Sunday, March 31, 2019

Gamera vs. Viras (Fan MST Projects)


Film Year:  1968
Genre:  Kaiju, Science Fiction
Director:   Noriaki Yuasa
Starring:  Kojiro Hongo, Toru Takatsuka, Carl Craig
Fan Project:  MST3K vs. Gamera:  Round II

The Movie


*I HAVE SURVIVED WATCHING THIS MOVIE UNRIFFED*

I thought I was out of the Gamera fire once Mystery Science Theater ended.  Boy was I wrong.

Aliens with a space ship that looks like a bunch of bee abdomens linked together come to Earth for world domination.  Part of their plan is to kidnap a pair of Boy Scouts for no reason, feed them sandwiches, and then brainwash the giant monster Gamera into attacking the Earth for them.  If Gamera isn't up to the task, their leader, a giant space squid, will be unleashed.

Oh god, how I hate this one.  This is the worst Gamera movie by a mile, and now I have to relive it.  There is so much reused footage in this movie, and while it's true that Super Monster Gamera has more, that film at least had the decency to build a half-assed movie around it.  Gamera vs. Viras uses its stock footage as padding, flashing back to Gamera's previous battles just to fill out time (this sequence is cut from this particular version) and then adding more into the third act to make Gamera "rampage" because...why not?  We've already have a quarter of the movie as stock footage, let's go for broke!

Viras is one of the sillier designs in Gamera's rogues gallery.  A giant squid may not seem silly on paper, but it's really the weakness of Japanese special effects that makes him look goofy.  Two tentacles are mobile because the suit actors legs are in them, and the others flop around like stiff foam.  Because of how stiff Viras is, it's hard to consider him a threat to the turtle that farts fire and flies, no matter how many times he tries to stab Gamera through the heart.

The whole Gamera vs. aliens thing gets repeated exhaustingly as the series progresses.  Gamera vs. Viras has the virtue of doing it first (mostly because Godzilla vs. Monster Zero did it to great success), but Gamera vs. Guiron and Super Monster Gamera did it more memorably and more entertainingly.  Viras is about as bland an alien saga as Gamera vs. Zigra, but with more padding.  That's a recipe to test the patience of this kaiju fan, let me tell you.

The Riff


"What's a Gamera?"

There was always that gaping hole in Mystery Science Theater's filmography in that there were three Gamera films that they had never riffed (of the "Showa" era, at any rate, as there were four more made after MST did their episodes).  But that hole exists because Sandy Frank had only licensed the five movies featured on the show for broadcast and home video rights, while the remaining films found their way to the US via other means.  I think there are a few iRiffs out there for the remaining Gamera films, but there is always that little heartache knowing that we'd really like to see them under the MST banner.

Enter this fan series called MST3K vs. Gamera:  Round II, which isn't exactly an "official" MST episode, but merely fans of a series seeking to right a wrong.

Now fan fiction projects can be a tad bit scary, as when they're done poorly, they can be painful.  There is always the potential for fans to be so blinded by their love for the series they're paying homage to that they could potentially throw nothing but references from that series out and call it good because they've made themselves laugh with something that the other series did.  On the other hand, it's also easy to offer up your own material and completely miss the mark because they hadn't really refined their script.  I can find myself hesitant about diving too deep into them because I might not have the patience to sit through the entire thing and if I did I would find something that a group of people had worked really hard on with all of their hearts and poured their hard earned money into and I'd have to write paragraphs in a matter of hours about how I didn't like it.

Not today though.  I enjoyed the hell out of this little fan film.

So the premise is this:  Dr. Forrester at some point hires a man named Helmutt Crusoe (interesting name) to willingly take part of his experiments along with Tom Servo and Crow, while taking on a new second banana named The Crimson Weirdo.  Dr. F doesn't actually make an appearance, instead this Crimson Weirdo character does all the interaction with Helmutt.

If I were to state a shortcoming with all of this, it would be things that aren't exactly this production's fault.  It's a fan film made with spare change because a group of people just really, really wanted to do it.  All things considered the production looks pretty good, if a tad simple and cardboard-y on the SOL.  The stuff filmed for Crimson Weirdo stands out though, since any sort of set resembling a Deep 13 or Castle Forrester isn't even attempted and it's just filmed in some guy's room with a whole lot of toys and collectibles.  I'm willing to play with the fakey illusion, but the shift in feel between the two sets is a tad jarring.

There are a few technical details the people who made it didn't seem to find a way to work around, as the doors to the theater don't open and we instead cut away to a computer animated replica of Mike's door sequence.  There are no shots of the characters entering the theater or exiting either, which isn't too bothersome with the exception of a mid-episode commercial break where the characters are still in the theater but in the following scene they're on the bridge.

Also, I'd personally say it's hard to get used to new voices for Servo and Crow (voiced by Andres Perez and Andrew Battaglia, respectively) since we had just gotten used to a voice change not too long ago for the relaunch.  I know it's unfair to expect them to hire Baron and Hampton for this series, but I'm getting old and I don't like change!  That said, these voices do fairly well, and there's a cute opening segment that plays on Servo's alternating voice.  They even help work with this change by incorporating archival audio of Kevin Murphy at one point (a portion of it is taken directly from the intro to the Rifftrax of Twilight Saga:  Eclipse).

But the star of the show is the riffing, and I'm pleased to say it's quite funny.  Star Brayton Conner (who plays Helmutt) and his robot chums bring a spirit to this project that brings me all the way back to season three MST, and I found myself laughing quite consistently as the movie just got goofier.  Jokes are flung casually and with flair, making me wish these guys would give both the revival and Rifftrax pointers on how to deliver a joke and make it sound natural.  The jabs at the film always seem at their funniest when Gamera is onscreen though, with big laughs coming as Gamera frees a duo of children from captivity, and the crew gets angry at them when they don't return the favor.  There's a moment in the film where there is a shot of Gamera flying in the same frame as the alien space ship, and Helmutt quips exactly what we're all thinking:  "You know, I can't decide which one is sillier."  And there is a delightful reaction to a climactic impaling that just made me howl.

Of note, the film is edited a bit.  I think it's interesting that this series created its own opening credits for the film to help match the Sandy Frank edits featured previously.  They also cut a lengthy, yet painful, stock footage recap of previous Gamera adventures which really made this film a tiring slog (though they keep a climactic stock footage rampage, because it's actually integral to the plot).  Because of this, I might say they've possibly made the best possible version of Gamera vs. Viras.

There are host segments too, and I thought they were pretty fun.  Probably the highlight of the episode is a fun segment in which Helmutt calls a hotline to try and air grievances to Dr. Forrester and gets stuck on a recording ("If you're an unwilling subject of mine:  Bite me.  If you're a willing subject:  Please press one."), meanwhile the Crimson Weirdo begins talking over him like the aliens from the movie.  There is some fun with Helmutt and the Bots creating their own monsters as well, while Servo's Schwarzenegger voice provides some laughs as well.

One thing I will say is that the placement of the segments is a tad off-kilter.  The first host segment comes a bit later than it normally does, as does the second, while the third is placed weirdly close after the second, making the episode seem bottom heavy.  This wasn't uncommon during the KTMA days, though the episode is trying to primarily mimic the Comedy Central era of the show.

But if this fan film had anything in it to capture your heart, it actually goes the extra mile to include vintage commercials during the breaks.  Boy, that was a trip down memory lane!

One thing I think I realized while watching this is that I don't think I'm a huge fan of the Gamera episodes of MST.  I think the original and Guiron are must-sees, but I don't think the others really do much for me.  I realized this because at one point during this fan film I realized I was enjoying it more than the vast majority of official Gamera episodes.  Now, I'm not necessarily saying these guys are just as good as our heroes from the other series, because that's an impossibly high bar for me to set and that would be asking you to be disappointed in this series from the getgo, but if you watch this riff with an open mind you might just see that talented people who understand the show they love actually made it.  These guys are funny, and should they develop an iRiff group of some sort after their MST homage is over I'd be among the first to give it a listen.

Good


2 comments:

  1. Thanks so much for taking the time to write up this wonderful review! The fellas and I greatly appreciate it and will be sure to share it around! Thanks again, and we can't wait to get started on episode 2 this summer and share it with the rest of the MSTies of the world! Cheers! - Brayton C

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    1. Thank you so much for the wonderful entertainment! I was very impressed with your work!

      I look forward to episode two, because Jiger might be my favorite Gamera movie. Here's to it being as good as your first!

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