The Hideous Sun Demon (Rifftrax)

Film Year:  1958
Genre:  Horror, Science Fiction
Director:  Robert Clarke
Starring:  Robert Clarke, Patricia Manning, Nan Peterson
Rifftrax Year:  2015
Riffers:  Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy, Bill Corbett

The Movie

Scientist Gilbert McKeena is blasted with radiation during an experiment.  Taken to a hospital it is discovered that he de-evolves into a violent reptile man whenever his skin absorbs sunlight.  Forced to live his life at night, he begins an affair with a lounge singer, but it's only a matter of time before Gil's secret gets out and he is hunted by the police.

The Hideous Sun Demon is Z-grade trash, though there's something about it that I find charming.  There's some heart in the production, as there's a genuine attempt to tell a story about a tortured soul trying to not turn into a monster.  It's just told without a budget and a bunch of actors who are prepared to go from zero to sixty in their underacting to overacting speedometer to tell this story.  This is the type of interesting disaster that I like seeing in these riffing projects.

The film was written, produced, directed, and starring Robert Clarke, who seems to be an actor who liked to showcase himself by making movies to put himself in.  I have no clue if any of them helped sell his career, though he's not great here.  His character is a very hormonal and a bit dim, with his libido putting him in situations that just set up the sun demon.  Other actors don't come off much better, though Nan Peterson leaves the biggest impression because of her low cut wardrobe.  She was clearly hired because of her bosoms and dammit she's damn good at having bosoms!

This is all without taking the actual Sun Demon into account, who is hilarious.  He has a stiff, inexpressive rubber mask and a wrinkly torso shirt that's supposed to emulate skin.  The design itself isn't too bad, but the execution lacks.  But that's just a common problem with the film itself, the execution lacks.  But there are moments of style in the film, like the odd camera angle or interesting shot that gives a glimpse of the film trying to be something a little special.  It doesn't break free of it's confines, but it's fascinating to see it try.

The Trax

With this movie there is a lot to comment on, and the boys at Rifftrax are very keen to play with this crazy movie.  The experience of this riff might play up to whether or not you find Hideous Sun Demon a painfully amateurish movie to watch, but for me that makes it even better.  This Rifftrax was just lovely, and may even be one of my favorites.

Laughs hit me early on as the riffers zero in on Gil's elderly hospital neighbor who they portray as reading a Playgirl magazine.  "Lose the speedo, mister.  I don't buy this magazine to see you with clothes!"  They follow it up with some goofs on 50's sexism ("But there's a woman here for such tasks!"), which just slayed me.  The riffs never reached that high in the aftermath, but I found myself laughing quite often during this story, targeting the goofy monster scenes, hammy acting, 50's sexuality, and an odd scene involving a little girl trying to get our monster some cookies.  They also note a beautiful piece of irony that made me howl, where if our main character has a condition where the sun turns him into a monster he shouldn't be driving around in a convertible!

The movie and the riffing together really reminded me of the good ol' days when Mike, Kevin, and Bill riffed some cheesy black and white cheapies in early season eight of Mystery Science Theater.  None of them were quite the doozy this movie is, but the overall experience is just a pure trip for me.  I loved this riff from beginning to end, and I think it stacks up to some of the best.

Classic

Life in the Suburbs (Rifftrax Shorts)

Rifftrax Year:  2015
Riffers:  Bridget Nelson, Mary Jo Pehl

Bridget and Mary Jo check out suburban life as this short takes us on joyous family life, fun outside activities, and even the tough working class nonsense blue collars have to deal with.  This short is mostly silent imagery presented by a narrator who explains daily goings on.  I'm not entirely sure who he's explaining it to, maybe the rich assholes who keep them down but are curious to see how they tick.  But I'm sure most of us are very familiar with quite a few of these routines.

These women are their usual giggly selves, and while this short isn't a home run I found it fairly delightful.  They have some colorful commentary on various images, a lot of which are just zesty enough to make the viewer smile ("Take THAT, itchy butt!").  The main issue I have mostly lies with the short itself, which is like watching someone's home movies.  But at least Bridget and Mary Jo can make it fun!

If one wants an impression of "The goingest part of the nation on wheels!" then you'll want to take a look at Life in the Suburbs.  It's not the strongest short selection, but there is enough here to make you laugh.

Thumbs Up

👍

Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Lost and Found Collection DVD Retrospective

Release Date:  September 25, 2018

Buy it here!

Features the following episodes:
The Crawling Eye
The Mad Monster
Manhunt in Space
The Beatniks
Blood Waters of Dr. Z
Final Justice

The rights-holders to The Final Sacrifice and Soultaker decided to take their movies and leave, leaving far more easily licensed episodes without a home.  If you didn't pay for the Volume XIV and XVII when they were first out, then Shout Factory has a deal for you!  Get these six homeless episodes in a single package!

The big issue though is that Final Sacrifice and Soultaker were probably the main attractions to their respective sets.  What do the rest of these episodes have to offer?  Two episodes from season one, two from season four, and two from season ten, and they're all pretty good.  I myself tend to think the season four episodes are the best of the set, with Beatniks being my personal choice for the big winner.  Dr. Z and Final Justice trail just a bit behind them.  The first season episodes are an acquired taste, though I myself enjoy Crawling Eye and Mad Monster quite a bit.

Average Rating (scale of 1 to 4):  3

Now I feel like I should point out that I do not own this set, so a lot of this is based on assumptions on my part.  I think they're safe assumptions, but if I'm incorrect about any of this info I'd greatly appreciate being corrected.  If I were to own this set at all it would be for the box art, which I think is fantastic.  It features Crow and Tom Servo disassembled in little lost and found boxes while Gypsy searches for all the pieces.

The big assumption I'm going to make about this set is that these discs are the exact same as the ones in their previous sets, only without the poster art.  It's in a slim case that holds six discs, similar to The Singles Collection instead.  Inside you'll likely find the same discs from the previous sets, featuring disc art of the logos against a starry backdrop.

Since I assume these are the same discs we've already seen I'm going to add my thoughts on images from the other sets right here, which notes on Final Sacrifice and Soultaker edited out:

Audio and video are mostly good, though I've noted a few transfer flaws with Blood Waters of Dr. Z, the video itself is mostly fine.  Probably the highlight of extras on the set is The Main Event:  Crow vs. Crow, which features Trace and Bill discussing the character at a con.  Other MST related extras include Joel offering an intro to The Crawling Eye and MST Hour wraps for The Beatniks.  Movie related extras offer up an interview with Final Justice director Greydon Clark and trailers for The Crawling Eye, Mad Monster, The Beatniks, and Blood Waters of Dr. Z.  Blood Waters of Dr. Z also features a healthy batch of bonus promo material.  We also get clips from Mike, Kevin, and Bill’s small MST cameo on the television show Cheap Seats, though we’re not given the full episode.  Having seen the full episode, it wasn’t a huge loss.  Cheap Seats was fine, but it wasn’t anything special.

The disc menus still amuse, featuring 3D animations of Servo and Crow wandering around various movie scenes and/or the Satellite of Love bridge.  The Crawling Eye features the giant Eye creature behind the theater doors and grabbing Gypsy and Tom Servo as they walk by, while Crow is reading a newspaper at the bridge.  The Eye tries to take Crow too but Crow throws lemonade in its eye and it backs off.  Mad Monster finds them locked up in the mad scientist’s basement with a wolf in a cage, meanwhile the title beast scurries around in shadow and howls occasionally.  Manhunt in Space offers them gazing out a string held spaceship window.  The Beatniks features Crow chasing a panicked Gypsy with a knife, threatening to "MOON" her.  Blood Waters of Dr. Z features a flooded Satellite of Love bridge and Crow and Servo fishing in a boat, eventually catching the fish man.  Final Justice has them hanging around an alleyway in Malta watching a squealing car drive by and occasionally ducking when shots are fired.

For those who never collected Volumes XIV and XVII, you have my sympathies.  Chances are that Final Sacrifice and Soultaker were the episodes you were most interested in on those sets.  But if you didn't collect them then you might want to give The Lost and Found Collection a shot just to get your collection as full as possible, otherwise you'll be paying a lot for out of print sets.  The remaining episodes are actually really good, and even if you don't like first season episodes there are still four others here at the price of a normal set to justify the cost.

Mystery Science Theater 3000: Volume XVII DVD Retrospective

Release Date:  March 16, 2010

Buy it here!

Features the following episodes:
The Crawling Eye
The Beatniks
The Final Sacrifice
Blood Waters of Dr. Z

Mystery Science Theater 3000's first nationally televised episode finally hits DVD.  It took them long enough.  Because of this, Volume XVII is a historically important set to have on your shelf.  But those who get the set may be pleased to see that the episode collection is pretty good, though not great.  Crawling Eye and Blood Waters of Dr. Z can get a little dreary thanks to the movies, though I enjoy both.  The other two movies are goofy fun though.

The fan favorite episode The Final Sacrifice was a part of this set, which for many will be the sole reason to own it.  I don't think Final Sacrifice is one of the best episodes of the series personally.  Hell, I don't even think it's the best episode on the set.  I'm more of a Beatniks guy myself.  And I think I may even prefer Blood Waters of Dr. Z.  That's not to say that the episode isn't important to many, so if you love it then you'll definitely want this set.

Average Rating (scale of 1 to 4):  3

Audio and video are mostly good, though I've noted a few transfer flaws with Blood Waters of Dr. Z, the video itself is mostly fine.  Probably the highlight of extras on the set is The Main Event:  Crow vs. Crow, which features Trace and Bill discussing the character at a con.  Other MST related extras include Joel offering an intro to The Crawling Eye and MST Hour wraps for The Beatniks.  Movie related extras offer up an interview with the late Bruce J. "Rowsdower" Mitchell on The Final Sacrifice and trailers for The Crawling Eye, The Beatniks, and Blood Waters of Dr. Z.  Blood Waters of Dr. Z also features a healthy batch of bonus promo material.

Shout Factory's stock box art is in full swing.  Volume XVII is no different, featuring the logo in the upper left hand corner and the giant roman numeral "XVII" in the center painted orange, while the theater seats sit in the bottom.  As usual the awesome art is on the slim cases inside, as each episode gets their own artwork (as well as mini-poster).  The Crawling Eye features a giant green eyeball grabbing Crow and Tom Servo with its tentacles.  The Beatniks features Servo all gussied up as male lead Eddy, holding a microphone, while Crow is behind him dressed up as Moon, about to "MOON" him with his pocket knife.  The Final Sacrifice features Servo and Crow tied to a stake about to be sacrificed by cultists.  Blood Waters of Dr. Z features the two bots in water being attacked by the movie's fish monster.  Disc art is Shout's standard episode logo against a starry backdrop.

Moving on to the menus, I believe Volume XVII is the first set to loop dialogue from the episodes to create menu "host segments" in a way.  It's a very experimental batch of menus, and they were really cool at the time.  The Crawling Eye features the giant Eye creature behind the theater doors and grabbing Gypsy and Tom Servo as they walk by, while Crow is reading a newspaper at the bridge.  The Eye tries to take Crow too but Crow throws lemonade in its eye and it backs off.  The Beatniks features Crow chasing a panicked Gypsy with a knife, threatening to "MOON" her.  The Final Sacrifice features Servo as a cultist chasing Crow.  Blood Waters of Dr. Z features a flooded Satellite of Love bridge and Crow and Servo fishing in a boat, eventually catching the fish man.

If you're buying this set for The Final Sacrifice, I hope you already own it because that episode's rights have lapsed and the set went out of print.  Otherwise the rest of the episodes are available in The Lost and Found Collection.  Those die-hard Final Sacrifice fans and episode completists will otherwise have to pay through the nose to get this one.  It's too bad, because it's a solid set.

415-The Beatniks

Film Year:  1960
Genre:  Drama
Director:  Paul Frees
Starring:  Not actual beatniks, that's for damn sure
MST Season:  4
Featured Short:  "General Hospital" (Part 2)

The Short

Continuing on from where the last General Hospital segment left off, the party is held complete with a lot of awkward tension between characters who want to bang each other.  The audience is just screaming "Start the orgy and be done with it!"

And there is cake.  Very slow cake cutting.  Very slow cake eating.

I want cake.

This segment is probably the least memorable of the General Hospital shorts on the show, because less happens than usual (and almost nothing happens at all in the entirety of the story presented in the three segments overall).  People glare at each other and just look pissy.  That's pretty much the entire thing.  And yet, there is one more of these things to deal with.  Ugh.

The Movie

A movie about beatniks made by people who don't know what beatniks are.  This movie has a group of juvenile delinquents who like going around and loitering.  One day one of them gets a record deal and becomes a famous singer overnight.  But his thug friends begin getting into violent trouble, dragging his eventual success down the toilet.

The Beatniks is a fairly poor in many regards, with bad acting and somewhat poor plotting.  Though the story is light it has a somewhat interesting idea at its core.  I kinda dig this story about a guy who is given the opportunity to drag himself out of the gutter only to be pulled back in by his company.  The big elephant in the room is the title though, because this guy isn't a beatnik, nor are his friends.

The movie can also be hilariously dated as well.  While I'm willing to let a lot of stuff slide for being one with the times in which it was made, the glaring thing about the episode is the character who has the nickname of "Moon."  When he threatens someone he pulls a knife and says his famous catchphrase "I'm gonna MOON ya'!"  Boy that means something way different today than what I think he wants it to mean.  Since he's our primary antagonist of the film he comes off as a bit of a joke because of this, though his loose cannon characterization is noted.

The Beatniks isn't hard to watch, though it feels like it was put in the wrong hands.  There was probably an interesting movie here, one that didn't need to be latched onto a phony title to sell it.  I wish the film were better because it clearly wants to be.

The Episode

"I'm gonna moon ya', man!  I'm gonna moon ya'!"

Joel and the Bots embrace this silly and dated movie and take it for everything it's worth.  Their parody of the rise and fall of our character's short lived musical career is fairly fun, and they get into it's 50's-going-on-60's vibe and start grooving with it.  They seem to enjoy the music from the simple but charming songs all the way down to the score, which Tom Servo begins to not a familiar beat to as he sings "Meet George Jetson!  Jane, his skirt!"  The Beatniks is lightweight Mystery Science Theater fare.  It's not horrible, but it's easy to make fun of, and it's a blast being there.

The riffing on the General Hospital short doesn't quite take off the way the other segments of General Hospital do.  It has a few chuckles, though the dry uneventful story weighs the riffing down.  There's a genuine effort to keep things lively, as they note the somber mood since the first moment.  Despite not being a laugh riot, they liven up this lifeless party.

Outside of the theater we find some decent if unmemorable host segments.  My favorite is probably the parody of the rise and fall from fame plotline staring Tom Servo and featuring Joel with some nifty spinning newspaper props.  Also we see the Bots fauning over our film's protagonist and Joel challenging (and winning against) the Bots at Rock, Paper, Scissors.  The Invention Exchange has the Mads dressing up as Troll dolls (which is more or less an excuse for Frank to wear a plastic butt) and a clever play on the term "Pocket Pool."

The Beatniks probably isn't hilarious and its General Hospital short anchors it down a tad, but it's wonderfully entertaining in its best moments.  This is an episode worth putting in your collection, and one that's always worth a spin in the DVD player.  Watch it now, or I'll MOON ya'!

Good

The DVD

The Beatniks graced our DVD shelves as a part of Shout Factory's Volume XVII set.  Audio and video were exceptional, while the special features kicked off with a neat con appearance by Trace and Bill (and Frank is there in the audience too).  This panel is called The Main Event:  Crow vs. Crow and the duo talk about handling the puppet and Crow's characterization.  Trace mostly dominates the discussion, though Bill offers a few tidbits.  Also featured are MST Hour wraps and a trailer for the film.

After this set went out of print due to lapsing rights to The Final Sacrifice, The Beatniks was re-released in a new set called The Lost & Found Collection, which gathered six episodes that were left homeless from out of print MST collections.  The disc featured is the exact same disc as the Volume XVII set.

General Hospital was featured as an exclusive disc called the Serial Variety Pack released with Volume XXVII.

Mystery Science Theater 3000: Volume 9 DVD Retrospective

Release Date:  May 16, 2006
Re-Release Date:  January 15, 2019

Buy Rhino set here!
Buy Shout Factory set here!

Features the following episodes:
Women of the Prehistoric Planet
Wild Rebels
The Sinister Urge
The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies

Volume 9 is a favorite volume of mine.  Not because I think the episodes featured are incredible (though there are some goodies) but rather it's an example of the type of set I'd like the see of the show, which dips it's toes into all four riffing combos featured in the original series.  We have a Joel/Trace/Josh episode, a Joel/Trace/Kevin episode, a Mike/Trace/Kevin episode, and a Mike/Bill/Kevin episode.  Despite how many volumes of the show there have been there have only been two more volumes like this, Volumes XXV and XXVII.  There could have been ten more, seeing there were ten more Josh episodes, but alas.

Of course my joy in this is effectively ruined now that we have the Jonah/Hampton/Baron riffing combo that's not represented here, but they weren't around at the time so I'll live with it.

As for the episode quality, The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies is a personal favorite of mine and I know it's a bit of a beloved episode with certain fans as well.  Unfortunately those who don't respond to it can be extremely negative about it.  I think all fans should give it a shot just to see if you laugh as hard as I do, though proceed with caution.  Runner-up episode for me is Wild Rebels, which is just fun.  The Sinister Urge is a pretty solid episode as well.  The sole first season episode is Women of the Prehistoric Planet, making it the first episode of that era to be released in a volume (The Crawling Hand was previously a single disc).  It's not a prime example of the season in my opinion, but it's pleasant enough.

Average Rating (scale of 1 to 4):  3

Audio and video for all episodes were pretty solid.  Bonus features were regulated to introductions to Women of the Prehistoric Planet and The Sinister Urge by actress Irene Tsu and actor Conrad Brooks, respectively.

The cover art tries to emulate a parking lot.  We have an interior view from a car with a little Tom Servo and a chili dog on the dash and a pink MST logo hanging from the rear-view mirror, while the radio is cranked to "Vol. 9."  Another neat detail is that the car in front features the license plate "DEEP 13."  At first I thought the theme was a drive-in theater, like Volume 6, but we open the set up to find that the cars are actually parked outside a carnival, making the set a spiritual tie-in to Incredibly Strange Creatures.  Disc art is pure Rhino in spades.  Women of the Prehistoric Planet is an ash tray.  Wild Rebels is a speedometer.  The Sinister Urge is a birth control pill case.  Incredibly Strange Creatures features a hypno-swirl.

The Women of the Prehistoric Planet menu features images of the film being emitted from a planet floating through space.  Wild Rebels has a sputtering motorcycle and mug shots of film characters.  The Sinister Urge features a strip of film also with floating photos of characters, as well as Crow and Servo thrown into the mix.  Incredibly Strange Creatures is trippy as fuck, with a close-up of the opening decomposing face on the right side of the screen and clips of the episode, including a zooming shot of Ray Dennis Steckler, on the left.  Like most Rhino disc, each menu features the theater silhouettes on the bottom, always with Joel no matter the episode.  The doorway sequence that opens the menu however alternates based on the host.

Shout's re-release of the set has been announced for January, so I do not have it in my possession at the moment.  It's probably safe to assume that it has the same stock cover for the re-releases and the same stock menus.  The introductions have probably been retained, though it's unknown if any additional bonus content will be included.

Volume 9 initially went out of print due to Rhino licensing Women of the Prehistoric Planet from the wrong party, the culprits being Krypton International, who also claimed to have owned Godzilla vs. Megalon causing a stir in the following set.  For a while the set was out of print and only available for astronomical prices.  I recommend picking up the reissue when it gets released for those who don't already have it.  The episodes are really fun and they could potentially be favorites for some, though bonuses are light.

207-Wild Rebels

Film Year:  1967
Genre:  Drama, Crime
Director:  William Grefe
Starring:  Steve Alaimo, Bobbie Byers, John Vella, Willie Pastrano, Jeff Gillen
MST Season:  2

The Movie

A stock car driver is propositioned by a gang of motorcycle thugs to be a getaway driver in their crime sprees.  Initially he refuses, though the police convince him to take the job and be their inside man.

Like Side Hackers before it, I didn't find Wild Rebels entirely unwatchable.  It's a fairly breezy if anti-special inside man crime caper.  It's a little dim, but in all honesty it's more recent counterparts, such as Point Break and The Fast and the Furious, are just as stupid if not stupider.  Wild Rebels is just cheaper and less glossy.  The action isn't quite thrilling, and there really aren't any characters to get behind, but there are some pretty groovy 60's women in some fairly sexy (though sometimes absurd) wardrobe, so the movie has a base sex appeal.  Unfortunately there's not much here for the ladies, as just about every man is greasy and dumpy.

Is that really all it has going for it?  Maybe.  There's not a lot to really say about this movie that feels like it was hammered out really fast.  To be frank it's not compelling because there doesn't feel like it was done with heart but rather "for kicks, man!"  It's a movie made with a simple plot to cash in on the biker fad, so what real criticism can I make?  If that's why it was made then it served its purpose.

The Episode

"I'm in it for the kicks!"  This is the quote that describes the episode from top to bottom, because this episode is just an exorcise in fun.  There's even a late host segment in which Joel explains to the Bots the proper way of enjoying a bad movie and the secrets to having fun with it.  That just fuels the bad movie celebration tone of the show and makes the episode a prime example.  The riffing maintains a playful nature, as our riffers try to follow the film best they can but get a laugh out of it's simplistic stupidity.  The movie's full blown groovy 60's and if you're into that you'll dig the tone the film gives off quite well.

The highlight of the host segments is a "commercial" for Wild Rebels cereal, as Joel and the Bots sing a little jingle.  This segment is easily the most fun of the episode, but the others give an effort.  Joel and Gypsy attempt to recreate a love scene from the movie while Servo and Crow gang up on Joel, and there is also a history of intellectual biker gangs.  Gypsy shuts down important operations on the ship so she can stay coherent enough to get some things off of her chest in a fun opener too.  The Invention Exchange features the Mads' glorious Hobby Hogs while Joel demonstrates 3D pizza.

Oh, and Tom Servo's "hair" has finally grown out too!

Wild Rebels continues season two's mini-biker-thon with a lot of gusto, with a silly movie and a playful riff tone making the episode just a blast.  There's not too much about the episode to separate it from the pack of other solid episode, the kicks are had and that's more than enough.

The DVD

Rhino released Wild Rebels as a part of their Volume 9 collection, with swell video and audio.  There were no bonus features.

Shout Factory is set to re-release this set on January 15th, 2019.

1110-Wizards of the Lost Kingdom

Film Year:  1985
Genre:  Fantasy, Adventure
Director:  Hector Olivera
Starring:  Bo Svenson, Vidal Peterson, Thom Christopher, Barbara Stock
MST Season:  11

The Movie

Okay.  I fucking love this movie.  This cheap, but fucking aim-for-the-stars fantasy is so bloody goofy that I can't even imagine not loving it.  How did I live so long without this movie in my life?

This movie has the somewhat generic fantasy movie premise of a bad guy wizard overthrowing a king and usurping the throne and taking the princess hostage.  A son of another wizard escapes and goes on a magical quest with a Rowsdower-like companion in hopes of battling the wizard and saving the princess.

While that might not sound too special on paper, what makes the movie special is it's glorious execution.  I mean, a smart production team would have recognized budget limitations and cut various things they couldn't afford.  This movie does the exact opposite and does everything.  Every special effect it wants, they create a shitty visual out of it.  Every creature it wants to portray, they create a shitty costume for it.  There's even a Chewbacca-style companion in this movie that I think is supposed to look like a large sheepdog but looks like an abstract, faceless Abominable Snowman.

All of this is not mentioning how much stock footage and stock music is in the film.  Apparently the film only ran 58 minutes in its original cut (which actually is still technically Academy length for a feature film) so it was decided to pad the film out with 20 minutes of battle footage.  The music is recycled tracks from James Horner and some arrangement by Christopher Young, both of which I doubt ever put this movie on their resumes.

But holy hell is this movie a good time for bad movie lovers like myself.  I simply can't get enough of this movie and I was sad to see it end.  I guess there's a sequel, but this kind of lightning in a bottle can't be easily replicated so I'm not sure I even want to see it try.

The Episode

Well this is a switch.  Normally Rifftrax makes a habit of re-riffing movies that were on MST for nostalgia sales.  This is the first time it's been done the other way around and Mystery Science Theater riffs a movie that was originally riffed by Rifftrax.  The one minor note about this is that Rifftrax only offered their version of Wizards of the Lost Kingdom for a single weekend and had to pull it abruptly, likely because of a problem with the film's copyright.  It seems Shout Factory went through more proper channels getting the license to this movie though.  In fact, they bought out New Horizons, who owned the film, which means they own it hook, line, and sinker now, so the license will never expire on this episode.

Maybe one day Shout can throw Rifftrax a bone and allow their version of the riff to return.  Just a thought.  But I digress.

"Oh no!  I lost the ring!'

"MY WHITE PRIVILEGE!"

Wizards of the Lost Kingdom is a MST goldmine of a movie.  It's so goddamn goofy and so goddamn earnest about it.  It's hard to imagine this episode not being funny, but the tone of this entire episode experience is so bloody perfect that it's somewhat mesmerizing.  The film's upbeat whimsicality and it's obvious lack of funding to make it anything worthwhile is so utterly hilarious and the commentary is just along for the ride, playing with it just enough to make each scene of this glorious little movie all the sweeter.  Riffing targets just about everything, from costumes to props to special effects to acting...really, I mean everything, because everything is so wrong with this movie.  This is symbiotic nature between film and riffing on full display, because the experience of the episode is so bloody fun that I personally feel this episode has a rewatch value up there with the all-time favorites of the original series.  I have a gut feeling I will wear this episode down about as badly as I did my old VHS of Space Mutiny.

That's my glowing endorsement.  "Wizards of the Lost Kingdom is the relaunch's Space Mutiny."  Just put that on the cover of any single disc release of this episode that might happen.

Though I'll admit the relaunch's imperfections do get in the way somewhat.  The rapid-fire riffing is full-on Tommy Gun here, while a more subdued delivery would have probably increased that synergy to make it just that much sweeter.  However at times having that little push against the movie at every waking second can also be charming as well.  Here it works for the most part because the movie is constantly doing something that demands attention, though I'm still not a huge fan of the delivery of the season overall.

As for the host segments, they're a mostly unmemorable bunch.  We have another song, "The Magic Inside of You," which is okay but no "So Close and Yet So Far" or "Every Country Has a Monster."  They constantly tease the film's pubescent protagonist and his alcohol loving companion as well in almost all of the segments.  Meanwhile Max finds a key to an odd mechanical creature, which is never brought up again in the episode and is completely forgotten about until later in the series.  Jonah's half of the Invention Exchange is good, as the Verbal Smoke Bombs offer up some delightful verbal humor.  The Mads' invention of the Sponsor Clock doesn't quite live up, as it's just an excuse for puns.

This is probably the episode I'd recommend showing someone who is hesitant about giving the new series a shot, as if they don't care for it then chances are they aren't going to care for the new direction of the show.  For those of us who are going with the flow, this episode is flat out fun.  I have fun watching it, and delight in reflecting on it, and I'm excited to watch it again.  It's an episode that has a joke as simple as someone with a daffy grin on their face resulting in the equally daffy joke "Remember when you fell...dat wuz funny..." that somehow made me laugh for days.  I'd daresay this is at war with Avalanche for my favorite of the season, but no matter which I like better it's one of the best episodes of the series.

Classic

The DVD and Blu-Ray

This amazing episode was released by Shout Factory on their Season 11 box set on both DVD and blu-ray, with special #WeBroughtBackMST3K Collector's Editions going out to certain Kickstarter level pledges.  Audio and video are both sensational, and there are no bonus features on the disc.  The episode shares disc-space with the preceding episode, Yongary, Monster from the Deep.

909-Gorgo

Film Year:  1961
Genre:  Horror, Science Fiction
Director:  Eugene Lourie
Starring:  Bill Travers, William Sylvester, Vincent Winter
MST Season:  9

The Movie

Leonard Maltin recommends today's movie.  None of this two-and-a-half star Laserblast bullshit, we're going the extra mile for the film that got the full three stars, Gorgo!  Inspired by the giant monster movies that were all the rage at the time, Gorgo sees treasure hunters bumping into a giant sea beast and capturing it.  They bring it back to the mainland and sell tickets to spectators to take a gander ala King Kong.  However, they are unaware that the creature they have captured is actually a baby and mama is on the rampage.

Growing up a giant monster fan, I've never really been that into Gorgo.  The movie is fine.  It's handsome, lavish, and has a cool monster design.  I've just never found it particularly interesting or entertaining.  It's...dry.  I just think it's a little boring.  That's not to say it doesn't have virtues.  I like the idea of the story, in fact it's so good that it was lifted almost entirely for Jaws III.  I don't really know what it is, but this movie is hard for me to get into.

The special effects at the very least are mostly good.  The monster costumes, while a little stiff, are pretty well designed, and the model cities are very intricate.  Probably the worst special effects are the fairly lousy matting shots, of which there are many.  There are points where portions of Gorgo's body grow transparent, and sometimes citizens against added backdrops just look horrendous.

The movie is okay.  I appreciate it for what it is, but I don't really have much to say about it because it doesn't inspire much in me to discuss about it.  But Gorgo has a loyal fanbase and I guess I understand why.

The Episode

Pearl was absent last week, that's because she was seeking the guidance of legendary film critic (and MST whipping boy) Leonard Maltin for help finding the worst movie ever made.  For some reason Maltin recommends a movie he enjoys though he claims hospitalized several of his assistant editors.  But Gorgo isn't quite that bad of a movie, nor is it really Mystery Science Theater material.  It's a tad cheesy, but not really in a funny way.  I theorize that the movie may have been selected based on the fact that when the episode aired in 1998 the American version of Godzilla was released and someone from the network or on the show thought a name giant lizard movie might be a fun tie-in.  Why not a Godzilla movie?  Likely because Toho wouldn't play ball with the series, though ironically Gorgo seemingly got tied up in film rights issues itself and was only aired twice upon it's initially airing day and was never re-aired on television (it has been approved for streaming decades later though).

So with this episode being something of an infamously pulled episode, can we hope to find a hidden gem here?  Not really.  Mike and the Bots throw a lot of sarcasm at the movie but it mostly feels like what entertainment value one gets from this episode may very well be from the movie itself.  They do latch onto the character name "Dorkin" and they clearly think it's funny.  They're kinda right, but it's not that funny.  They repeat the name as often as possible (though not as often as a certain name in the following episode) and apply it to various aspects of the production.  They also rally behind a goofy tone toward the film itself, probably to try and goofy it up when it really isn't that goofy in general.

In addition to Leonard Maltin's cameo, our host segments are mostly just middle of the road.  Maltin highlights, while the closing segment where the Bots desperately search the film for a female character is pretty hysterical (this movie is a real sausage fest).  Most of the rest of the segments are just mildly amusing, such as a bird using Crow's head for a nest, the Nanite Circus, and the presentation of "Waiting for Gorgo."  Mike's round of William Sylvester Trivial Pursuit however starts stupid and just gets dumber.

A movie that's fine, riffing that's fine, host segments that are fine...the episode is just fine.  It's not really something I can recommend nor ward people off from.  Maybe if you're a MSTie and you really like Gorgo you might want to definitely check it out, but it's not a solid episode and the ninth season British Invasion ends on a whimper.  But then again none of the British episodes this season were that great really.

Average

The DVD

Amazingly Shout was able to license this one-airing wonder for DVD on the 25th Anniversary Edition.  Seriously, my mind was blown when this episode was announced and it's a true testament to Shout's determination to get as much of the series on DVD as possible.  Audio and video were both good, and Leonard Maltin returns to wish a happy 25th anniversary to our favorite show in a brief featurette.

Highlighting the disc, however, is an extensive documentary titled Ninth Wonder of the World:  The Making of Gorgo.  The feature discusses how the success of King Kong, Godzilla, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, and The Giant Behemoth led to the creation of the film and the various filmmaking techniques the filmmakers employed while bringing Gorgo to life.  Also included is a trailer for the film.

507-I Accuse My Parents

Film Year:  1944
Genre:  Drama
Director:  Sam Newfield
Starring:  Robert Lowell, Mary Beth Hughes, George Meeker, and John Miljan & Vivienne Osborne as "The Accused Parents"
MST Season:  5
Short Featured:  "The Truck Farmer"

The Short

Get ready for some hot, vegetable action!  Thrill as a narrator watches industrial farms harvest crops!  All those vegies on your table that you take for granted, now you know where they come from!

"HAIL TRUCK FARMER!"

The Truck Farmer is a brief industrial short is just a slight showcase of farmers and farm equipment doing farm things, as well as packing them and delivering them.  There is a comparison early on to wagon settlers and how they struggled with food, which directs me into thinking the idea of the short is to make us feel thankful for the easy access vegetables we have today.  Not a terrible idea, though it's very, very short and any message you come across in it is quickly forgotten because it just doesn't leave an impression.

The Movie

Our MST episode identifies Sam Newfield as the director of Jungle Goddess.  Jungle Goddess was directed by Lewis D. Collins and Newfield never touched it.  He did however helm such MSTed classics Mad Monster, Lost Continent, and Radar Secret Service, and now he directs this drama about a pathological liar named Jimmy.  Jimmy's homelife is an apparent trainwreck, as his parents are constantly arguing drunks who ignore Jimmy at every turn (it's a wonder that Jimmy didn't die as an infant due to neglect).  Jimmy gets a job at a shoe store, meets a lovely songbird named Kitty, and lies to her about his life to get into her pants.  Unknown to him, Kitty is the girlfriend of gangster Charles Blake.  Blake initially takes a liking to Jimmy and offers the ignorant Jimmy a job in his organization.  But once Blake gets wind of Jimmy's romance with Kitty things begin to go downhill.

And according to Jimmy, all of this is his parents' fault.  That's the primary moral of this story, if Jimmy had better parents, none of this would have happened, and the film wishes to preach to parents everywhere to not neglect their children and be active in their lives.  While I support this moral one hundred percent, the way the movie gets to this conclusion is faulty at best.  There is a point in which Jimmy needs to be held responsible for his own actions, and almost everything portrayed in the film is a result of his own choice and his parents have barely anything to do with them.  Now you can say that Jimmy's lying helped spiral things out of control and his lying stems back to lies about his parents, but these are also choices that Jimmy has made that he needs to take responsibility for.  While it's possible that Jimmy might not have gone down this road had his parents have been less neglectful, it's also just as likely that it might have happened the exact same way.  Why?  Because Jimmy's a dumbass.

Ignoring how faulty the forced main theme of the movie is, the movie is okay to a point.  If you chopped off the bookend scenes in a courtroom you have an over the top melodrama about a boy being swept up into a world of crime that he doesn't quite understand.  The movie still isn't terrific, but the story being told is mildly interesting and never boring.  The fact that the film tries to scold the audience about something that barely has anything to do with the rest of the movie really makes the movie an eye-roller.

The Episode

I Accuse My Parents is the episode that shows us "the kiss way to the promised land."  With a very naive and daffy movie at its center, there are so many observations to make.  We have a dense and dishonest lead, old-fashioned values, a half-assed mob plot, and even a pair of drunk parents to mock.  I Accuse My Parents is a smorgasbord for our riffers and they dig in.  The highlight is definitely our lead Jimmy, who lies at every turn, and Joel and the Bots have great fun embellishing his lies with a lot more colorful stories.  Sometimes they ride on Jimmy's sole pride of winning an essay contest a little too much, just blurting out "I won an essay contest!" whenever they can.  Sometimes the gag works, but in others it feels like they're just saying it because they don't have a better joke to say.  But really this is just a minor fault, because Jimmy is one of the most fun leads they've ever been given on the show and the episode is worth watching just for him.

The musical numbers are also fun, which is usual for the show.  Mary Beth Hughes gets on stage and sings a couple of numbers, and the riffers pick apart the lyrics and the colorful reactions of the audience members ("Yes Satan, speak to me through this song!").  There's a point where they mimic the noisy atmosphere of the common restaurant and drown her out entirely that's a hoot.  Wonderful stuff!

Oh wait, there's a short too?  Honestly I always forget this episode has a short and watching the episode I can see why.  Truck Farmer isn't a terrible short, as it has a few chuckles, but nothing about it enhances the episode really.  It's a light appetizer, but what we're really hungry for is the main course.

The host segments are pretty solid as well.  There is a great segment late in the episode where Joel and the Bots analyze Jimmy's accusation and take a look at Jimmy's actions and how they relate to Jimmy's parents, which is really convincing argument against the entire theme of the movie.  We also have a pair of segments that imitate scenes from the movie, my choice for the better of the two being the closing segment where Crow and Servo pull a gun on Joel and try to get him to give them a hamburger ("I ACCUSE YOU, JOEL!").  The segment where Gypsy sings a song from the movie is decent too, but I've never been a huge fan of when they just imitate a scene from the movie with not much of a joke.  This segment however is saved by some pretty funny facial expressions by Joel and a fun ending where Crow and Servo mess it up.  Also bringing laughs are Servo painting himself "nude" to become a "real boy" and psychoanalyzing the Bots art projects of their ideal families.  The Invention Exchange has a couple of goodies with the Junk Drawer Organizer (which would go well with the Junk Drawer Starter Kit from First Spaceship on Venus) and Cake 'n' Shake (in which Frank accidentally bakes a male stripper in a cake).

This is the episode that asks "Are You Happy in Your Work?"  Right now, my job is to watch Mystery Science Theater 3000 and write about it.  Why wouldn't I be happy?  Especially when there are episodes as good as this to look forward to.  Despite a weak short, I Accuse My Parents is well deserving of classic status.  I accuse this episode of being hilarious!

Classic

The DVD

I accuse Rhino of releasing I Accuse My Parents as a single disc way back when they were just getting started.  I accuse the picture and audio both being pretty solid, but the lack of special features got me mixed up in the mob.

I also accuse Shout Factory of re-releasing the episode as a part of The Singles Collection, also featuring solid video and audio.  I accuse the special features of featuring an intro by Joel where he accuses the film of being a fan favorite and talks about how they never know when they're making a favorite episode while making it.

I accuse the special features of also featuring a documentary on Sam Newfield called The Man on Poverty Row.  I accuse this special feature of being a thorough 23 minute examination of the career of one of the most prolific directors to grace MST.  It accuses us of taking a look at the diverse films this low budget master has churned out over his career.

And finally, I accuse this disc of supplying MST Hour wraps for the episode.

420-The Human Duplicators

Film Year:  1965
Genre:  Science Fiction
Director:  Hugo Grimaldi
Starring:  Richard Kiel, Hugh Beaumont, George Nader, Delores Faith, George Macready, Barbara Nichols, Richard Arlen
MST Season:  4

The Movie

Eegah star Richard Kiel, Lost Continent star Hugh Beaumont, and Robot Monster star George Nader unite in this story of an alien (played by Kiel) sent down to Earth with a scheme to replace humans with identical androids.  It's very much a Body Snatchers style story, but done with far less flair.  For the most part the movie is not unwatchable.  It's cheap, shoddy, and features very stiff acting, but there's a genuine attempt to make the film a thriller with intrigue, if nothing else

What can be frustrating about the film is that you can tell that the people making it at the very least are trying to do something interesting.  The storyline can be complex and there is an emphasis on suspense over action.  It's just not done very well.  Kiel has played aliens to great effect before (see the Twilight Zone episode To Serve Man for an example), but he seems a bit miscast here.  Maybe it's a good thing he's trying to beat the typecast by playing a more intelligent character with a lot of dialogue, but in many ways his role feels like it demands to be played by an actor with a less intimidating stature.  That said, Kiel does okay in the role, so I don't really desire to take it from him.

Most of where the seams show is the production, which isn't fairly strong.  I'll give them kudos for having ambition but there are moments in the film you can tell they just don't have the resources to pull off what they're trying to do.  There is an action scene late in the film in which an android's arm gets pulled off, but it's very clear that the actor has just shoved his arm inside the jacket with little to pull our attention away from his side-bulge.

That being said, shortcomings aside, I kinda dug the film.  It sometimes comes off as a cheap TV show episode that somehow wound up a movie, but I can't really name anything about it that I hated.  Just flaws that are visible to the eye, but for a certain type of viewer like myself they can be endearing.

The Episode

The challenge with The Human Duplicators is that the movie is very dialogue heavy, which can be cumbersome.  If Joel and the Bots are intimidated by that, they don't show it.  They quip away fairly steadily without signs of tiring.  The material and the movie don't quite mesh the way one would hope, but there is an effort here.  But my amusement hit a rocky road where I found some riffs to be cute and others to just get a "meh" reaction from me.  At other points I zoned away from the Mystery Science Theater presentation and started paying attention to the movie because I was finding it more interesting.  The theater segments are okay, but there are no home runs hit during this time at bat.

The host segments however are all pretty good, including a beginning to the run gag where there seems to be not one but many Tom Servos aboard the Satellite of Love.  Servo duplicates himself for the hell of it, hoping they might do his bidding.  The segment is fairly open ended, and the many Servos would make sporadic appearances right up until the final classic episode, Diabolik.  We also have a spaceship model contest and another visit from a very cranky Hugh Beaumont (played by Mike Nelson).  The Invention Exchange is a scream, as Joel fails to impress the Bots with his motorized propeller hat ("I just thought you'd go through the roof, is all.") and the Mads get a massive giggle fit with their extremely useless William Conrad Refrigerator Alarm.

"GET ME!  I'M WILLIAM CONRAD!"

The Human Duplicators is a watchable episode.  It has solid momentum, a non-painful movie, and has a decent amount of amusement.  There are no big laughs here though.  That might be a dealbreaker for some, but even if I don't think very highly of it it's one that I'm engaged in while watching.

Average

The DVD

The Human Duplicators duplicated itself onto disc format in Shout Factory's Volume XXXVII collection.  It currently has the honor of being the final Joel era episode released to home video, seing how it was the sole Joel episode on the set and the following volumes only contained Mike episodes.  Audio and video were both quality, while the only bonus features were wraps from the MST Hour.  This bonus feature is a bit soured since the wraps are incomplete, as the first segment of the second set is omitted entirely!  Oops.

K19-Hangar 18

Film Year:  1980
Genre:  Science Fiction, Thriller
Director:  James L. Conway
Starring:  Darren McGavin, Robert Vaughn, Gary Collins, James Hampton, Pamela Bellwood
MST Season:  KTMA

The Movie

This conspiracy thriller has astronauts who find their space mission gone horribly wrong as an encounter with a U.F.O. kills a member of their crew before it lands in Arizona.  Returning to Earth they find that they've been blamed for the accident and all traces of the U.F.O. have been covered up.  Desperate to clear their names they go on the run to find the evidence the government is trying to hide.

Hanger 18 stretches credibility at times, though it has a halfway interesting concept at its core.  Those who want to be taken for a ride on it's paranoia trip may very well get a few thrills out of it, though it's not a very strong example of the genre.  I myself didn't dislike the film, but I hardly thought anything about it either.  For the most part it just felt like one of those movies that was on TV one afternoon that you sat through but didn't remember the next day.

It feels like the movie needed to be a little showier.  A little more money for some razzmatazz would have gone a long way in making the film more interesting watch.  While the third act offers up some decent chase sequences, they're very plain and hardly worth talking about, while the rest of the movie is mostly political discussion and pondering.  The movie itself is fine if underwhelming, but there's a more compelling movie that's begging to come out of this thing.

The Episode

"The movie's called Hangar 18.  MOVIE SIGN!"

By this point I think it's safe to say things aren't entirely improvised.  They aren't scripted either, but there seems to be beats that they have ideas of what they want to do with.  Seeing aliens that remind them of Uncle Fester on The Addams Family, Joel and the Bots go into a fairly well in sync mimic of the theme song singing the title of the movie along with it.  It's hard for me to believe this wasn't planned out.  They do very much seem to be thinking a lot about sitcoms this week since references are not limited to The Addams Family.  Probably my favorite of the bunch comes when an astronaut yells for his fallen companion "LOU!" causing Joel to imitate Ted Baxter and say "C'mon, Lou!"  Speaking of classic television, Robert Vaughn causes Servo to reference Man from U.N.C.L.E. at one point.

The riffing is fairly rapid in general, but they lose steam.  They seem a bit caught up in the climax (or tuckered out maybe) as there is a period toward the end where they go several minutes without making any sort of comment.  Finally Servo breaks the tension in the room by stuttering out a middling riff that may or may not be an attempt at a wake-up call to remind everyone why they're there.  It didn't quite seem to work since the silence continues after that, while Servo attempts to put out another riff about once every thirty seconds or so.  Joel and Crow don't start commenting again until after the commercial break, and maybe during the cutaway someone finally woke them up and said "SAY SOMETHING!"  I'm not sure if this is a sign that they were invested in the movie, but they do seem to be paying attention to the film at any rate.  After a "breaks cut" runaway car scene, one character remarks to another that he "messed up the seat."  Joel later comments that the character never went to the bathroom the entire movie, to which Crow responded "He did in the car," causing Joel to laugh and respond "Oh yeah."

The host segments mostly circle Crow, including a pair of segments devoted to his memory.  One has Joel and Servo going through it and wiping out what they deem unnecessary (most of it is what he's watched on TV-23, AKA KTMA), while another uncovers his first memory.  It turns out "Crow" is an acronym that stands for Cybernetic Remotely Operated Woman, which Crow embraces before finding out Joel was just kidding.  It's kind of a weird joke that doesn't go anywhere.  Another Crow related segment has Crow bugging Joel with childlike questions of "Whyyyyyyyy?"

Featuring a so-so movie and mostly rapid riffing (for a while at least), Hangar 18 held my attention which is a good sign for KTMA's style of movie riffing.  It's not the first episode I'd recommend to KTMA beginners, but it's a definite step toward the show it would evolve into once the series went national.

Good

411-The Magic Sword

Film Year:  1962
Genre:  Fantasy
Director:  Bert I. Gordon
Starring:  Basil Rathbone, Estelle Winwood, Anne Helm, Gary Lockwood, Liam Sullivan, Maila Nurmi
MST Season:  4

The Movie

The John Ford of MST directors, Bert I. Gordon, gives superimposed photography of insects and reptiles a break to bring to us something a bit different:  a fantasy fairy tale.  The Magic Sword is the story of a princess kidnapped by the evil former Sherlock Holmes, Basil Rathbone, who intends to feed her to a giant plastic dragon.  The king puts out a reward for her return, her hand in marriage.  Obviously long before the #MeToo movement, the foster son of a witch commands a group of undead knights in an attempt to save the woman he lusts after, consensual love be damned!

This movie is actually fairly well liked among MSTie circles, though I personally admit if I were to pop in a Bert Gordon movie for entertainment value it would most likely either be Amazing Colossal Man or Beginning of the End.  I see where the love stems from though.  The Magic Sword actually has a lot in common with the Russian fantasies that MST would later get their hands on, like The Sword and the Dragon and the like, only it's less convoluted and since it's an English language production very little gets lost in translation.

The biggest issue between the comparison between The Magic Sword and the Russian fantasy films is that Gordon's own special effects techniques aren't as neat-looking.  He of course does his matte shots with a scene with a giant ogre, which definitely looks like a dude in a Halloween mask swatting at air.  There is also the climax with a dragon which is an actual prop, which is interesting for Gordon because I would have expected him to use a zoomed up image of a lizard instead.  However, it's very immobile, making it quite possibly the least believable special effect in Gordon's career.

But The Magic Sword is fun escapism for those looking for an old-timey live action fantasy.  It's not perfect, though in comparison to a lot of movies on MST it's practically Oscar worthy.  It has gusto and the cast gives what they can to make the production as viable as possible, and sometimes that's the best you can ask for.

The Episode

"This is like Romeo and Juliet."

"Except not good."

"It's actually more like a Ritz Brothers movie."

"Except it's good."

Joel and the Bots don't seem that put off by the movie this week, which is kinda goofy and fun on its own.  Their approach to this movie seems to merely enhance it and make it goofier and more fun.  Personally I think a bit more could have been done with this movie, as they just seem in a very silly mood rather than cutting deep, which I think they could have done if they were inclined to.  But I don't think they wanted to hurt this movie, just play with it.  I wouldn't say the commentary is worth praising too heavily, but it's often pretty funny and keeps momentum up even if the film has wandered a bit aimlessly.

Of note: Rifftrax re-riffed this movie.  I have yet to see this version of it.

The host segments aren't losers, though I admit not being too impressed by any of them.  They play on the name of the film's star by creating a dog treat called "Basil Rath-BONES" (Get it?!  GET IT?!), put on a medieval pageant, Crow dumps Kim Cattrall for Estelle Warren, and Joel's a caricature artist.  They're not un-amusing, but it's more of a shrug and a "why not?" reaction from me rather than actual enjoyment.  The Invention Exchange gets a similar reaction from me, with Big Gulp Berets and a Bio-Hazard Absorbing Throw Pillow.  The big payoff in the latter is a radiation poisoned Frank, who gets the biggest laughs in all of the host segments.

The Magic Sword is worth watching for all MSTies, with its watchable movie and constant amusement factor.  For some this may end up being a series favorite because of this.  For me, I like it but it falls a bit short.  I accept it while I'm watching it, but I hardly remember it in the long run.  But that's not me decrying it, because it definitely does work in the moment.

Good

The DVD

The Magic Sword was featured on Shout Factory's Volume XXVI set.  Video and audio were swell, while the disc was highlighted by an interview with director Bert I. Gordon.  Gordon doesn't really talk about Magic Sword, or any movie in great length, but rather his love of movies and how he got started in the business.

Also featured are MST Hour wraps and a theatrical trailer.