Skip to Content

5 Legitimately Good(ish) Movies Turned Into ‘Mystery Science Theatre 3000’ Episodes

5 Legitimately Good(ish) Movies Turned Into ‘Mystery Science Theatre 3000’ Episodes

Reactions from the talent behind films eviscerated on MST3k have varied (it could be a joke, but the crew claims Joe Don Baker of Mitchell fame wants to take a swing at them), though not as much as fans of the films proper.  A famous, though unverified, story has Dennis Miller flying the cast to a filming of his HBO show only to scream at them for having their way with Marooned! In light of the recent announcement that creator Joel Hodgson wants to reboot the cult favourite, here’s a look at a few episodes that may not have been playing fair.

5.  Revenge of The Creature (Season 8, Episode 1)

creature

There is a delicate chemistry to enjoying trash on its own merit. Too bad or too good, it can easily throw things off-balance into the oblivion of the unwatchable. Creature upped the stakes of the classic original by bringing it to local beaches and, in a much more believable way than Jaws 3, an aqua park. Unfortunately, the rest of the sequel plays out like a retread of its superior. The trilogy ended on a high note, however, with The Creature Walks Among Us.

Fun fact: Why, yes, that is Clint Eastwood.

eastwood

4.  The Mole People (Season 8, Episode 3)

mole

Psuedo-science piled atop Biblical claptrap may not seem like a tall order when plotting B-movie science fiction, but The Mole People goes out of its way to cram as much nonsense about Hollow Earth theories dismissed since the 18th century within its opening scenes. It’s a wonder the rest of the movie’s runtime doesn’t play out like a deleted scene from Roger Corman’s The Trip.

Fun fact: Co-stars John Agar and Nestor Paiva also played alongside one another in The Creature From The Black Lagoon

3.  The Brute Man (Season 7, Episode 2)

brute

Not since Freaks and not until The Sentinel has genuine human disfigurement been used to such an eerie effect. Rondo Hatton only starred in two films, this being the latter. After being exposed to mustard gas in WWI, Hatton developed a condition that slowly disfigured his bone structure. Naturally, he was perfect for hideous sideshows in horror films, and here he wreaks vengeance on those that (fictionally) disfigured him). Welcome to Los Angeles, Rondo. Welcome to the Freak Show. Ha ha…but no, seriously, he had a very unpleasant condition.

Fun fact: 1991’s underrated superhero film The Rocketeer features Lothar, a second-hand goon to Timothy Dalton’s grinning villain, whose make-up is modeled after Hatton.

2.  Daddy-O (Season 3, Episode 7)

daddy

Daddy-O is not a good movie. But it does serve as a curio of a subgenre long-forgotten. It’s a strange mash-up of gangster/roadster/teenybopper films of the 50’s that makes for some fine, drive-in entertainment.

Fun fact: So obsessed was writer James Ellroy with accordionist Dick Contino that the actor later turns up in some of his fiction.

1. Squirm (Season 11, Episode 12)

squirm

Out of the dreck of bizzaro ‘70s Nature-Strikes-Back films, director Jeff Leiberman brought us the terror of electrified worms!

Featuring early make-up work from Academy Award-winner Rick Baker, Squirm is by no means a masterpiece, but it does have a lived-in, deep South atmosphere that the crew of the Satellite of Love exploit to extremes.

Fun fact:  The film stars future director Don Scardino, of the recent The Incredible Burt Wonderstone.

— Kenny Hedges

[wpchatai]