301-Cave Dwellers

Film Year:  1982
Genre:  Adventure, Fantasy
Director:  Joe D'Amato
Starring:  Miles O'Keefe, Lisa Foster, David Brandon, Charles Barromel
MST Season:  3

The Movie

Conan the Barbarian was a solid smash back in the early 80’s, so of course every low budget studio in the world had to have one of their own.  All you need is skimpy costumes, plastic swords, and a local park!

Cave Dwellers AKA Ator the Invincible AKA The Blade Master is a sequel to Ator the Fighting Eagle, in which heroic Conan wannabe Ator helps Mila, the daughter of a prehistoric scientist who has discovered a “Geometric Nucleus,” which is kind of works like a barbarian’s nuclear warhead.  Together Ator and his trusty Thong…er, sidekick Thong help Mila to rescue her father from war monger Zor, and square off against many dangers along the way.

Never thought I’d see a barbarian flick with Cold War undertones (there need to be more sword and sandal movies with nukes in them), though Cave Dwellers is harmlessly doofy stuff.  I can’t be mad at a movie like this, even if it knows exactly how lousy it is.  This is one of those movies you watch with friends, get drunk to, stop paying attention to what story it might be telling and just stare at Lisa (NOT Jodie’s sister) Foster’s chestplate/hubcap for no other reason than it’s there.

 Obviously I’m not alone in thinking this.  Somebody must have rented this movie, or even gone to theaters to see it.  Not only is this the second Ator movie, it was followed by two more, Iron Warrior and Quest for the Mighty Sword.  I haven’t watched any of the others, but I can tell you that I wouldn’t be against it.  I’ve watched worse.  Willingly.  I just need enough alcohol and pizza for the job.

The Episode

I’d hesitate to say that this show had never had a movie that seemed tailor-made for them before Cave Dwellers.  After all, what is Robot Monster or Godzilla vs. Megalon but a gift from God?  And the Sandy Frank films are so irresistible that MST did them twice!  However I would make the argument that Cave Dwellers might be the first movie they’ve done that works in their favor quality-wise while seeing them just confident enough to know exactly how to approach it.  There is never a moment in this movie where they don’t sound like the movie isn’t giving them what they need to work with, and laughs come at a steady flow with more than a few bits of hysteria on the road there.  They love this movie.  They love the absurdity (the hang glider, “Gomez, I’ve invented the wheel!”), the sets (“TIRE TRACKS!”), and the actors “How much Keefe is in this movie?” “Miles O’Keefe!”).  Even something as simple as “You idiot, we don’t even have a doe license!” comes off as a brilliant, precision gag (it also helps that I come from a family of proud hunters).

Host segments are wonderful, Tom Servo’s odd fez aside (why is he wearing that thing?  Especially since it’s not on his head in the theater).  Joel’s foley recreation takes top prize here, while their “extrodinary names to ordinary objects” segment is no slouch either.  While some of the action fizzles in the opening credits recreation, the credits themselves are a gas.  Invention Exchange delights with a literal “Smoking Jacket” and Robot Arm Wrestling, though I find them to be hyperbolic on the film being “the worst” at the end, the pointing out of errors in the film is hysterical.

Cave Dwellers is not the first great episode of the series, but it’s the start of the series’ renaissance.  It’s a precision affair for them on a movie that works with them instead of against.  The theater and the movie do a tango, and it’s wondrous to watch.

Classic

The DVD

Rhino released Cave Dwellers as a part of Volume 2, with slightly flawed video featuring a soft transfer and slight tape hits, though great audio.  There were no special features.

The episode was re-released on Shout Factory’s Volume 2.  Segments of the Mystery Science Theater Hour are the only special features.