Mystery Science Theater 3000: Volume XXXVII
Created by Joel Hodgson
Starring: Joel Hodgson, Michael J. Nelson, Trace Beaulieu, Kevin Murphy
Reviewed by Brian M. Sammons
Mystery Science Theater 3000 (or MST3K) was a TV show that ran from 1988 to 1999 about a guy marooned on the Satellite of Love way up in space who had to watch cheesy B-grade (or often Z-grade) movies as some sort of deranged experiment. In order to survive his mind-numbing ordeal, our hero made some robot friends and together they make fun of, or “riffed on”, all the bad movies. As simple as that sounds (something that fans of bad movies have done for just about forever), it was revolutionary to see it on television, and not to mention hilarious. So much so, that even all these years after its last episode aired, the show still has a cult following, is constantly name dropped by comedians, and lives on in two distinct incarnations today. Check out Rifftrax.com and Cinematictitanic.com for more info on both of those.
Thankfully the good people over at Shout! Factory have continued to put out the original television show on DVD for years. This four pack is their latest offering and it’s a must have for fans of offbeat comedy and low budget, usually horrible genre films. Their latest box set is MST3K: XXXVII, or for those who don’t do Roman numerals, that’s 37. Yes, this is the 37th MST3K four pack to come out. Is Shout! Factory still putting out the good stuff, or with this many DVDs, are they now scrapping the bottom of the barrel? Well grab your favorite smart Alec robot buddy and let’s find out.
This set has a nice mix of cheesy, horrible movie goodness in a variety of flavors. For us horror fans, there’s The Horror of Party Beach from 1964, which, by the director’s own words, is almost a spoof of all the beach party movies that were so popular at the time. Here, thanks to some dumped radioactive goo, the sunken skeletons of sailors combine with plants and fish to come alive and terrorize the nearby happening beach scene.
From there let’s move on to some Italian gang violence with Escape 2000, AKA Escape from the Bronx. An evil corporation hires thugs to kill all the people in the Bronx so they can come in, clean up the mess, and build their shiny new city. When the family of a gang leader native to the Bronx has his family killed, it’s all-out war, with gunfights, explosions, and an impressive body count that runs into the hundreds.
The Human Duplicators is more 60s fun, this time with a hard sci-fi flavor. A towering alien (Richard Kiel, famous for playing James Bond’s most iconic villain, Jaws) is sent to Earth to build robot duplicates of important people to take over the world. Surprisingly it’s not the power of the FBI or military that saves the day here, it’s the power of love. Awwwwww.
Last but not least there’s Invasion of the Neptune Men, even more 60s sci-fi invasion fun, albeit this time with some Japanese flavor. It’s pretty standard stuff, with its biggest claim to fame being that it stars Sonny Chiba in his third feature film. So with this box set you get a potpourri of genres sure to suit anyone’s taste not to mention a mix of Joel and Mike episodes, so no matter who your favorite stranded chucklehead was, you’re sure to be happy.
As for extras, Shout! Factory has more than a few on here worth pointing out. There are four mini posters included with the boxed set, one for each movie. There are new introductions to all of the movies by Mary Jo Pehl (show writer who also played Pearl Forrester, mother of Dr. Clayton Forrester), and classic MST3K hour wraps. There is a featurette on one of the movies called “Leave the Bronx: Making Escape 2000,” and another one called “Return to Party Beach.” A collection of theatrical trailers bring the special features to a close.
Mystery Science Theater 3000: Volume XXXVII is a great MST3K collection. It really has a bit of everything: horror, sci-fi, gratuitous gang violence, and lots of comedy. For MSTies, this one is a no-brainer. If you’ve never seen MST3K before, then this ‘a little bit of everything’ sampler is a great way to start. Consider it highly recommended.
