hodgson
MS3TK Cast
Joel Hodgson …. Joel Robinson/Joel Hodgson
Trace Beaulieu …. Crow T. Robot/Dr. Clayton Deborah Susan Forrester
Kevin Murphy …. Tom Servo/Professor Bobo/Cambot
Jim Mallon …. Gypsy
Frank Conniff …. TV’s Frank
Michael J. Nelson …. Mike Nelson
Mary Jo Pehl …. Magic Voice
Bill Corbett …. Crow T. Robot/Observer
Mary Jo Pehl …. Pearl Forrester
Bill Corbett …. Crow T. Robot/Observer
Patrick Brantseg …. Gypsy
If one were to rank the funniest shows that have ever been on TV, Mystery Science Theater 3000 would have to be near the top. Through two cable networks and two incarnations, MST3K’s amazing formula of taking the worst movies ever made and simply ripping them to pieces was incredibly hysterical for eleven wonderful seasons. Unfortunately, getting the rights to many of these movies to release on DVD has been difficult, making their DVD sets haphazard at best. Instead of getting to release whole seasons of the show on DVD, we ‘ve gotten grab bags of four episodes, each from different years of the show. For those looking to get Volume 10 of the show, you can expect two classics and two movies so bad that not even making fun of them can make them redeemable.
Now for those that don ‘t know, the show’s formula involves Joel Hodgson (played by Joel Hodgson), a lowly employee of the Gizmonic Institute, who is sent to a remote satellite by the evil Dr. Clayton Deborah Susan Forrester (Trace Beaulieu) and TV’s Frank (Frank Conniff). Dr. Forrester’s aim is to take over the world by finding the worst movies ever made and use them as his tools for world domination. So, subsequently Joel has to watch these movies and suffer the consequences each. Joel does manage to have some company by creating a series of robots, most notably being Crow T. Robot (also played by Trace Beaulieu) and Tom Servo (Kevin Murphy). So basically, each episode Dr. Forrester sends a terrible movie to the trio, and Joel and the robots sit there and make fun of them for our amusement.
Now halfway through season 6 of the show, Joel Hodgson left the show and was replaced by Mike Nelson, who remained as host for the remainder of the series’ run. The show also eventually moved from Comedy Central to the Sci-Fi Network and changed its focus a bit to concentrate more on terrible Science Fiction and Fantasy movies. Whether you like Mike or Joel better, each gives us absolute hilarity throughout this set, so sit back and enjoy four of the crappiest movies ever made.
Disc 1: Godzilla vs. Megalon
Directed by
Jun Fukuda
Cast
Katsuhiko Sasaki …. Inventor Goro Ibuki
Hiroyuki Kawase …. Rokuro ‘Roku-chan’ Ibuki
Yutaka Hayashi …. Hiroshi Jinkawa
Robert Dunham …. Emperor Antonio of Seatopia
Kotaro Tomita …. Lead Seatopian Agent
Wolf Otsuki …. Seatopian Agent
Gentaro Nakajima …. Truck Driver
Sakyo Mikami …. Truck Driver’s Assistant
Fumiyo Ikeda …. Man from Unit 1
Kanta Mori …. Japan Special Defense Forces Chief
Shinji Takagi …. Godzilla
Hideto Odachi …. Megalon
Tsugutoshi Komada …. Jet Jaguar
Kenpachiro Satsuma …. Gigan
For the first disc, we get a season 3 episode, and even better we get a Godzilla movie to boot. First things first, hats off to Toho Studios for allowing Rhino to release this particular episode. Now while many Godzilla features from the studio deserve to be skewered like this, Godzilla vs. Megalon is a particularly terrible film. The movie features Goro Ibuki (Katsuhiko Sasaki), an inventor who has just constructed a robot named Jet Jaguar (Tsugutoshi Komada), who looks like a version of Ultraman with a lot more primary colors. Meanwhile, the underwater kingdom of Seatopia plans to take over the world, and sends agents to steal the robot as well as let loose the monster, Megalon (Hideto Odachi), which seems to be a huge beetle with drill bits for hands. To make things worse, the monster Gigan teams up with Megalon to help with the destruction. Eventually, Godzilla shows up, teams up with Jet Jaguar, who has developed independent thought, and the movie ends with a huge tag team smackdown.
Joel and the boys have a blast with this one, as the movie is just terrible enough that the gags are absolutely hilarious throughout. The best joke features making fun of Katsuhiko Sasaki and calling his Rex Dart, man of action. A video segment featuring clips from the film’s inept action sequences make for a great Rex Dart Trailer, and the boys make the most of it. The MST3K guys also have a lot of fun making fun of Seatopia, which features several dance routines with ladies wearing outfits that look to be halfway between roman togas and KKK uniforms. You also get a healthy does of Mannix for some reason, which seem superfluous, but still very funny. Overall, this is a hilarious episode and a terrific addition to this set.
Disc 2: Swamp Diamonds
Directed by
Roger Corman
Cast
Beverly Garland …. Vera
Carole Mathews …. Lt. Lee Hampton
Mike Connors …. Bob Matthews
Marie Windsor …. Josie
Jil Jarmyn …. Billie
Susan Cummings …. Marie
Lou Place …. Police Captain J. R. Goodrich
Jonathan Haze …. Charlie, the pickpocket
Ed Nelson …. Police Sergeant
The Mannix jokes continue in the second episode of the set, but this time they actually have a reason to be there as the series’ star, Mike Connors, is the male lead in this horrid directorial debut from Roger Corman. Swamp Diamonds concerns a group of female prisoners who know the location of a load of diamonds from an infamous bank heist. The group is infiltrated by an undercover police officer, and the foursome make a less than spectacular escape from prison. While trying to recover the diamonds, the group comes across Bob Matthews (Connors) and takes our hero and his girlfriend hostage.
Swamp Diamonds is an example of a film that is so bad that not even the Mystery Science Theater 3000 troupe could successfully make it enjoyable. The film is so terrible that all the Mannix jokes in the world can’t relieve the boredom that sets in from the movies’ opening credits. Much funnier is a short film What to do on a Date, which features teenagers trying to decide on going to the movies or a weenie roast. This also spurs Tom Servo’s desire to ask Gypsy out on a date.
Disc 3: Teen-Age Strangler
Directed by
Ben Parker
Cast
Bill Bloom …. Lt. Anderson
Rick Harris
Stacy Smith …. Mary
Jim Asp
Mickey Banga
John Humphries …. Mikey Walton
Unfortunately, the third movie on this set is just as terrible. Teenage Strangler deals with a serial killer knocking off young women, a gang of hoodlums that must solve the mystery, a supremely creepy janitor, terrible musical numbers, and a completely inept police force. The movie is completely overshadowed by Is this Love?, a short film that plays in front of it.
The most notable thing about this installment is that it was Mike Nelson’s second ever episode as host of the show. The group didn’t exactly have its rhythm yet, but moments of hilarity still ring out. Too bad that this movie is once again so awful, that nothing these guys do could possibly make this film watchable.
Disc 4: The Giant Spider Invasion
Directed by
Bill Rebane
Cast
Steve Brodie …. Dr. J.R. Vance
Barbara Hale …. Dr. Jenny Langer
Alan Hale Jr. …. Sheriff Jeff Jones
Robert Easton …. Dan Kester
Leslie Parrish …. Ev Kester
Christiane Schmidtmer …. Helga
Kevin Brodie …. Dave Perkins
Tain Bodkin …. Preacher
Bill Williams …. Dutch
Diane Lee Hart …. Terry
Paul Bentzen …. Billy Kester
J. Stewart Taylor …. Deputy
William W. Gillett Jr. …. Paul Rider
This film may actually be the crown jewel of this DVD set as Giant Spider Invasion is schlock Horror at its finest/worst. The movie goes through perhaps every alien invasion cliché you can possibly think of as giant spiders invade the Wisconsin countryside. The picture features the Kester family, Dan and Ev (Robert Easton and Leslie Parrish), the most repugnant rednecks ever. Fortunately, the couple is horribly devoured by giant spiders that curiously look like puppets. In to save the local town is Dr. J.R. Vance (Steve Brodie), a scientist from NASA that develops a theory about black holes being able to kill the spiders. The whole thing is really too ridiculous for words.
Mike, Tom Servo, and Crow serve up enough jokes to put you in physical pain throughout this movie. From commenting on Alan Hale, Jr.’s constant scenes of ridiculous exposition to making comments like “This movie hates us doesn’t it?”, the trio will have you laughing so hard you’ll have to turn the DVD off. From making fun of Packers fans to ripping into the movie’s awful characters and special effects, The Giant Spider Invasion is a miracle of bad movie making.
Score: 9/10
The Video
The segments filmed for the show look fine, with the movies looking positively terrible as suspected. The show is presented in Fullscreen with an aspect ratio of 1.33:1.
The Audio
The sound on these discs is also fine. Once again, the movie’s themselves have terrible audio, so much so that Mike makes one comment like “The movie that takes the bold step of not including the audience.”
SPECIAL FEATURES: Bloopers, MST3K Jukebox
Poopie 2 – This is 15 minutes of bloopers from the show and is completely hilarious from start to finish. With the show being so cheap and so goofy, you would think bloopers would just be part of the broadcast, but this blooper reel shows just how much could possibly go wrong.
MST3K Video Jukebox – This features 15 songs from the shows entire run, produced for the different video segments during the broadcasts. My favorite is one dedicated to Kim Cattrall, which is really hysterical.
Score: 6/10
The Inside Pulse
This is an uneven, but still hilarious set from MST3K, with two stinkers and two that could easily rank as some of the best episodes ever. The Giant Spider Invasion ranks as one of the best episodes of the show I’ve even seen and its awesome to see it here. The DVD set itself even has some hilarious extras that add a lot to the experience, event though really, you’re just there for the extras.
