Movie Pain: High - About as exciting as watching someone dig holes
Riffing: Chuckle-Fest
Skits: Very negative, induced mostly smiles
Many MST alumni are present in this movie. Hugh Beaumont -minus the Beaver- is still climbing rocks. John Agar and Nestor Pavia are back from "Revenge of the Creature". Nestor plays a load and Agar -thankfully- has no reason to don the ultra-tiny shorts, opting instead for another weapon of terror... A Flashlight! Toss in Alfred (Batman's butler) as an evil albino and a jittery Professor who introduces the film and you have yourself a winning cast folks.
Humor-wise, it runs hot and cold, but mostly cold. There were several long stretches where I wasn't laughing at all. The scene where the cast descends into the land of the Mole People was so painfully drawn out; it took all of M&TBs riff strength to wake things up. The hot stuff includes - The guy's irritations at know-it-all Agar, zapping the load, and the quips during the ceremonial dance.
Host Segments? are pretty weak and rather negative in tone: Mike is belittled for attempting a skit (an actual visit from the "Gesture Professor" would have been a hoot!) Servo makes a go of being a folk guitarist and winds up in tears for the effort, and Pearl is generally overbearing throughout. While negative humor can be a hoot and was used often in the series - here it was just a downer; neither funny nor fun.
Overall: This is a toughie to grade because there are highlights, but there are also a few too many dead zones - so a Bronze award it is.
Host Segments
Intro: Crow's a powerful star child. Segment 1: Its Lawgiver daze on Ape Planet. Segment 2: The bots give Mike a hard time over his Gesture Professor bit. Segment 3: Servo's a frustrated folk artist. Segment 4: Crow discovers an ancient civilization. End: Mike finds a couple of pale guys under the floorboards. Bobo gives Minnesota Viking RB Robert Smith to Pearl. Stinger: Watching the Load flee in terror.
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| The Gesture Professor! |
* "It must be humiliating to be tortured by a Smurf?!" - Mike
* "Avalanche footage, run!" -Crow
* "A flashlight! Now all we need is a tent, some s'mores, and some outside." - Crow as Priest
* "Guards, sixty lashes." - "Make them long, beautiful Maybelline lashes." - Fingerhead/Servo
* "It's Baby Jessica. She's digging her own way out!" - Mike
* "They're really Jello-mold men." - Crow
* "This is for all those years of Whack-a-Mole." - Servo as mole
* "Virgil Vogel, vestal virgin." - Servo
* "Watch, they'll get crushed by a giant dog chasing a Frisbee." - Mike
* "You really ought to have those moles looked at." - Servo
* "Down down, the very nipple of the world" - Servo
* "Oh I think he's over flossing" - Mike
* "This movie is just ropes and asses" - Mike
* "Wait!" - " Your the only Load we have!" - Agar/Crow
* "He died as he lived, a total load" - Crow
* "I'm gonna go whip the Mole" - Servo
* "I brought you a big delicious pan of smarmy" - Mike as Agar
* "Thanks for the bucket of cold water Clorox face!" - Mike as Agar
* "Now her head starts spraying water and kids run through it" – Bill (Concerning head-dress of a dancer)
Riff Explained
Their Chef is Stanley Owsley" - Servo
Said during a mushroom dinner scene. Owlsley was a chemist from San Francisco who manufactured and distributed LSD in the '60s. He hung with the "Grateful Dead" and helped design their lightning bolt/skull logo.
Stuff and Nonsense
* In addition to acting, Hugh Beaumont was a Methodist Lay Minister and he owned a Christmas tree farm in Minnesota. Hugh was married to actress Katharyn Adams. She can be seen in Alfred Hitchcock's Saboteur, playing the part of Mrs. Brown, the young mother.
* The Mole holes were built above the stage floor and were worked from below with hydraulics. Actress Cynthia Patrick (Adel), nearly had her little toe sliced off on a piece of the underlying set when she was pulled into the pit. And when Adel falls to her death at the end; that was a stunt double, who was a man! Cynthia said he was short, stocky, and had a big posterior.
* Also; you too can have your very own "Mole Person". Mole Men action figures are sold in sizes of 8' or 12' inches and come complete with mushrooms and a harvest bag. Cool beans!
Available on DVD: Volume 26
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