Mystery Science Theater 3000: Volume XV – DVD Review

DVD Reviews, Reviews

MST3K_XV

Once upon a time, it was considered rude to talk during a movie. The cinemas hired ushers with flashlights to shut up the offenders. It was a cardinal sin to break the vow of silence. Mystery Science Theater 3000 changed the rules. The human and his two robot silhouettes at the bottom of the screen jabbered through the entire feature. They poked fun at every element of the film. While this could come off as completely annoying, their interruptive banter was welcomed. The films on the show were so bad. We’re not talking Plan 9 From Outer Space bad. Many of these films would be classified as torture if shown “pure.” They were given a second chance at cult stardom with the en wouldn’t have a real following without Crow T. Robot’s biting wit. Mystery Science Theater 3000: Volume XV cooks four cinematic turkeys into a gourmet Thanksgiving dinner.

The Robot Vs. The Aztec Mummy (1958) is a Mexican movie translated by the legendary American International Pictures. The film lives up to its title with a real mummy tangling with a mad scientist’s robot in the finale. The wooden acting and dub lips give the crew a battle royale of wise cracks. The first installment of Commando Cody & The Radar Men From the Moon kicks off the show. Cody was the inspiration for the Disney fizzle The Rocketeer. This was the second episode of the series aired on The Comedy Channel (now known as Comedy Central). Josh Weinstein plays Dr. Laurence Erhardt and the voice of Tom Servo. He only lasted the first season after the series went nationwide. He didn’t have the sizzle of his replacement, TV’s Frank. But it’s fun to hear Tom Servo’s first voice even if the jokes aren’t as cutting. A pack of Demon Dogs attacking the Satellite of Love running gag during the movie breaks. If Joel Hodgson and the robots must get the dogs off the ship or they’ll lose orbit and smash into the Earth.

The Girl In Lover’s Lane (1959) unloads a drifter tale from season five. Danny, a sweet kid, gets chased by a group of goons onto a boxcar. While riding the rails, he encounters Bix, a sophisticated hobo. The two become fast friends as they arrive in a little town. Bix falls in love for a waitress. But he’s not the only one interested in her. She’s got a local stalker keeping track of her. Between a stalker and a drifter, this girl has such a hard choice for her heart. The show opens with Crow giving Tom Servo a belly button with a drill press. Joel and the Bots sing a hobo song about the train. The Bots use the lesson on how to mug someone playing pinball on Joel. They make a hobo life on the rails sound so romantic.

Racket Girls (1951) explores the ugly underbelly of women’s pro wrestling. The emphasis is on the ugly part since these women aren’t even close to looking like the hotties that battle for the women’s belt on WWE. Peaches Page, Clara Mortensen and Rita Martinez play themselves as women wrestlers. There’s nothing exciting about their ring action. Most of the match footage involves swapping headlocks in marathon sessions. The film comes off as one giant sleeper hold on the audience. You’d tap out from boredom without the comic relief provided by Mike Nelson, Crow and Tom. Lisa Loeb arrives to give us the uncut version of her ’90s hit. The mad scientists figure a way to put an end to her career. After watching the educational film “Are You Ready For Marriage?,” Crow and Tom Servo want to get married. They have a wedding that probably inspired all those nuptials on Springer in the last decade. Can two robots really marry if they have matching operating systems?

Zombie Nightmare (1986) brings the star power with Adam West (Batman) and Tia Carrere (Wayne’s World). A baseball player (Jon Miki Thor) gets run over by car filled with teens including Tia. The player’s mom begs a voodoo woman to bring her son back from the dead. The undead son goes out to get revenge on his killers. Adam West arrives to stop the undead homicidal rampage. Can he track down a decaying suspect? How can he not? He’s Adam West. The sketches include Crow and Tom become bodyguards for Mike Nelson. They fear a security threat. They keep tossing him down at the slightest change. Tom gets a spiffy little car and runs over Crow like the kids did in the movie. The Bots enjoy the hot tub on the Satellite of Love. In honor of Adam West, Mike and Crow dress up as Batman and Robin. There’s a lot of rich material in this rotting corpse of a movie.

While purists might decry MST3K as destroying these films, the simple fact is that there’s no reason to spend 90 minutes of you life watching any of these four films without the wisecracks. Racket Girls might be the worst film they ever had to beef up. This movie makes Manos look like Citizen Kane Jr. It’s a miracle the director remembers to take the lens cap off the camera. Yet with the help of those crazy robots and their human pal, it’s a fun 90 minutes. Mystery Science Theater 3000: Volume XV might not contain their most beloved episodes. But it contains four examples of how hard these people had to work to make these B-movies entertaining.


The video is 1.33:1 full frame. The video transfers look fine even if many of the films come from rather rough sources. There’s no need to do an High-Def restoration of Racket Girls. The audio is Dolby Digital 2.0. The movie audio varies, but the show’s soundtrack is strong.


Glimpses of KTMA: MST3K Scrapbook Scraps I (15:34) lets us see the host segments from the show’s first season on Minnesota television. Joel has long hair and the bots look really creepy. The budget was beyond low.

Behind the Scenes: MST3K Scrapbook Scraps II (8:06) takes us through the process of how they put together the Santa Claus Conquers the Martians episode. The cast sits around a TV and toss out their original quips at the screen while someone takes notes. They look so young on the sofa. We get to see Toolmaster Jeff Maynard in the shop. Small children shouldn’t watch this for they expose what makes the robots work.

The Robot Vs. The Aztec Mummy Promos (2:30) contains the commercial from the show’s run on The Comedy Channel. The mad doctors want to test you. There’s also a full length trailer from the film’s theatrical release.

Sneak Peak: Hamlet A.D.D. (5:11) is an adaptation of the Shakespeare play with robots. Trace Beaulieu and Kevin Murphy provide the voices for the robots. The big geek star is Marjel Barrett Roddenberry of Star Trek fame.

Racket Girls Promo (2:03) does its best to make this film look exciting.

Zombie Nightmare = MST3K Dream (11:50) has stars Frank Dietz and Jon Miki Thor discuss how the movie became popular thanks to the show. Dietz reflects on how this film changed his life. He became an actor and filmmaker. Plus he became friends with Adam West. Thor gets recognized as the zombie baseball player. He’s also a very busy man with several projects.


Mystery Science Theater 3000: Volume XV has the crew working extra hard to make these four films entertaining. There is no way anyone would want to endure these film raw. These are movies meant to be forgotten until they received the MST3K treatment.



Shout! Factory presents Mystery Science Theater 3000: Volume XV. Starring: Joel Hodgson, Mike Nelson, Josh Weinstein, Trace Beaulieu and Kevin Murphy. Boxset Contents: 4 movies on 4 DVDs. Released on DVD: July 7, 2009. Available at Amazon.com

Joe Corey is the writer and director of "Danger! Health Films" currently streaming on Night Flight and Amazon Prime. He's the author of "The Seven Secrets of Great Walmart People Greeters." This is the last how to get a job book you'll ever need. He was Associate Producer of the documentary "Moving Midway." He's worked as local crew on several reality shows including Candid Camera, American's Most Wanted, Extreme Makeover Home Edition and ESPN's Gaters. He's been featured on The Today Show and CBS's 48 Hours. Dom DeLuise once said, "Joe, you look like an axe murderer." He was in charge of research and programming at the Moving Image Archive.